Life in Geezerville: Fire Edition

 

That picture was taken 6 years ago, about noon, from my house, after the Camp Fire in Northern California destroyed the town of Paradise and killed 86 people. The air was dense with orange smoke...houses and barns and schools and businesses were burned to the ground. Cars couldn't move as their tires had melted. The place smelled of smoke and despair. The town of Paradise pulsed with sadness and desperation.

Given that, I might feel the fires in Southern California with more intensity than other folks. We survived the Camp Fire. Our house did not burn. The fire stopped at my 499 gallon propane tank which was close to my home.

Our home was on 12 acres of land. It had 3 fire breaks. It was a stucco house with a tile roof. We had a cement apron around the house acting as yet another fire break. The fire broke through one of the fire breaks, but the others held. We had planned that house to withstand fire, and for the most part we succeeded. There was NO way to plan for smoke damage or the impossible air quality--air quality so bad we could not breathe without gasping for air. There was no way to plan for the loses that every local resident took.

I think of surviving that fire, with a house intact, and my heart goes out to the thousands of folks in SoCal who cannot say that. I have no idea what they are going to do? What their children are going to do? How are they going to get back to "normal" or when they will see "normal" again. I have so many questions that no one has started to answer.

It took us awhile to "get back on our feet" and we had minimal damage compared to the people in Paradise. We had a house, but we couldn't live in it as it was too smoky inside. Lucky for us, we had an RV that did not sustain much smoke damage from the fire (the fire stopped before it reached our barn where the RV was stored). We moved the RV to a non-smoky location and waited it out...then we moved the RV to our home RV space on the property and cleaned up the home. 

In the meantime, an army of FEMA folks were in town helping everyone out. FEMA did an excellent job. Six years later, Paradise is making a small comeback. Folks are moving back to their mountain home. It takes time. It takes healing. We left the area.

So, when I see pictures of the fires in SoCal my heart weeps for the survivors who are left with the aftermath. There's so much to do and a billion decisions to make. It's not political...it's human. The community in and around Paradise came together and helped each other...I hope that will happen in SoCal. The greater human community can help out too. We need to band together to help our fellow man. I wish them help; hope; humanity. I hope you do too. Remember, we're all in this together.