the oak fire

the oak fire started in midpines at about 2:10pm on friday, july 22.

we saw a couple fire trucks blow past the house with lights and sirens so i got on the local fire info page on facebook and tuned into an online emergency scanner.  from scanner chatter and the plume of smoke that became visible very shortly after the fire started it was clear this fire had the potential to do a lot of damage.  we watched and listened a little longer.  i heard the phrase "dangerous rate of spread".  the fire was growing and moving rapidly and the wind was not in our favor.

we started preparing to evacuate.

about 2 hrs later the fire had traveled about 3.5 - 4 miles and was ripping along the ridge behind us.  as mom and i were loading the ducks into the trailer helitankers hovered above us fighting a spot fire that had broken out on the neighboring property to the northeast.

vehicles loaded and everyone accounted for.  i took one last look around as i walked out to get into my truck and without feeling any hope or fear i told the gardens and woods around me "do your best".  

mom went to my aunt's place in chowchilla.  zane and i towed the duck trailer in my truck and staal, benji, and blackie followed us in the car to the friedland ranch.

we got word from a neighbor who had stayed that our place was still standing.  he sent us this picture:

we were allowed to return 8 days after evacuating.  the power had gone out about an hour after the fire started and wasn't restored until 3 days after we returned.  we did fine running the generator occasionally and using an ice chest my aunt loaned us.

the fire consumed nearly 20,000 acres.  many homes were destroyed, including several very close to ours.  

i'm grateful we're all safe. i'm grateful mom's house wasn't damaged.  i'm grateful staal and i  had a safe place to take the animals and grateful they had a home we could bring them back to.  i'm grateful for everyone who worked to fight the fire, keep people safe, and put things back together.