Friday was our 17th anniversary. It started as a normal day, BJ went to work, and Jayce went to school. I spent most of the morning catching up with a friend, then about 1pm my neighbor came by and informed me that there was a fire near our homes. I turned on the tv, nothing was on the news. I contacted the local fire dept. and they said that there were about 10 fire trucks on the scene and it was under control. After a short while, I was informed that we could possibly be evacuated. I contacted BJ and he decided he would come home to help get things packed, etc.
BJ arrived home and we packed the usual things such as important documents, clothing, etc. I also packed some collectables, and other odds and ends throughout our home. We had everything in totes near the door, ready to load if needed.
At one point, it seemed like it was dying down and we no longer needed to worry. However, a police officer came by and said that the fire was almost contained, but the wind picked up and it sparked again. He told us to be ready because if they decided to evacuate, we would have approximately 5 minutes to leave our home.
The wildfire burned over 38 acres of woods and was drawing closer to our neighborhood.
In the picture above you can see how close it is to our homes. The image below has been solarized so you can see the blaze of the flames within the smoke cloud.
It was getting very intense.
Choppers and planes were flying overhead dropping water and retardant to battle the fire. It became so large burning over 250 acres of land.
The fire was approaching our homes and the smoke was getting stronger.
Again, the image above was solarized so you can see the vigor of the blaze and smoke.
Emergency vehicles drove by with bullhorns announcing for everyone to leave. The police also went door to door making sure everyone was going to leave. We went to the Marriott after checking in with the Red Cross as instructed. We were up late waiting to hear news about our neighborhood. Finally, went to bed and woke up to good news, our neighbors called and texted us that our home was fine, thank goodness! What an anniversary to remember.
