The Overflow
I awoke this morning to no fire. Just smoke. Like the thickest campfire smell I’ve experienced in a while. I think if you spend 5 minutes outside it will smell like you’ve been bonding with the firemen with marshmallows and hot dogs for a week.
I had to ditch my trip to Idaho. Sucky fire. Guess I don’t have much to complain about. I still have a house full of crap I don’t need. Unlike the 500 homes in Rancho Bernardo where people were left with smoke and a slab of concrete.
I know a few firemen. Well, more than a few. And I know a few more cops. And I’ll tell you this. The cops don’t want anyone to get hurt, but they love a dangerous call. They can’t wait to get chase a dumb criminal down and send in the dogs. Oh they love to send in the dogs.
And firemen don’t want anyone hurt, but every one of them is a pyromaniac. They don’t want you or your stuff to burn (well definitely not you, but secretly, they might be okay with some of your stuff burning, especially if it means they get to go in and try and save the rest of your stuff) but they lie awake at night dreaming of setting stuff on fire. I tell you they dream of it. That’s why they drive all over the state for a fire. It’s a RUSH for them.
Tonight, the winds died down and the fire was coming down the mountain near my house. Since the wind was not ripping across the flames, this gave the firemen the window to fight the fire with fire that they had been waiting for…. so they set fires at the bottom of the hill which will naturally chase itself uphill and meet the fire coming down the hill. So, I promise you this… there are some firemen from all over this fine state having the time of their life setting a forest of grass and trees not far from my home on fire. Make no mistake about it. They are laughing right now and breaking out the marshmallows since there was nothing but vegetation between Steele Canyon High School and the approaching fire… so GAME ON.
here’s the photo from my kid’s fort as best I could get it at night. Most of the fire pictured was just set by the firemen.
Got a minor scare today on the news when they said my area was being evacuated. We actually packed our car with my critical stuff. Made me realize how much crap I have. If my house burns to the ground, honest to God, I only care about my family and less than one trunk load of stuff. Amazing. I have a house full of junk that on the grander scale of life, doesn’t matter at all. I need to have a major ditch the crap sale and give it all to the poor or something evidently. I guess I can be more nomadic than I thought if need be.
According to this map on google, my house is actually in an evacuation area, though none of my neighbors or I have officially been asked to leave. Here’s the map and my house in relationship to it. The yellow is the proposed, but not adhered to, evacuation area. The red is the actual burn area on Mt. Miguel a few miles from my house.
Well, no school again today. This is the view out my front door as of 6am. It’s the “harris fire” that started in Potrero near the Tecate border crossing. I’m guessing it’s traveled a good 30 miles on the other side of this hill and this is the far north edge of it pictured below. It looks a little closer than it is. But 3-5 miles is realistic.
here it is as of 6:30 am:
The president declared our communities to the North and this hill to the South of me a federal state of emergency. Hopefully the planes will start dropping stuff today as the sun comes up and the winds will die down. This is crazy. We’re talking over 300,000 people displaced from their homes and evacuations all over the place. The one death I am aware of is 2 degrees from me with a family in our church coaching wrestling at Valhalla with he and his son who is also badly burned.
Life can sure take a turn on the dime. Guess I’ll have to keep learning to spin on my knees.
I got a call this morning from the boys school district at 6am. Due to the fact that there are like 8 fires burning in the SD area, they have caused the air quality to get bad and one fire to the south east could make it close enough to evacuate us if it continues to be blown our way today. As a result, our school district to be closed today so our kids are home. It’s like an area wide fire drill. We had to delay a trip to Idaho to visit some friends by at least a day since I didn’t think it would be wise parenting to tell my dad, “See ya. We’re out. If the fire gets close enough… go ahead and evacuate ok. See you later.”
We’re still waiting to see if the fire will come over several ridges and miles to make it to us. I sure do hope not. So we’re praying it up and waiting and doing what we can to be prepared and help those in need around us.
Husband. Dad to 5. Student Ministry Pastor. Follower of Jesus. Yatta yatta.
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