EVACUATE!

Where do you start with a tale like this?  To first say that we are are well? 
                 We are well.  

I heard about the fires up Charlotte Road.  I pass Charlotte when I take the girls to the mountains.  Sammy, a wonderful young lady who has worked at the coffee shop for years, lives up Charlotte with her Mom, Dad, Brothers and dogs.  She called me at the shop to tell me the fires were headed towards our house and to get Jackie and Gracie out before the roads were closed to me.  In all of her fear and panic for her own family, she had the presence of mind to help me. Sam told me later that she knew that I could survive our house burning down, but would not fair well if Gracie and Jackie did not survive the fires.  My coffee shop family, how I love them!

I was working the closing shift at the shop with Jennifer.  It was to be Jennifers first "alone" closing and I was there just to be there should she need me.  Ron was on overtime, we both were looking forward to the annual Farmers Insurance picnic this night.  Free Food! Who doesn't love that? And then Sammy called.  The smoke from the fires was not visible from the shop, we do not have local TV or radio at the shop, we were working  in total oblivion, until Sammy called.  I was able to drive to Riverside Golf Course, but road barriers were set up and the police would not let me go further.  Riverside is still 2 miles from the house.  I parked in the golf course parking lot and took off running.  I was afraid the police would stop me from walking towards the fire, but they didn't.  When I got to the grade school, yet another barrier was set and they would not let anyone through.  So I ran through the school yard and back to the nature pond.  The smoke was very thick and I had planned on soaking my shirt in the pond to breathe through but there were so many people with lawn chairs, just watching, that I just kept going, along the railroad tracks and into the country club.  Then I saw a Police motorcycle and a police cruiser along the golf course sidewalks.  I took off my sandals and ran as fast as I could hoping they would not stop me! But they did spot me and called out on their speakers for me to stop. I just kept running.  A cruiser swung right in front of me as I hit fruitwood Lane and when the police man jumped out of his car I pointed at the house and yelled "That is my house and my dogs are there and I am not leaving without them!"  Four other cruisers zoomed up and when the officers jumped out of their cars, the one explained what was up and next thing I know, 4 officers were helping me break into the house to rescue the girls!  The girls were terrified and covered with ash, the smoke was so thick and the air was hot and oppressive.  Then the officers made sure the girls and I were safely in the lumina and on our way.

I had been in contact with Ron at first and he knew I was attempting to get to the girls.  But the cell lines were overloaded and calls and texts stopped going through, so even though I had sent a "We are Safe" text when my call did not go through, Ron did not receive it.  And so, after being stopped at one barrier and told that he could not go further, (Ron asked if they would try to stop him if he took off through the field and ran home.  He was advised not to do that), Ron tried another way.  Somehow HE managed to drive to the school, where he then took off running the same way I had been, by the pond, over the rr tracks and through the country club.  When he made it to the house, he saw the broken screen and the cracked open window and knew I had been there and the girls were safe.  He THEN gets on Joy (my scooter) and zooms off BACK through the country club!  He almost sent Joy and himself into the portneuf river when he was maneuvering around wire fencing trying to get onto the greenway trails, but once on the trails he zoomed back to the school.  He said later he felt just like Steve McQueen in the "Great Escape"!

I was back at Riverside where I had the Yukon and the girls and water for them.  I also had the lumina, and when Ron and I were finally able to get a hold of each other, he was at the school with the scooter and the MG.  What a fiasco.  We managed to get all the vehicles in one place and then took up a vigil with all of the other displaced people.

All in a row

The blue awning is the Chevron station just one block from the house

This is the type of smoke I was running through to get to the girls. This is why they were terrified. Understandable.

We are sitting in the soccer field behind the grade school

There is only so much waiting a person can do when you are watching from afar your life possibly changing.  So when night fell, the four of us decided to sneak back into our neighborhood and assess the damage.  Back along the pond, down the trail, past the obvious "Joy" tire rut headed straight for the river, through the country club we all went.  We arrived to a house still standing, reeking of smoke and ash, but standing.  We found flashlights and put together a few overnight things and then we 4 made our way back through the country club, along the trail and back to the car.  As we left our house behind us, we checked around the street corner to see what we could see,  What we could see was FIRE, directly across the highway

It is a bit shaky because I switched my camera to no flash, and because I was physically and mental stretched to my limit.

We checked into a hotel around midnight, a room with two queen beds, lifted Gracie onto one, Jackie followed and they immediately settled in and fell asleep.

We were up before six, and since our hotel was right across from the coffee shop, I took the girls for coffee while Ron showered.  At the shop, we quickly exchanged stories, got hugs all around, and went back for Ron.  We were allowed into our neighborhood mid-morning.  These next photos are what we were greeted with.

fire trucks and fire men at the ready for hot spots

The South entrance of Fruitwood Lane

The North entrance of Fruitwood lane

The town homes directly across the highway

We were able to enter our neighborhood, but further on up the canyon is closed and will be for several more days

Some lucky home owners!

Ron went into work and the girls and I stayed home to clean up ash.

All around us, ash.  I watered the lawn to help hold down the ash and the entire yard smelled like I was dumping water on a camp fire.  All the neighbors watered today!  Some of the sprinklers were placed on top of their shake roofs!

As the day wore on, more stories were told: 

Our neighbor was home when the evacuation was called.  There was a knock on her door and her 14 year old son answered.  The police officer who was there just said "You have five seconds to get the Fuck out of here", When she went to the door and asked how long do they really have, his reply was "five fucking seconds".  She had her son drive one of their vehicles out of danger and he took a wrong turn directly into the fire line.  He had the truck windows down and was just feet from the flames.  The hair on his arms was totally seared off.  An officer pulled him over and asked if he was old enough to be driving.  When he said no he was not,  the officer stepped back and said, Be Careful, son.

There is a report of an elderly neighbor who lives in this neighborhood refusing to leave because she couldn't locate her cats.  The officers located the cats and then had to physically carry the woman out of her house and place her in a cruiser to get her to leave. 

A man who was handcuffed because he would not leave his home and a woman who drove through a barricade to get to her pets and was later fined. 

On our sneaks into our home, we passed neighbors sneaking into theirs as well and on one news station a reporter stated that the rescue personnel would certainly appreciate if the "sneakers" would quit sneaking into the fire zone!

I am sure more stories will flood forward as the days progress.

This I know:

When I left for work, I closed up the house and turned the AC on.  It was to be in the 90's that day.  Somehow, I did not lock the front windows. The same windows I was able to crawl through later to get to Gracie and Jackie.

If we were ever given the 5 fucking second warning again, Ron and Jackie would make it to safety.  Gracie and I would be toast.  "Really, Grandma, run? ok, wait, what is that smell! Run? ok, wait I have a itch, maybe I'll just sit a minute, run? really.  I would holler to Ron to call Gracie, and when he would HEAR me, and call her, she would concentrate on a wee run, for a spell, before another good sniff wafted her way!

Sam's home was saved.  All the houses below theirs are gone.  A total of 66 homes lost.

My sister always says, "Clean and Righteous living once again rewarded"!  And then we will grin - yea, right. 
          But this Day?  THIS DAY??
                    I would say................
                           Yea, Sis.
                                  Clean and Righteous living
                                           was rewarded.