Our Too Close For Comfort Close Call

I finally got out to take some pictures today. It's been a crazy few days. The insurance adjuster was here yesterday and that seemed to go well. Our company, Chris and April flew out last night and little Kean has turned a corner. No more breathing treatments. I think he's gotten all the smoke and gunk out of his lungs. The pics are in a helter skelter kind of order-- but I'll see if I can make some sense of our latest "adventure". And here seems to be a good place to ask our friends to stop calling us "cousin of Job". We're ready to pass the gauntlet onto someone else for a while. :)
Here we go...
Last Wednesday (July 28th), I was in the middle of a therapy session with Kean when we smelled smoke. I went outside and the girls excitedly told me they had just seen lightning strike way over there in the hills-- and sure enough there was smoke. This was the way it looked most of the afternoon.
My mom had taken the older girls to her house. I put Kean and Reese down for a nap and kept checking on the fire. I wasn't really worried. It seemed under control. I listened to the news and fielded countless phone calls-- one from Ron Moomey who is a retired Fire Chief. We talked about the fire-- how it was heading away from us, those fighting it had cut good fire lines and there were some natural breaks between us and the flames. And most important (I thought) was the fact, the current Eagle Battalion Fire Chief lived on the next ridge over from us-- in between us and the fire. There was no way he'd let it burn through his house to get to us! It would flare up a bit, then seem to die down. Byron even came home and thought it was nothing to worry about.

Byron went over to help a friend fix a pump. Meanwhile, my childhood friend, April and her husband flew into town, rented a car and showed up at my house around 3pm. We took their luggage into the house and then stood up on the front porch talking about the fire clear over on the other side of the hills. While we were standing there, everything changed!

The winds suddenly picked up (they were about 30 mph by the time the fire hit our place), and the fire exploded. I ran into the house and called Byron to come home NOW! He had me start packing a few things (I grabbed a change of clothes, diapers, wipes, formula, bottles, the lap top etc.). I remember being calm as I ran around gathering up stuff to get us through the night. I figured we'd be home in a day or two.

It took him 5 minutes to get home. And about the time he got there is the time he started yelling for us to get the kids, the dog, the rabbit and to go!

Chris and April saved me. They got Reese, Zoe and Roxie our rabbit loaded into their rental car while I grabbed a few things and woke up Kean. I grabbed him and ran out the front door. Byron had already moved my car around back and parked it in the middle of the lawn. It was so loud with helicopters, sirens and the wind-- that I couldn't hear him. Plus the smoke was thick, it was hard to breathe and it was so dark it seemed like nightime. I remember burning ash flying around us. I got to my car and put Kean in the back (unbuckled) and started driving. That's when I lost it. I drove around to our West side and saw a wall of flames coming over the hill towards us (the hill where the Fire Battalion Chief's house sat). As I drove around the North side, I looked up in the hills (three houses up from us) and the hills were all on fire. I had this sick feeling I was leaving everything behind to be consumed by the fire. As we left, Byron was frantically moving the 4 wheeler, the camp trailer, cars, tractors etc. to the middle of the lawn.

I hoped he would meet us, but knew he would stay and face the flames. Byron is the person I trust most in the world to know exactly what to do to save our home -- if possible-- and without putting his life at risk. But I was still scared.
I drove down the hill to the street and since April and Chris were a bit slower, I pulled over in front of our mailbox and jumped out to buckle up Kean. A fire truck pulled to my side and a fireman got out to ask me if I was okay. I was so emotional and shaking so badly, I could hardly get Kean's buckles to click. I looked behind me to see if Chris and April had pulled up-- they had-- but so had about 7 other cars and horse trailers... all waiting for me to get going! I really panicked then. The fireman told me to take care of Kean and he'd move his truck so they could go around.

Finally, I finished and started driving. It was chaos! Everyone was trying to evacuate. Emergency vehicles and power company trucks were trying to get in. Planes and helicopters were flying, sirens were going off and of course, there was choking smoke and ash.

We couldn't get to my mom's house, so I went to my friends-- Danielle and Mike Binghams. They were welcoming, wonderful and comforting! Thank you!

We got everyone (and the animals) settled. Then Chris went back to try and help Byron. Here's the funny thing, he took his car-- with half the stuff I had rescued from our house-- back to the fire! Sigh.
The authorities had set up blockades-- but Chris, in the chaos snuck through. He got to Byron after much of the blaze had burned through-- but he worked on hot spots and helped keep the flames from our neighbor's house at bay.

Byron said he got as much moved as possible, started working the hoses trying to wet things down (until the power company shut everything off-- which meant our well stopped working). He said before the flames hit, he saw countless animals-- foxes, badgers, gophers, snakes etc. running for their lives. Then came a wall of grasshoppers (which to this day are EVERYWHERE)!

The fire moved quickly, first eating up the land on the South side of our property-- that's Grandpa Bodily's. Byron and several friends and neighbors worked to put it out. It burned right up to the edge of Grandpa Bodily's garden and stopped.

Then it came at our place from the West. Byron said it was a 20 foot wall of fire (Lee Bodily says it was more like 25 to 30 feet tall). It gobbled up our 11 acres in minutes. Here's the miraculous part-- the fire stopped about a yard and a half from our propane tank. Thankfully, Byron had previously cut a line through the brush with the tractor and spent a small fortune in Roundup, killing weeds and wild grass.

The fire also came at us from the North. It burned to the ground the two homes to the North of us-- that includes our dear neighbor, Nancy just above us. She's the one who helped "steal" all the birthday presents at Greer's party. Our hearts hurt for her. She got out with only her purse, her cat, her wedding rings and a couple of framed baby pictures. She had lived there 33 years.

And finally, unbeknownst to the guys, the fire came at us from the East. It burned a swath through our front dry pasture. But no one knew about it-- since they were so busy fighting it on the other sides. We were told later, a fire truck put out the front section. Byron says he never saw a single fire fighter (other than friends and neighbors-- many who had to cut through fields to sneak in to help)!
Byron called me when it was safe for us to come up. April and I were followed by a local news crew. Here's my hero/husband getting interviewed.

For this picture, you might need to click on it to enlarge it. Over the trees of our house is a helicopter that had just dumped water on Nancy's house. There was no effort to save her home. It was disgusting. But once it had burned to her ground-- there was a constant stream of choppers that dropped water on the hot spots. That's April in the black.

Here's another shot of a chopper. That's our garage and our pole barn. The trees behind the barn is where Nancy's house was.

These pictures are all jumbled up-- but the trees on the left are where Nancy's house was. The trees on the right are where the other house was. Our neighbors who lived there had just sold it. The new owners had moved in but we had not met them. Both were still smoking the next day.

Here's Holland and Greer the next morning when we walked up to see what was left of Nancy's beautiful home.

This is taken from the back (West) side of our property. The 3 rail fence is our place. The burned fence was Nancy's stucco and rock wall.

Sunday night Chris went out and hit a couple of golf balls into the blackened land or as I like to call it-- "the black nine". With all the excitement, he somehow didn't get any golfing in. He kept saying that this experience somehow was not included in the brochures on vacationing in "Scenic Idaho".

This is our back property, which goes down to a street between our place and the next hill over there. One of the four homes that burned was nestled in those trees in the middle of the picture. The white house on the right is owned by that Eagle Fire Battalion Chief. So much for my theory! When I evacuated, I could see the flames cresting over this hill.

The wall of fire burned up to this fence. It didn't burn our garden-- but it cooked our raspberries and blackberries and a few fruit trees. The girls were devastated. They had a list of customers who were going to buy their berries. The money was for their 2011 Disneyland fund. They sobbed-- but stopped when I reminded them we still had our home.

Here's another look at our back 11 acres that burned. We also lost the old trailer next to the fence. It was pretty much used as a "secret fort" for the girls.

This picture shows how the fire came up and stopped right at our propane tank. If you don't think miracles exist in this day and age-- come visit this spot.

Another shot looking West over our back acreage. The fire burned all around several homes. It is beyond amazing that only 4 homes were lost. It looks like a lunar landscape with little islands of homes and grass popping up here and there.

This is above our two neighbors' homes that burned. All the white vinyl fencing just melted.

This is the house at the top of the hill. (The one we so affectionately refer to as the Dracula house). When I fled with the kids and pets-- the flames where everywhere up here.

This picture is taken from the top of our street, looking over the charred hills and home that are back in behind us.

Notice how the fire burned right up to the front door of this house!

This is the second house above us that was burned. It used to sit up in those trees.

And here's a picture of where Nancy's house once stood-- taken from the street.

See that black burn mark? That's the front of our property that caught on fire and Byron didn't even know-- since he was fighting the flames over on the West, South and North sides.

Here's a picture of the people who live across the street from us. The fire jumped the street and burned the back (far) side of the hill. It gobbled up several barns and cars. This neighbor lost all of their out buildings, a barn and a Porche.

This is the 4th house that burned in the fire. It devoured approximately 6 thousand acres.

I understand the people here were renting and did not have renters insurance. They have truly, truly lost everything. But I understand a lot of people are coming forward to help them and the others who lost their homes.

Here's a look from the South and West of our property. That's our house, garage and barn up there.

This is from the same angle. I wish I had aerials. The hills surrounding us are so very, very black.

But with the smoke cleared we can clearly see the Lord's hand in saving so many homes and lives.

We have much to be thankful for!