The fire started Thursday and by Friday morning this is what it turned into. This is how it looked when they evacuated us. They sent out a reverse 911 call telling us to go and where the shelter was, Westlake High School where I work. Also police men came door to door telling us to go and peering into houses making sure everyone knew. We had starting packing suitcases so we just took them out to the car along with pillows and blankets. We had taken our pictures off our walls and put them down in the cold storage room along with our computers and journals.
This is the elementary school where I used to work right in my neighborhood. The hill behind it is on fire and the smoke is so black.
This is how close it was. When we were leaving I could not believe how the neighborhood was helping each other. One thing I saw was a painter in my ward who paints beautiful paintings was loading his paintings into his car. That got me! I cried. I think that is when I realized how serious it was.
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| The firefighters fought it and slept when they could. 310 in all were there helping our homes be safe. |
I went to Westlake and I was astounded at the out pouring of people helping. Home Depot, for instance brought kits for kids to make crafts and this pickup was full of toilet paper and water and other things. They had gathered up all the missionaries and they made a bucket brigade to get the times off the truck.
These kids were doing the crafts. Keeping them busy was a good idea so they did not run helter skelter. My principal of our school was there just helping out. The Red Cross was there in 2 hours. It was amazing.
Kim and I slept Donna Reed style. It was the best I have ever slept.......
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| This is where Kelsi slept in Faith's quilting room. They brought up a mattress for her. |
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| This is where Jake slept in Faith's office. She works from home. They borrowed an air mattress for him. |
Command central. I set up my laptop right in her kitchen. My neighborhood has a facebook page and I just kept checking it over and over for info.
The joy of computers. Kims.
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| Jake has his laptop too. We felt so blessed to have our technology. |
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| My son's dog, Roofus is with us. My sister put her dogs in the basement and let ours roam. |
Look at the calender. We had those masks and Kim has to use it. The smoke was so heavy and thick. It hurt to take a deep breath.
It was interesting what we packed and took as we rushed out. You are always asked what would you take if you have to go and flee. What I have named in the past is not what I took. Since Logan was at Lake Powell we had to pack for him.
Thank goodness we got to come back and all was good here.