Goldendale On Fire

I told you yesterday morning that there was a fire burning near me. It was 0 contained yesterday and is still 0 contained today. Sam got off work real early yesterday to make phone calls and assess our situation. We walked our horse over to a 40 acre field down the way where he will be with our friend's horses and be safe, even if the fire gets that way. We went hog wild with our sprinklers and diligently rotated them around the yard. We had little more to do than to sit back and wait. Wait to hear something. Wait to see something.

Round abouts 7 last night we walked to the end of our driveway and I took these photos. As a crow flies (that's talk for "in straight line") it's about 1 1/2 - 2 miles away.

 

We then went for a short drive around the area to scope things out and I took a few photos before running into a road block.

 
We went about our normal nightly routine, though it was tough for Sam and I to fall asleep. We watched the news and it was eerie to see our town on there with images of property up in flames and people camping out at the local fairgrounds with their livestock. At 11:30 I got up out of bed to take a look outside. The smoke in the yard was so thick and spooky. I half expected to see flames with deer and bunnies bounding across our yard like in Bambi. At 12:30 am we got a call from a friend in the firefighter mix letting us know we were put on Level II Evacuation. This means it is advised to pack and be ready to evacuate if the level for our home goes to Level III Evacuation. At 2:30am we had a deputy actually stop in and officially hand us the Level II notice. We then got up and grabbed all our most important belongings (baby books, computer, external with ALL my photos, checks, car titles, Sam's guns, my camera bag, etc. etc), toiletries, and clothing for everyone and placed it by the door. Sam went and pulled our suburban up to the house and cleaned it out, getting it ready. Having done that little preparation work, we tried our best to get some sleep. Sleep was futile though. It seemed every 30 minutes or so someone was calling.

The fire is currently about 1- 1 1/2 miles from my home. It's pretty much running parallel to us, but the winds here could pick up at any moment and change all that. The smoke is really thick all over Goldendale. Apparently, from what I've heard, the fire has burned 5,000 acres or so and has consumed about a dozen buildings. The Governor of WA was in town last night talking to evacuees and firefighters. The Red Cross is here along with other organizations setting up to help those affected. I'm crossing my fingers we are in the clear and it continues to stay parallel to us and not turn towards us. I don't particularly want to evacuate! The other end of the fire is out north of town. I don't think town its self is threatened, though obviously they are keeping most of their firefighters on that end. And you never know with fires.

Please keep my town in your thoughts. A lot of people have lost land and possessions.

To read more about the fire threatening my town, click: Goldendale Fire

With love,

Mama Hauck