Hi all!
In case you hadn't noticed, I haven't been around lately. I finally got a few minutes - and a decent internet connection - so I thought I'd share some of what I've been doing since Labor Day, Sept. 7.
I live, as many of you know, in the middle of Plumas National Forest. It's a beautiful spot to live and I love it dearly. On Sept. 8, however, it turned frightening in a quick second.
We had been without power since the evening before, when PG&E pulled the plug for a Public Safety Power Shutoff. Most of us have generators up here, so that wasn't too much of a problem. The problem came when the winds they had anticipated showed up and blew up the #NorthFire. The winds came out of the north and quickly drove the fire to the south. This has happened before, however, so we weren't too alarmed. There wasn't much smoke - it was actually blowing a little to the west of us.
Fast forward to about 2:30 pm. All of a sudden, the Yuba County Sheriff and our local fire department was telling everyone to "GET OUT. GET OUT NOW." One bad thing about PSPS up here? Our landlines phones are connected through an electrical relay system. If the power is out for more than 8 hours or so, the lines go dead until power is restored unless AT&T has put a generator at the relay box, something they don't seem too inclined to do once you get out of the more populated areas of the mountain. Thus, we had no phones (cell phone reception is also abysmal up here) so it was very difficult getting any kinds of emergency notifications. n
When you live in a forest, you think about the threat of fire. What you don't realize is just how paralyzing the words "GET OUT NOW" can be. Your brain doesn't want to work. You look around and there's no freaking smoke. How can you be in eminent peril if there's no smoke? I grabbed my cats, put them into their carriers, and put them in the car. I grabbed my computer, my back up hard drive, my cell phone charger and three cases of water. I had a "Go Bag" ready but ... for some unknown reason, I had taken stuff out of it and not yet put it back. I grabbed my medications and a folder of important papers. I grabbed a 5-gallon can of gasoline and put it in the back of my Explorer. (Hey, it seemed like a good idea at the time.)
Law enforcement was very insistent that we get off the mountain. Understandable since there is only one road in and out and it was gonna be impossible to get out once fire vehicles started going up and down.
I am blessed to have an incredible friend who opened his home to me and my cats without a second thought. After settling in to his guest room, I realized I had neglected to grab more than the clothes on my back. I figured I'd worry about that in the morning. We woke up early and were shocked by the amount of smoke in the air. It was then we learned there was a second fire to the south of us...we were essentially surrounded by fire in a pocket of Brownsville that had been evacuated late the night before. We hadn't been notified of the evacuation and were somewhat surprised - to say the least. The fires weren't heading towards us at that point, so we decided to stay put. We were actually able to get back up to my house, where I was able to grab some more possessions, including things like cat food, clothes, address book, etc. I also thought to grab a big chuck of corned beef that had been in my freezer. It was the only thing I salvaged, as it was still partially frozen. Everything else in the freezer will be tossed as soon as I can get back home. Unfortunately, I had done my big monthly shopping in town a couple of days before.
The fire to the south of us #WillowFire was the first to be extinguished. We had sheltered in place and after a couple of days the evacuation orders were lifted and the town of Brownsville came home. The #NorthComplexWestZone fire (previously known in part as the #BearFire) continues to threaten my little mountain community. They still cannot say when it'll be safe to return home. I am blessed to be safe with a roof over my head. My heart goes out to those of my neighbors who fled without having a set destination. They ended up being shuffled from one evacuation center to another as the two fires did their thing, one threatening Oregon House/Dobbins and the other heading towards Oroville and the town of Paradise, which had been devoured by the #CampFire two years ago.
I'm not going to make this political or issue-driven and I truly hope no one else does either. If you watch the news, and they mention Forbestown, Clipper Mills or Strawberry Valley, take a moment and send good thoughts or prayers or whatever. All of us could use them. I'll close with something I learned:
Things I've Learned while being evacuated
1. You can never have too much underwear. (Just take my word for it.)
2. There are friends and then there are FRIENDS.
3. Being away from home for an extended period of time can make you crazy.
4. Most people are kind. Unfortunately, there are some people in this world who seem to delight in the misery of others.
5. Seeing something on Facebook doesn't necessarily make it true.
6. A random act of kindness can make all the difference in the world.
7. We need to do a lot more to support our firefighters and law enforcement personnel.
8. Evacuation centers need to be a lot better organized ahead of the times when they're needed.
9. Being told I'm cleared to go home is the one thing I'm looking forward to the most.
In case you hadn't noticed, I haven't been around lately. I finally got a few minutes - and a decent internet connection - so I thought I'd share some of what I've been doing since Labor Day, Sept. 7.
I live, as many of you know, in the middle of Plumas National Forest. It's a beautiful spot to live and I love it dearly. On Sept. 8, however, it turned frightening in a quick second.
We had been without power since the evening before, when PG&E pulled the plug for a Public Safety Power Shutoff. Most of us have generators up here, so that wasn't too much of a problem. The problem came when the winds they had anticipated showed up and blew up the #NorthFire. The winds came out of the north and quickly drove the fire to the south. This has happened before, however, so we weren't too alarmed. There wasn't much smoke - it was actually blowing a little to the west of us.
Fast forward to about 2:30 pm. All of a sudden, the Yuba County Sheriff and our local fire department was telling everyone to "GET OUT. GET OUT NOW." One bad thing about PSPS up here? Our landlines phones are connected through an electrical relay system. If the power is out for more than 8 hours or so, the lines go dead until power is restored unless AT&T has put a generator at the relay box, something they don't seem too inclined to do once you get out of the more populated areas of the mountain. Thus, we had no phones (cell phone reception is also abysmal up here) so it was very difficult getting any kinds of emergency notifications. n
When you live in a forest, you think about the threat of fire. What you don't realize is just how paralyzing the words "GET OUT NOW" can be. Your brain doesn't want to work. You look around and there's no freaking smoke. How can you be in eminent peril if there's no smoke? I grabbed my cats, put them into their carriers, and put them in the car. I grabbed my computer, my back up hard drive, my cell phone charger and three cases of water. I had a "Go Bag" ready but ... for some unknown reason, I had taken stuff out of it and not yet put it back. I grabbed my medications and a folder of important papers. I grabbed a 5-gallon can of gasoline and put it in the back of my Explorer. (Hey, it seemed like a good idea at the time.)
Law enforcement was very insistent that we get off the mountain. Understandable since there is only one road in and out and it was gonna be impossible to get out once fire vehicles started going up and down.
I am blessed to have an incredible friend who opened his home to me and my cats without a second thought. After settling in to his guest room, I realized I had neglected to grab more than the clothes on my back. I figured I'd worry about that in the morning. We woke up early and were shocked by the amount of smoke in the air. It was then we learned there was a second fire to the south of us...we were essentially surrounded by fire in a pocket of Brownsville that had been evacuated late the night before. We hadn't been notified of the evacuation and were somewhat surprised - to say the least. The fires weren't heading towards us at that point, so we decided to stay put. We were actually able to get back up to my house, where I was able to grab some more possessions, including things like cat food, clothes, address book, etc. I also thought to grab a big chuck of corned beef that had been in my freezer. It was the only thing I salvaged, as it was still partially frozen. Everything else in the freezer will be tossed as soon as I can get back home. Unfortunately, I had done my big monthly shopping in town a couple of days before.
The fire to the south of us #WillowFire was the first to be extinguished. We had sheltered in place and after a couple of days the evacuation orders were lifted and the town of Brownsville came home. The #NorthComplexWestZone fire (previously known in part as the #BearFire) continues to threaten my little mountain community. They still cannot say when it'll be safe to return home. I am blessed to be safe with a roof over my head. My heart goes out to those of my neighbors who fled without having a set destination. They ended up being shuffled from one evacuation center to another as the two fires did their thing, one threatening Oregon House/Dobbins and the other heading towards Oroville and the town of Paradise, which had been devoured by the #CampFire two years ago.
I'm not going to make this political or issue-driven and I truly hope no one else does either. If you watch the news, and they mention Forbestown, Clipper Mills or Strawberry Valley, take a moment and send good thoughts or prayers or whatever. All of us could use them. I'll close with something I learned:
Things I've Learned while being evacuated
1. You can never have too much underwear. (Just take my word for it.)
2. There are friends and then there are FRIENDS.
3. Being away from home for an extended period of time can make you crazy.
4. Most people are kind. Unfortunately, there are some people in this world who seem to delight in the misery of others.
5. Seeing something on Facebook doesn't necessarily make it true.
6. A random act of kindness can make all the difference in the world.
7. We need to do a lot more to support our firefighters and law enforcement personnel.
8. Evacuation centers need to be a lot better organized ahead of the times when they're needed.
9. Being told I'm cleared to go home is the one thing I'm looking forward to the most.
