Saturday I heard fire trucks heading north on the highway and I found out there was a small fire just south of Lower Lake. I started following the fire and it became apparent it was growing and could become a major fire. Unfortunately it was burning out of control and many peoples homes were threatened. Steve happened to be home and we turned on his radio to keep track of the fire. It was scary to hear the fire growing in size and to start moving in our direction.
I kept going outside watching the smoke, it would shoot up big columns and then die back down. While I knew exactly where the fire was and I knew it was still pretty far from us it brought back a lot of anxiety and fear left over from the Valley Fire last year.
I kept nervously checking my phone as the evacuation orders kept coming in for areas closer and closer to us (though still quite a distance away).
The next day the fire had calmed down some and the firefighters worked hard to try and gain some ground on the fire. We went to church like normal and we drove past where the fire had started and could see where it was still burning. During the 3rd hour of church I started getting notifications on my phone that indicated the fire was getting very active and things were starting to get out of control. We decided to stay after church for Maggie's baptism despite the huge smoke clouds we could see. The baptism had barely begun when our phones starting going off like crazy with emergency notifications with evacuation orders coming in for Lower Lake, and roads starting to close.
We left as soon as the baptism was over, we knew we were safe at the church but I was worried the fire would close the road home. As we got into the car I told the girls that we would be seeing a big fire but that we would be safe and the firefighters were working hard to stop the fire.
The drive home was terrifying and all too familiar, we could the town of Lower Lake was on fire as we drove through. The girls loved watching fire spotter planes and tankers flying overhead and making drops on the town and I tried to make it a game watching for each plane while we waited for traffic control to let us through. It kept the girls distracted and I tried to stay calm for them. I was so very glad when we made it through Lower Lake and even more relieved when I made it home.
The fire raged out of control that afternoon and burned large sections of Lower Lake.
Ally brought this note home from school, a sad necessity given all the fires we have had in our area. Having another devastating fire so close to us and having the memories of the Valley fire still so much a part of us has brought back a memories and feelings that have been hard to deal with. I feel for the people in Lower Lake, I know exactly how they feel.
No comments:
Post a Comment