Wildfires!

Hi ya all, 

It's been a warm day. Actually it's been a warm month. A hot, dry, wind has been blowing for a few weeks, causing everything to become super dry, and flammable.

 There's been wildfires everywhere in the state where I live. It's been crazy. Today, a fire blazed up in a mountain not too many miles from where I live.  I watched it get bigger and bigger from my yard. My mom called my aunt who lives on the mountain where the fire was heading. She said they'd been issued an evacuation warning or something. We figured that they'd be okay, and the firemen would get it out. 

We watched the fire get bigger. We got worried, so we called my aunt again, but we couldn't get through. The cell phones weren't working. So we jumped in the truck and headed for the mountain. The regular way to get up to the mountain was blocked by policemen, so we went through a detour, into an area that had been previously burned by a different wildfire. It was crazy because the previous wildfire had burned down power-lines, so power lines were strung every which way. One power guy stood in the middle of the road holding up a line that had crossed the road, with a special stick, so that cars could pass. I felt bad for him, because holding that wire above his head looked like a tough job, especially in the heat. 

The closer we got into the town, the darker it got. The sun was blocked out by smoke, and a yellow haze enveloped us. It was kinda creepy. The smoke got so bad we put face masks on, and headed towards my aunt's house. 

My aunt was busy packing up some of her things, but she didn't really want us to take too much of her stuff. 

A mandatory evacuation had been issued, and everybody was supposed to get out of the town fast. We were worried that some of my aunt's old neighbors hadn't gotten the memo, so we (my sister, Bessie, and Laurie) ran down the street, banging on doors, and offering to help anybody who needed help packing.

 There were a couple old ladies who didn't know that they were supposed to leave. They looked rather irritated at us and we felt rather silly---being overly helpful.

 We went around the block knocking on doors---whence we found an old man who told us that he was not leaving. He said he was going to stay with his house. Luckily his grandchildren arrived, and took over from there. Here's hoping he got out.

 By that time the smoke was getting so bad that my eyes were watering, and my lungs were burning. We decided to head back to my aunt's house, and get going. My sister's friend drove up and stopped by the side of the road to talk to us. I guess her dad's a firefighter, and got burned, and sent up to a burn center up north. I hope he is okay!

Anyway, all in all, we made to my aunt's house, after being told three times by police officers to get out of town. We packed up a few of my aunt's items, and took off. By this time all the roads were blocked, and they weren't letting anybody into the city, only out.

Phew, it's been a busy day. The reports say that no houses have been harmed yet. The city has no power, and they're not letting anybody into the city for a while. I don't know who would want back in, it's so smoky. 
I'm hoping that the wind doesn't come back tomorrow. Tonight, the whole mountain is lit up like a Christmas tree, and everybody is all wound up from the dramatics of the day.  

The people who don't have places to stay are going to be spending the night in the church. The Red Cross is putting up beds, and everybody is being super helpful. I guess McDonald's supplied everybody staying at the church with supper---chicken nuggets. Yum. :)  

So that's my story. 
I thought I'd tell it to you. Maybe I'm over dramatic. And perhaps I am. The truth is, when disaster strikes, we all want to help. We all want to feel like we are doing something, even if it's knocking on doors. 

Ha, there's a little green lace-wing bug marching across my computer screen--actually there's three bugs. One big green one, and two little ones. I wonder if they like the static? lol

So back to my story. This fire got me to thinking. What would you take if your house was on fire? What three things come to mind?  If you only had a small window of time to grab three items, what would those three things be? 

What do you value most? 

When we were trying to be helpful packing up my aunt's stuff into the car, she kept on saying, "Leave it, it's only stuff.  People are what's important." 

That is very true. Stuff is stuff. Everything we own is just fluff. Fluff doesn't last. You can't take fluff with you when you die. Fluff doesn't make you who you are---I hope. 
Fluff is highly flammable as well. It can vanish into ashes in just a short amount of time.

What would you take? 

I know what I would take.  Do you?