We had a fire. It started with a couple of guys who were up on the mountain shooting exploding targets. Unfortunately, the fire got out of hand before it could be put out. We went to bed on Friday night and there was a lot of smoke, but the fire was still on the other side of the mountain. When we woke up, it could be seen on our side. By 9:30am it was moving fast down the mountain- towards the homes in our neighborhood. This all happened on June 19th. Brandon and I were scheduled to fly to Scandinavia the following day at 7am. Talk about a stressful day! I had a feeling we were going to get evacuated, so I had the kids gather their most important possessions.
Of course, they had all kinds of questions and were a little nervous. Then they got excited and started gathering things like video games, stuffed animals, and the Wii. I think the neighbor boys who were here playing thought we were crazy. But I had a reason for being overly cautious. If they evacuated us it was going to be fast and we were supposed to be leaving the country for 14 DAYS in less than 24 hours. We had to be prepared. We spent the morning and afternoon simultaneously watching out the back windows and trying to pack for the trip and trying to figure out what our most precious possessions are.
Sure enough, at about 2pm the police were driving around our neighborhood telling everyone via loudspeaker that we had to leave. We started packing both cars and watched as our neighborhood became deserted except for volunteers in bright vests. They were knocking on doors and marking them when they knew everyone was out. It was a little creepy. I was stressing about everything. I had planned on spending the day running errands to grab the last minute travel essentials, not to mention buying all the groceries the kids and Nana and the twins were going to need while we were gone. Oh yes, I didn't mention that Nana was coming in that day so she could stay with the kids.
My mom graciously agreed to take us all in, including Nana and the twins. She also agreed to run my errands for me. We left our neighborhood in a long line of cars. Lots of people leaving and no one being let back in. Again, creepy. I should take a moment to mention that we weren't personally worried about our house burning down. With the big park behind us, and lots of houses between the fire and us, we just didn't think we had a problem.
We did spend the day wondering if we should leave in the morning or stay and make sure Nana and the kids got settled back at home. But, the first 5 days of the trip were a cruise through the Baltic over to Russia to visit St. Petersburg. It was the part of the trip I was most excited about.
Nana arrived at my mom's house and we got her and the kids settled for as long as they needed to stay. In the morning we woke up early and left for the airport.
The fire was only 10% contained when we left, but they were managing to keep it away from all the homes. It got so so close to some homes, but the amazing firefighters managed to save every single home. The kids and Nana were able to get back home on Saturday night. The fire was completely put out a few days later.
This was quite the experience for our family. I've never seen something so crazy so close to my home. We walked up to the trail head of the mountain that is behind our house and the flames were only about 1/2 mile away. I will never forget it.
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