Trey saw the smoke and said, "Aww, mom, I don't want to get our pumpkin from the store this year! I want to go to the pumpkin patch!" We had to skip our yearly tradition last year because the fires caused the air quality to be so poor for the whole county and ended up at Albertson's 'pumpkin patch'. Poor kid. We came home, did our routine thing and I went outside to watch it. My eyes started running because of the force of the wind, and it even managed to push me hard enough that I had to readjust my stance. Then I noticed the planes; the super scooper planes that flew back and forth between the Pacific and the fire and dumped hundreds of gallons of water on the flames. The wind continued, the flames spread and we suddenly had extra traffic on our street trying to get a view of the spectacle. I even noticed a passenger with her video camera hanging out the window and she was smiling at all the excitement. Yeah, really entertaining!
This photo was snagged from the local news website:
I’d move back and forth between the back yard and keeping an eye on the fire and coming in the house to pull pictures off the walls, get important papers together, old journals and a change of clothes in case we needed to leave the house. Within five minutes, one of the fires spread a half mile up the ridgeline of the hill less than a mile away. Fortunately, the wind shifted at the right time and started to move west instead of directly toward us.
Quickly moving west
View from my back yard
View from my front yard
The fire continued to burn into the night and the rest of this hill is now scorched black. All of the greenery below is part of a nature preserve. CalFires did an awesome job and made sure everyone was safe.
Fortunately, this fire is no longer a threat, but the month is young! We got an automated phone call from the school district last night notifying us that Trey's school would be closed today. I figured this must be what it's like to get notification that the school is having a snow day, but way less fun.
Good times!
7 comments:
Oh my gosh! Those pictures are so scary! It makes it look like your backyard is on fire! I am glad it is under control and am just praying we don't have a repeat of last year.
I am so glad you guys are okay. I thought about you all when I heard about this on the news. Stay safe.
Those pictures are CRAZY.I am so glad the fire decided to head the other direction. I will be praying it stays that way but in the event you need somewhere to go make sure you head to our house :)
Holy cow Jen! That one pic from your front yard is scary looking. Love you guys!!!
PJ, I just finally got a chance to check out your new layout. I like it. I likeitalot. I love you and hope you are able to survive the next few days... we're almost there!
Wow! That is crazy.
And snow days are WAY more fun than "ash" days.
We live in Michigan, and have those snow days all the time. I think I'd take the snow over a fire any day. That looks really scary. Especially the pic with the smoke billowing behind the front of your house. Glad you're safe.
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