Well. So, last year North Central WA got off pretty easy with the wild fires... and, as always seems to happen, it's been making up for it this year. We've had a crazy number of them so far, and meanwhile, I've been eyeballing the
wheat field across the main road from us and waiting for it to happen... so last night lightening struck at the top of this field. We got in the car and went up to check it out.
One of the first things we noticed was that the wind was blowing... really hard. In the direction of our neighborhood. Concerning....
Then the
helicopters came to get their buckets. Did you know that the
helicopters get their buckets from the scene of the fire and then fill them up?! Me neither.
Driving back home... it was moving really quickly.
So we got home, and waited. And before we knew it.... this was the view from our back window.
And these guys were flying overhead. And we had sheriff's deputies, and
EMT's and 8 fire trucks and approximately 4 million
lookie-loos in our neighborhood. Which is very annoying. Especially when they leave their cars parked in front of fire
hydrants that could potentially put out a fire on your house or your neighbors. So then they started booting the
lookie-loos, and digging trenches around the houses at the edge of the neighborhood... and bulldozing... and I started packing the keepsakes, and the essentials, and taking pictures of everything in our house in case insurance forms needed to be filled out.
and twilight happened... and still it got closer...
And it looked like this from our back door...
and the wind was still blowing really hard... and we were praying really hard...
And at this point there's nothing you can do but wait and see... but thankfully it was fully dark, and the wind had died back a bit. We all turned our sprinklers on.
From our bedroom window... the whole house was glowing orange.
Finally they
backlit, and that seemed to help a lot. The wind mostly died down, and I stayed up late... until about 1:30 am, and it was fully black outside when I went to bed. It ended up being approximately 2000 acres. Today we've still got folks driving through our neighborhood, and on the road like crazy... but other than dragging a little this morning and unloading
Rovey it's been normal enough. Most of all though, I've spent today feeling so very thankful for the goodness of God, for firefighters, for good friends in
Wenatchee who immediately offered us a place to stay if we needed it, and really good neighbors.
And, really hoping that farmer had insurance on his wheat crop.... because that makes me feel sick every time I think about it.
One of the first things we noticed was that the wind was blowing... really hard. In the direction of our neighborhood. Concerning....
Then the helicopters came to get their buckets. Did you know that the helicopters get their buckets from the scene of the fire and then fill them up?! Me neither.
Driving back home... it was moving really quickly.
So we got home, and waited. And before we knew it.... this was the view from our back window.
And these guys were flying overhead. And we had sheriff's deputies, and EMT's and 8 fire trucks and approximately 4 million lookie-loos in our neighborhood. Which is very annoying. Especially when they leave their cars parked in front of fire hydrants that could potentially put out a fire on your house or your neighbors. So then they started booting the lookie-loos, and digging trenches around the houses at the edge of the neighborhood... and bulldozing... and I started packing the keepsakes, and the essentials, and taking pictures of everything in our house in case insurance forms needed to be filled out.
and twilight happened... and still it got closer...
And it looked like this from our back door... 
and the wind was still blowing really hard... and we were praying really hard...
And at this point there's nothing you can do but wait and see... but thankfully it was fully dark, and the wind had died back a bit. We all turned our sprinklers on. 
From our bedroom window... the whole house was glowing orange. 
Finally they backlit, and that seemed to help a lot. The wind mostly died down, and I stayed up late... until about 1:30 am, and it was fully black outside when I went to bed. It ended up being approximately 2000 acres. Today we've still got folks driving through our neighborhood, and on the road like crazy... but other than dragging a little this morning and unloading Rovey it's been normal enough. Most of all though, I've spent today feeling so very thankful for the goodness of God, for firefighters, for good friends in Wenatchee who immediately offered us a place to stay if we needed it, and really good neighbors. 
And, really hoping that farmer had insurance on his wheat crop.... because that makes me feel sick every time I think about it. 
Glad you're all safe. Praying for the farmer.
ReplyDeleteWhew. Great photo journaling there. Glad you're all safe!
ReplyDeleteWow, I know the feeling. We had a fire a while back come up the back hills and end about 300 feet from the houses and it made me put into perspective what is important to grap and what isn't. I'm glad you guys are safe!
ReplyDeleteWhew! Glad you guys are ok!
ReplyDeleteSO scary! Praise the Lord for keeping you safe, wildfires are a mess. Those pics are amazing!!!
ReplyDeleteWhoa, that's pretty heavy. Thank heavens you guys are okay. The Lord was surely watching over you and your little family! And the wheat, that poor farmer. :(
ReplyDeleteWhat a HORRIBLE feeling to see that monster coming toward your house and know that, if it gets that far, there's nothing you can do about it. I was praying for you guys, too, and couldn't beLIEVE it was that close.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great relief - and SOME GORGEOUS shots. You should sell those to the news media!
And I did know about the buckets and the location and the fire. Grizzly was a wild-land fire fighter for our first several years together and used to get dropped into the hot zone by helicopter at times. And then my younger brother (who I don't really know well - long story) was a helicopter pilot who scooped the buckets. I know many times Grizzly had people hugging him, kissing him, and thanking him for the work the guys did. He still gets antsy to go when he smells smoke on the air. :)
Good gravy! That's the kind of drama you can do without! That fire was just too close for comfort! Yikes! I'm SO glad ya'll are safe! Those pictures are amazing, but I don't ever want to have the opportunity to take any like that! Praise God that no homes were destroyed or lives lost although I pray that the farmer has insurance too! Praying for rain for ya'll!
ReplyDeleteThat poor farmer. :( But thank the Lord ya'll are ok! How scary.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness. What a crazy day for your family! I'm so glad your you and your house were safe.
ReplyDeleteNaomi I was so worried about you and your family and neighbors! I said some prayers for you. I grew up in the mountains of California and we had to evacuate every year. It was always very scary!! So happy everything is okay, I can still smell that smell.
ReplyDeleteHi! I saw your comment on my blog! Thanks for checking it out. I am so glad you did! Your blog pics are beautiful. I am excited to look through everything.
ReplyDeleteSo thankful that you were all protected during the wildfire. God is so good.
Wow, a little too close to home, literally! I am glad your community is okay and everyone is safe. Amazing photos.
ReplyDeleteThat was SO CLOSE TO YOU! Gah. Your pictures are amazing; I can't even imagine what you must have been feeling! You always have a place in Texas.... I hope he had insurance as well, how devastating!
ReplyDelete