News/Autobiographical: Wild Fires
This is the first I've had internet in a couple days, yet I'm one of the lucky ones who still had power at my house. I live in Northern California, where if you have seen the news... you know that we have several devastating fires going on right now. I know friends in several of those fires who have now lost their homes. People have also lost their lives. The air at the moment is hazardous and people are advised to not only stay indoors but in the evacuated areas to also boil their water. You can get the numbers and official news online easily enough if you search... I'm going to take a moment to write down my personal experience and feelings in this blog. It may even help distract me from the pain in my lungs breathing this smoke.
My experience began at 4am the 9th when my neighbor (bless her) and someone I consider family was heard pounding on my door. I'm not exactly sure how long she had been out there knocking... but I know my dogs were barking at least a couple minutes before I relented from my sleep to get up. I still hesitated a moment, not sure who would be pounding on my door at such an hour. I've had experiences in the past where strangers need help and rush into my house for 911 followed by their assailants... so I am cautious by nature now. I finally opened the door though to hear her panicked explanation of what was going on. We had a fire not yet in town but right on the line, just north of us and it was spreading fast due to the very large wind storm we were having that night. I instantly felt empathy for her as she also went on to tell me about ANOTHER fire in the county down from us, where she has more family (and my friends) evacuating from fires as well! I later learned sadly that her daughter and their family lost their apartment. They had to evacuate with two children, one of them only recently having been born, and lost everything. The irony in that was... they were just about to move too. My heart is broken for them. So I gave her a hug and told her to come to my place if they needed water or anything, because I've stocked up just for these type situations. She returned home (a block over) and I went to check the news.
My net was down.
I had no way to check the news! Not only that, but our cable was out as well, so no news from local or state stations either. As I said before... I was one of the lucky ones to at least still have power; many of my friends were not as fortunate. I went into emergency mode and got my supplies and everything prepped by the door and in the car incase we had to leave, as well as made sure my phone was charging. That was when I remembered I could get to Facebook through my phone at least. So there, I managed to scroll through on my tiny screen (a very old LG tracfone) to try to find any news I could on the fires. It hadn't taken long for it to get worse. By morning, the fire had entered my town too, and the area the fire had started had not only been mandatorily evacuated, but several of my friends lost their homes (or are still waiting to SEE if they've lost them.) Roads were closed, and an entire section of the town was closed to the public.
Several people wisely chose to evacuate when the voluntary area was issued, however... our town and neighboring towns ran out of regular gas. Last I heard, only premium was left... and I don't know if that lasted or not. I can imagine any stores open were probably drained of their water and other resources too. Then I started to see news of looting and stabbings!! It always blows my mind that people resort to violence in these type situations. That is human nature though; fight or flight. So I also had to make sure my car and house were locked up and that if I had to go outside for any reason to take my dogs with me, just in case.
My Mom is elderly and disabled. If it came down to having to evacuate, it is not going to be easy to convince her. She has agoraphobia (fear of leaving the house) which has kept her in this house for years with maybe one or two brief trips outside. Her panic attacks are brutal, and she's almost 70 now. It scares me to think that in order to keep us alive, I may very well end up killing her with the stress by having us leave. Then there are the dogs we'd need to take with us, and my poor bird... who I know for a fact would die if I took him with me from a heart attack (cockatiels are notorious haters of being moved) so I would have to abandon him too. Don't worry, I do have a plan to give him his best options of survival if it did come down to having to leave. I'd never ever leave my animals trapped in a situation they can't escape from to face a horrible death.
As I write this blog, news has said that our fire (#SulphurFire) is about 10% contained and luckily the wind died down significantly. Our neighboring fires #Tubbs and #SR as well as one to the north of us in Mendicino Counties are still going strong. The air here is so bad. I made a plan in our house that blocks off the back from the front, where we have a fireplace that is letting smoke in. So where we are in the back, the air is more tolerable at least than the front of the house and the outside. I'm sensitive to smoke... always have been. My allergies are going crazy, my head is pounding, and my lungs are burning. Mom luckily doesn't seen too affected yet which eases my stress a little. I do have to go outside sometimes for the dogs and other things, but I've limited it to only when absolutely necessary.
So there is my story, for now. Things could change at any moment still. I may have to evacuate, I may not. As time moves forward, I'll read and learn of more and more heartbreaking news about my friends and community. I have plenty of horror stories in my mind of things that can still go wrong, but I'll spare you from my neurotic worries. Thank you for taking the time to read this. My story is mild compared to others; I'm fortunate so far, and thankful. My thoughts are with everyone in California affected right now. Be safe, stay strong, look out for one another.
My experience began at 4am the 9th when my neighbor (bless her) and someone I consider family was heard pounding on my door. I'm not exactly sure how long she had been out there knocking... but I know my dogs were barking at least a couple minutes before I relented from my sleep to get up. I still hesitated a moment, not sure who would be pounding on my door at such an hour. I've had experiences in the past where strangers need help and rush into my house for 911 followed by their assailants... so I am cautious by nature now. I finally opened the door though to hear her panicked explanation of what was going on. We had a fire not yet in town but right on the line, just north of us and it was spreading fast due to the very large wind storm we were having that night. I instantly felt empathy for her as she also went on to tell me about ANOTHER fire in the county down from us, where she has more family (and my friends) evacuating from fires as well! I later learned sadly that her daughter and their family lost their apartment. They had to evacuate with two children, one of them only recently having been born, and lost everything. The irony in that was... they were just about to move too. My heart is broken for them. So I gave her a hug and told her to come to my place if they needed water or anything, because I've stocked up just for these type situations. She returned home (a block over) and I went to check the news.
My net was down.
I had no way to check the news! Not only that, but our cable was out as well, so no news from local or state stations either. As I said before... I was one of the lucky ones to at least still have power; many of my friends were not as fortunate. I went into emergency mode and got my supplies and everything prepped by the door and in the car incase we had to leave, as well as made sure my phone was charging. That was when I remembered I could get to Facebook through my phone at least. So there, I managed to scroll through on my tiny screen (a very old LG tracfone) to try to find any news I could on the fires. It hadn't taken long for it to get worse. By morning, the fire had entered my town too, and the area the fire had started had not only been mandatorily evacuated, but several of my friends lost their homes (or are still waiting to SEE if they've lost them.) Roads were closed, and an entire section of the town was closed to the public.
Several people wisely chose to evacuate when the voluntary area was issued, however... our town and neighboring towns ran out of regular gas. Last I heard, only premium was left... and I don't know if that lasted or not. I can imagine any stores open were probably drained of their water and other resources too. Then I started to see news of looting and stabbings!! It always blows my mind that people resort to violence in these type situations. That is human nature though; fight or flight. So I also had to make sure my car and house were locked up and that if I had to go outside for any reason to take my dogs with me, just in case.
My Mom is elderly and disabled. If it came down to having to evacuate, it is not going to be easy to convince her. She has agoraphobia (fear of leaving the house) which has kept her in this house for years with maybe one or two brief trips outside. Her panic attacks are brutal, and she's almost 70 now. It scares me to think that in order to keep us alive, I may very well end up killing her with the stress by having us leave. Then there are the dogs we'd need to take with us, and my poor bird... who I know for a fact would die if I took him with me from a heart attack (cockatiels are notorious haters of being moved) so I would have to abandon him too. Don't worry, I do have a plan to give him his best options of survival if it did come down to having to leave. I'd never ever leave my animals trapped in a situation they can't escape from to face a horrible death.
As I write this blog, news has said that our fire (#SulphurFire) is about 10% contained and luckily the wind died down significantly. Our neighboring fires #Tubbs and #SR as well as one to the north of us in Mendicino Counties are still going strong. The air here is so bad. I made a plan in our house that blocks off the back from the front, where we have a fireplace that is letting smoke in. So where we are in the back, the air is more tolerable at least than the front of the house and the outside. I'm sensitive to smoke... always have been. My allergies are going crazy, my head is pounding, and my lungs are burning. Mom luckily doesn't seen too affected yet which eases my stress a little. I do have to go outside sometimes for the dogs and other things, but I've limited it to only when absolutely necessary.
So there is my story, for now. Things could change at any moment still. I may have to evacuate, I may not. As time moves forward, I'll read and learn of more and more heartbreaking news about my friends and community. I have plenty of horror stories in my mind of things that can still go wrong, but I'll spare you from my neurotic worries. Thank you for taking the time to read this. My story is mild compared to others; I'm fortunate so far, and thankful. My thoughts are with everyone in California affected right now. Be safe, stay strong, look out for one another.
Stay safe, Jess!
ReplyDeleteThinking of you! <3