This morning’s sky is a sallow yellow, thick with smoke from the fires here in southern Oregon. It has been a hellish 48 hours and I am so tired and quite frankly, traumatized. I did not lose my home, like so many others. I do know several people who have lost their homes in Talent and Phoenix. I lived for years in Talent and moved a couple years ago to Medford. I am very familiar with the streets, homes and businesses that have burned down to the ground. I feel so very sad for the loss of peoples homes and livelihood.
Tuesday started off at 5 am, woken up by a fierce dry wind, blowing trees sideways, scattering leaves and debris in its wake. I kept busy inside the house to avoid the wind and smoke from a fire burning in northern California; I was completely unaware that a fire had started in Ashland that morning. I went out to water my garden around 4 pm and saw a huge black cloud, at first I thought, wow! we’re going to have a rainstorm. Then, I realized that I was seeing a cloud of smoke. I turned on the TV and found out that a fire had progressed through the towns of Talent and Phoenix and was licking at the south side of Medford. My neighborhood, which is on the north side was on a level 1 alert. A neighbor banged on my door around 8:30 pm and told me that there was a fire about 2 blocks from us. We could see flames and smoke from where we stood in front of my house. The wind had probably blown embers from the fire about a mile away and sparked the fire threatening my neighborhood; the sirens of multiple fire trucks and police cars could be heard screaming towards the fire. We were suddenly at level 3, evacuate now!
I had previously packed up some stuff in my car just in case, so I corralled the cats into their carrier and found a safe parking lot a couple miles away crowded with other evacuees. The roads were filled with police cars, fire trucks and people evacuating. I returned home several hours later when the alert level was lowered; I spent a restless night on edge and worried about my safety.
Early the next morning I loaded my car with stuff that I really didn’t want to lose and kept my eye on the news all day; on edge, upset and waiting for something to happen again. I went out to water around 4 pm and saw a big cloud of smoke suddenly bloom behind my house. It was in the same area as yesterday’s fire. I could see flames, smoke billowing and heard sirens, an airtanker was swooping in and dumping fire retardant on the flames. My power went out and I decided to evacuate. The cats and I spent several hours in a safer part of town, waiting it out, hoping my house still stood when I got back. My neighbor texted me and told me everything was good, it was safe to come back to an intact neighborhood.
It has been an exhausting experience, shocked to see all the devastation and the maddening minute by minute alert watch to see if anything else would happen. The air quality is extremely hazardous, there is a boil water order in place and the county remains on various stages of alert levels. The air is thick with acrid brownish yellow smoke. A breeze has picked up; I hope everything remains calm fire-wise. My big complaint in all this is that the reverse 911 citizen alert system was not utilized, or at least, I didn’t get any alerts even though I am signed up. I re-signed up and hope it works. I did film a couple video’s via my cellphone, but wordpress doesn’t want to accept the file. I am thankful to be alive and safe, my house is intact. I am thankful to the first responders for helping the community they serve; and my family for their constant contact with me, making sure I am safe.
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