I remember it vividly. I was at a cheer competition in San Diego staying in a hotel and all the girls were getting their hair done up in curlers, running up and down the hallways and making wonderful memories. We all went to bed anxious for what we had to do the following day. Win our competition!!
Well to our surprise when we all woke up the next morning and looked outside our hotel window we saw what nobody ever expected. It looked like it had snowed all over. All the cars in the parking lot were covered in what looked like snow, there were flakes falling from the sky and and people outside with umbrellas. But wait...this was JULY in CALIFORNIA. It never snowed. To our astonishment the sky was foggy but not foggy like an over cast day at the beach. It had a beautiful orange glow about it that was new too. Soon enough we were outside to find out what was going on. That's when we found out if was definitely not snow at all. It was ashes. Ashes were falling out of the sky like fluffy, dirty rain, enough to cover the ground and the cars. The orange, over cast sky was really a sky filled with ashes and the glow of burning fires. You couldn't hardly breath without choking. Families were starting to call, getting worried about loved ones. But it was one fire, it would be contained soon enough right? Wrong. Very wrong. The air was hot, the ground was dry. This fire spread fast. Soon there were close to 15 fires all over Ca. I couldn't tell you for sure if it had started with this particular fire or not but fire was soon everywhere.
When you turned on the news this is ALL you ever saw..
Cities, neighbors, strangers...people everywhere would all be passing out masks to wear over your mouth and nose that you had to wear or else your nose and throat would fill with smoke and start to burn. I remember my eyes tearing up and were red for days. People living close to me were soon enough being evacuated from their homes and some even left without being told. They packed up their belongings, their whole families, food, meds, even their animals. It seemed like each day another road was closed or a freeway and another fire was being announced. It was as if we were being closed in and soon enough there wouldn't be anywhere to go and traffic was starting to get congested everywhere! Most of the schools around were starting to be used for evacuation sites but they would fill so quickly they had to start turning people away. And if an area with an evacuation site was being told to evacuate then all those people had to have a new plan and find somewhere else to go. Terrible! I volunteered at one close by. We helped watch kids, feed families, load and unload trucks of medical and food supplies. I've never seen so many willing to help complete strangers. Then it occured to me..Why is it, in most cases, people reach a hand out to others only when disaster strikes? So many people all over need help EVERYDAY! I'm grateful for those that serve and lend a hand I just wish they, including myself, would think to do it more often and not only when disaster strikes.
Well eventually things did cool down, fires were being put out and people were slowly being let back to their homes. My family spent a few days at my aunt and uncle's place. They lived up on a big hill overlooking a golf course. I spent lots of time on the back porch watching one helicopter after another swoop down to the small pond on the course and dump the water over the glow that was just coming over the hills across the way. Maybe the scariest memory of my life. Fire fighters, for the first time I had ever heard of, were in short supply. Some came from other states and counties to help.
Now today here in Utah we are seeing similar disaster strike again. It has been in the 90's for 2 straight weeks and there are now 8 different fires around. Some of which have been started by fireworks and gun shots. There have been light winds which doesn't help the dry weather and determined fires. Ashes have fallen and covered the sky, people are losing their homes and loved ones left and right...Please pray for all of them and all the rest here being evacuated and worrying. If you can, please help in some way and I think it's very important and worth your time to try and come up with an emergency plan. Make sure you have food storage and stuff you don't have to cook or freeze. I urge everyone to do so. Even if you think that nothing could possibly happen...it could, and we all need to be prepared. Stay Safe! You all matter.
Here is a site to help you get prepared and answer any questions you might have. Personally, I didn't think of some of the things that are truly great ideas for emergency kits.
http://www.family-survival-planning.com/emergency-preparedness-kit.html#axzz1zbqt7UhL
