Sunday, November 16, 2008

Thankyou Firefighters

The evacuation warning has been lifted and we are home again.

Without giving out too many personal details (and an invitation to come and knock at our door), here is a map of the fire, and I can tell you it reached within blocks of our house (yes, Almost American - the ghetto was threatened!!). The fire is not yet completely contained, but a good sign is that the hundreds and hundreds of firefighters who converged on SB seem to have headed home. It was quite a sight to be heading north on the freeway on Friday while the route south was crammed with fire trucks from every conceivable Northern California town headed to save our neighbourhood. Quite humbling really. I shall try and remember that next time I pay my taxes.


The red portion shows the 'active' fire area. Our house lies within blocks of the most southerly point (click on the map for more detail).




















As it happens, we had a fantastic mini-vacation. An unplanned spending of gobs of cash, but you'd be hard pressed to find a better excuse I feel.

On a whim we decided to head north with what we'd rescued from the fire. That is how we ended up on holiday with no toothpaste and no toiletries, but instead, our wedding photos, the bottom drawer of our filing cabinet, our hard drive (but no keyboard & monitor) and that accompaniment for every well-seasoned traveler - a guinea pig. Try smuggling one of those in to a Hilton (and I don't mean Paris Hilton) - not easy.

We were clearly not the only people with the same bright idea. We bumped in to one of Anna's former Kindermusik classmates at the Monterey Aquarium this afternoon, which was more than a little bizarre. They too had fled the fire with trash bags filled with belongings and no real plan of where they were headed.

I am beyond exhausted, but happy to be home. I will regale with you stories of our hurried departure another time, but for now, sleep.

8 comments:

essbdee said...

glad you are all home safe and sound! Thanks or that map as well... I hadn't realised just how "in town" the fire was!

Jane said...

So glad you're all safely home again and have a home to go back to!

Summerlandgirl said...

Okay, I was expecting real photos! Don't hold out on me. I am glad you are back at home. Always good to go home!

jenny said...

i am glad you guys are home are safe! pretty soon there is going to be nothing left to burn in cali! geesh!

Unknown said...

I'd heard that Oprah's house was in danger, then I remembered you'd said you live close-ish to her and I was really hoping it wouldn't get your house. I'm SO glad it didn't. That is so scary. Glad you remembered the guinea pig!

Barb McMahon and Alan Mailloux said...

Glad you're back home and safe!

And your 'evacuated due to wildfire' would have kicked the crap out of my 'stuck at my sister's due to snow' excuse.

Is there a prize for posting in the most extreme conditions? Cuz if there is, I'll vote for you!

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