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Friday, June 15, 2018

Fire and a somewhat sleepless night

Wednesday Evening started Out pretty normal  - we did our chores, we rode a little bit, we talked about what we were going to watch in the evening .. you know summer - you get to stay up later. ( why I have no idea - someone still makes us get up really early - but the idea is there)

We sat down to eat about 8:30 and heard fire trucks go by. Not uncommon - there are some pretty bad accidents out here. and the we started seeing more lightning - and hearing the booms.

About 30 minutes later more fire trucks.   Hmmm - this may be more truck than our department has, and then we noticed they were trying to get on the ranch one section to the east of us.

Heading out I looked south and could see why:


This was just up over our hill
And ps - these are all cell phone pics 





As it got darker - it got meaner looking
and we had winds of 30-45 mph


unfortunately the winds decided to turn in the direction of my house


My husband wasn;t worried 
Me - I might have been a little panicked



Here is where the panic started
This really blurry photo
those oil tank batteries
they are 1/4 mile from my house


And then I really panicked
( ok not really , but sort of)

We had a fire truck and a tinder truck come up to our house and get between the fire and our structures

My neighbor showed up with his MASSIVE tractor and 30 foot disc
ready to start a fire line

and we knew we had mowed all around our location,
and that we had removed weeds around our fence lines
and that we had about a 100 ft strip replanted with native grass that was not quite growing yet

So we really had fingers crossed that all the fire mitigation would work
but....


it did!!
That fire hit our low spots and the other fire trucks and firefighters that were on it had a chance to get ahead of it.  my firefighters ( Yep - you know me well - I had claimed them) said we see a chance to get ahead of it - and they took off that way

it had gone east of us too - so between the 15 departments and over 80 personel
by 2 am it was 100% contained

They say the whole fire burned 8000 acres 
mostly on my neighbors to the south
it looks pretty desolate


yesterday we spent making sure everything was contained
today we will fix fences for real
and praise our firefighters

 and that is why I have no quilts to show..... yep - totally my excuse this week ;)

PS -  I should mention - there are 2 other huge fires in our state right now, and another 1 that is on the wyoming/colorado border

18 comments:

  1. Fire and a sleepless night

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  2. Thank Goodness you all are safe and your animals and buildings, too. How scary for you. I lived in CA for a lot of years, and the grass fires in the summer were all around us all the time. Smelling smoke always puts you on high alert.
    Hugs

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  3. So glad you are all OK. Scary nite for sure. Stay safe!

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  4. How scary!!! Glad you are all okay! Bless the firefighters!!!

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  5. I knew it was close to you...and close to my niece, too. scary stuff!!

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  6. Thank goodness you're safe! I'm so glad the fire was contained and didn't harm you or your home/livestock/ranch. How many fire departments responded?

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  7. Oh my goodness - I would not have slept either! Our poor, dry Colorado is burning up. Glad you and your family were okay!

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  8. Making your property defensible is key! You get a gold star, and a chance to rest easily tonight. Glad you have a happy ending!

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  9. I thought about you when I heard there were fires in your area. I would have panicked, too! So glad you and your neighbors are safe.

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  10. so happy it missed you

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  11. How frightening! I would have freaked out for sure! So glad you are safe.

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  12. Scary business -- we are so grateful for the firefighters here in our city - I can only imagine trying to fight fires like the one you endured.

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  13. Glad you are safe! How scary!!

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  14. Glad you and your family (and home) are safe. There was a wild fire in our home town a few years ago. A friend lost his parents home to the fire (they had passed away before then). Stay safe!

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  15. Oh how scary, I think I would have been packing important stuff. I am so thankful they got it contained. So sad how quickly a fire can destroy.

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  16. Glad you are okay. Your area is in my prayers.

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  17. Definitely a scary night! Glad that all your precautions worked. Hope you've had a chance to get caught up on your sleep and worked in a bit of calming quilting time too.

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  18. Whew, very scary stuff.

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