You haven’t heard from me in a few days because we came very close to losing our home from a fire set by transients’ campfire a few blocks away. I awoke around 1:15 and smelled smoke. Looking out the window I saw flames leaping above the trees apparently 2 blocks away. Actually as the crow flies it was around 8 blocks away. Hard to tell in the middle of the night. Fire crews could do nothing until morning because of the darkness and steep terrain. I spent the rest of the night monitoring the flames leaping and subsiding, and then leaping again and morphing into 2 fires. At 6 AM we got the emergency call to pre-evacuate; that is, pack and be ready to go.
The smoke was terrible–worse than any London fog. I couldn’t see anything. By 7, the planes were dousing the fire and fire crews on the ground. Three days later now, it’s just mopping up. I have an eye infection, red eyes and a lot of ash to clean up. But my cough is going away and the house and everyone in it is safe. This one was too close for comfort.
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