So It Burns

Whelp.
My sister's family had quite the scare yesterday.
As in the afternoon a brush fire started up in the wilderness to the south of their neighborhood.
(cause not yet identified though fireworks/shooting is a high possibility though lightning was originally stated as the original cause than retracted) 

And a fire isn't a major thing if it's away from houses.
However.
The winds had shifted.
Sending the fire burning directly towards the south end of the city where my sister now resides. 

And it was moving quick enough that it was basically a "grab and go!" sort of thing.
Where they had to evacuate.
Where they didn't know if their house would still be standing at the end of the day. 

Which has to be stressful as Kikay and Husband had just purchased that house in February. Like you don't want to lose your home, especially if you just bought it.

I was hopeful that their house would remain intact.
As it wasn't directly against the wilderness.
But was a few houses in from the edge of the city.

But like...the fire was crazy.
Covered the entire valley in a thick haze of smoke where you couldn't see the mountains at all.
And 31,000 homes had to evacuate because the fire was threatening them.
That was like a third of the city that my sister lives in. :S

And it was hard because I felt so helpless living on the otherside of the lake from her.
Because I was close but not near enough to help really.

She and family made it safely out though.
And headed up to Husband's family to stay until they got word on when they could return to their home.

And since the extended family is a couple of valleys away.
I was the only one left with direct eyes on the fire.
(or the smoke because whew it was smokey) 

So I spent the evening yesterday keeping up with social media coverage on the fire and updating family as I got news.
I also drove up to the top of my street where I had a clearer view across the lake so I could see how the fire--smoke clouds-- were moving and such.

So yah. 
Stressful day.

But the good news is that only one home was lost outside of the city limits.
Within the city itself only around 12 homes were damaged along the fireline.
While 19 or so experienced property damage (melted fences, destroyed sheds) 

But with a miraculous change of the winds, the fire burned away from homes at the last minute and headed up the mountain instead. 

But it was also the work of one of my sister's neighbors who helped to save their neighborhood.
As this neighbor knew how to work construction equipment and there happened to be such equipment nearby and so he hopped onto a small bulldozer and plowed a five acre barrier between the houses and the fire creating a firebreak that allowed the houses in her area to remain safe and let firefighters focus more of their attention on the west side where more houses were threatened. 

Thankfully Kikay was able to return home this evening.
And her house is untouched. Doesn't even smell like smoke inside.
Which is great!!

I was confident her house would be safe since it wasn't directly along the edge of the city, but I'm sure seeing for yourself that the fire hadn't touched it is definitely helpful. 

But it's crazy to see her pictures of just how close the fire got. Just how much was burned. 
Like the fire is at 13,000 acres currently and only like 30% contained. :S :S :S Soooo yah. 
Craziness.

I'm thankful she was able to return home though to a house without any damage.
Even if the air outside is gonna smell like smoke/campfire for a while.

Of course. It's not an unfamiliar smell to her.
Since we had a close scare...what three years ago now? Where the house we were staying at nearly caught fire when the hill behind the house caught fire.

So Kikay was able to use experiences from that day to help yesterday when she had to quickly evacuate.
Like close all the windows and doors and turn on the sprinklers to get the lawn wet and such.

But yah.
Scary times.

I'm grateful it turned out alright. 

Until you next see these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi