Fire Update

Well, it was a long evening/night for us but all is well. From what I can tell the fire is still going strong but has moved on from our neighborhood. I think a lot of other homes are still in danger but we seem to be in the clear.

I came home from work early yesterday to help Adam prep for the potential evacuation that we were expecting. We spent the afternoon and evening packing external harddrives, photos, etc. I think it's probably always a good exercise to think through the loss of all of your possessions. We really do have a lot of meaningless stuff.

When I arrived home in the afternoon the fire was a good couple of miles away but by the evening it had wrapped its way around our neighborhood and reached probably within 1/2 to 1/4 mile of our house. Here was the view from our doorstep:


The fire was a good couple of streets away from us but with the strong winds, the embers have been starting smaller fires so we and the others neighbors who hadn't evacuated yet were wetting down the greenery around us. Ready for action!


At times, when the wind would shift towards our direction - the ash and smoke blowing at us were quite strong hence the gear above. Apparently dish towels and Brita pitchers are the key elements for fire fighting. At one point it looked like snow with all of the ash raining down.

Again, I'm not telling you this so you guys will worry (moms, etc.). We were being cautious and had cars packed and ready to leave quickly should the fire have jumped at all. In the end, from what I can tell, not a single house in Foothill caught fire. The firefighters have truly done an amazing job and stayed with this thing as it worked its way across the back of our neighborhood.

Around 11:30 last night we could finally tell a significant difference in the distance of the fire from our house so we were able to get a pretty good night's sleep. Thanks for your prayers - we are so thankful but are continuing to pray for those who are still in danger.