Living thru an inferno

[Carpediem44DB]

We happen to live right in the heart of the latest wild fire complex in Solano County in Northern California. I’ve lived on the ranch in Pleasants Valley in a house that was built in 1907 since 1972. I’ve have been witness to several devastating fires in the last 48 years, this one however came so close that we packed up and evacuated as the wall of flames came charging down the adjacent canyon and jumped to our side of the road. When we left I figured we would be moving on to the boat for sure. Long story short, the fire at last count I saw, consumed 140,000 acres and 150 plus homes and out buildings. Five personal freinds lost everything and literally had just minutes to flee. We however along with five of our neighbors were miraculously spared thanks to well defended and properly cleared and maintained properties and the grace of God. Thankfully there has yet to be reports of fatalities and we pray that stays the case. Our hearts go out to those who lost their beloved country homes and animals.
Carpe Diem

 

[Soulshine]

Wow. Very glad that your family was spared that loss and that you’re safe.

 

[ocgrant]

Glad to hear you and your family are safe. Same thing happened to me in San Diego back in the 80's, and in Irvine in 2000's... very scary.

 

[Shaps]

Crazy scary! Glad you guys are safe. Sorry for those who lost their homes.

 

[All's Well]

Awful thing to have to go through and I'm glad that you're safe. After having gone through a complete loss of a house due to fire you learn that the house and it's contents were just things that can be replaced even though you'd really like to have some of those things back you move on. Hopefully your friends and neighbors can get back to rebuilding quickly and get some sense of normalcy.

 

[Carpediem44DB]

Definitely and eye opener. Makes you stop and think of what’s important in your life. There is a guy in the marina that lost everything in the Paradise fires two years ago. With his insurance payout he built a smaller home and with the balance bought a 50 foot sailboat to fulfill his life long dream of living on a boat and sailing the ocean blue. Poor guy just learned he has Pancreatic cancer in advanced stage. Talk about having the deck stacked against you!
Life is a fickle bitch.
Carpe Diem

 

[Carpediem44DB]

Just checked the fire map update and news feed. Four dead now in the LNU complex fire over 5 counties with 200,000 acres burned. 315 fires active in Ca.
Just saw a TV news story of our old marina in Lake Berryessa burned out. Dozens of boats burned right in the slips. Very sad to see it is one of only two marinas on a huge lake. Very popular place 1/2 hour from our place. Before we went to the 44DB we spent 10 years with our boats slipped at Markley Cove. Place is burnt out completely. Very sad to see.
Carpe Diem

 

[Gofirstclass]

We however along with five of our neighbors were miraculously spared thanks to well defended and properly cleared and maintained properties and the grace of God. Carpe Diem

Isn't it amazing how taking the time to safeguard your properties by removing the brush pays off when the sh!t hits the fan. You knew you live in a fire zone, you took proper precautions and were prepared for the worst.

Good on ya for being on top of things!

 

[bobeast]

So glad it worked out for you! Good on ya' for having taken the proper precautions. We are currently hosting 3 evacuees along with their horses. We are all just praying they have a home to return to, when this is all over.

 

[Carpediem44DB]

The phrase ‘there but for the grace if God go I’ comes to mind.

So far every Survivors’ story has a common thread, preparation. A friend
in English hills had neighbors on either side of him have their properties go up in smoke his was the lone survivor. Had His neighbors kept their places up, he would not be looking at replacing his pool and well head. We sold 26 acres off to the city for a flood mitigation project ten years ago that due to the discovery of Indian bones has been put on hold. The city merely discs a fire break around it but had an ember blown two hundred yards and started the grass going it would have been all over for the north side of town. I’m making it my life mission this fall to hammer the city manager to make them disc that field completely every year going forward.
Bunch of fat over paid government officials not worth the slug to put them in the ground!
Carpe Diem

 

[Ponty]

Just rake your leaves and there will be no more fires

 

[Carpediem44DB]

The fire has now consumed 250000 acres of Northern California but seems to be finally slowing down. First day in over a week that we could see the sky. We are still under mandatory evacuation mainly due to downed power lines on the roads. My wife and I have a back door ingress from town into our place so we can avoid the check points. This is the first night staying on the ranch since Tuesday night. There are reports of looting so we are doing our part to discourage that kind of thing. I’ll be shooting first and asking questions later.
Carpe Diem

 

[Carpediem44DB]

So I know it’s been National news for a couple of weeks that California is on fire but fires have now consumed 2.5 Million acres and claimed over a dozen lives. This morning I took a few pics, one a few minutes after sunrise, the other about 9:00AM it was actually a lot darker than the pic shows because how the iPhone camera compensates for the light. The smoke blocked the sun most of the day it looked more like a dimly lit moon lit night. Pretty extra ordinary times for sure.

 

[Gofirstclass]

Stay Safe, keep your wits about you and don't hesitate to get out when the time appears to be right.