View of Chetco Bar fire. Taken by a drone by Thomas Creek Bridge - 4 miles north of us on 101.
The largest fire in the nation is bearing down on our little town. 100,000 acres and 14,000 firefighters trying to hold it at bay. The Chetco Bar fire started with a lightening strike in the Kaliopsis Wilderness July 9. But last week it doubled it's size every day after jumping a firebreak.
We were taking our little grandkids home from Camp Nana/Papa on Saturday before the emergency was known. There was a lot of smoke and ash dropping out of the sky. The light was so weird that it looked like we were on another planet. The ocean was a chocolate color!
Thank goodness we got the boys home before the situation was serious. But they filled our car with their car seats and suitcases. So DH and I simply threw a couple of days' worth of clothes in a shared bag and off we went.
We dropped the boys and headed north to "eclipse country!" Got to our DD's new house and discovered our condo had been evacuated!! It kind of felt like Gilligan's Island - we were just off for a three day tour. We were in Portland for 5 days before they moved our area back to a just "Be ready to evacuate" status. So we headed home to regroup and be prepared.
Now we have known tornadoes and Hurricane Gloria in NJ. But have never been in a situation like this. We have two medium cars - what do we need to pack? Where do we start?
At first DH thought the boys had given him a chest cold. But finally I was able to convince him the smoke might have something to do with it. So we needed to get out of the smoke, even though we were still only at Level 2.
Well, here's what we packed. A week+ of clothing, medicines, those all powerful important papers. My mom's ring, my wedding ring, a lifetime of photos, 2 paintings, 17 quilts (favorites and then good sizes we use). My sewing machine, his golf clubs, some food for the trip... Is it enough? Is it overkill?? All the way here I was lamenting what we didn't bring - no stash, my featherweight machine, favorite shirt in the laundry basket...
Just an aside - there are now 1600 firefighters in our little town. Our heros. The base camp is just pup tents on the south side of town. A 20something gal lives there - its her family home. She recently send my hairdresser's daughter a text. "You better get back here. It's raining men!!! I have an extra pair of binoculars - there's men as far as I can see!!! Hurry!" LOL!
