Model Forum / Radio Controlled / Helicopters / October 2007

Yeah, scary week..  We got a call from the reverse 911 system 6am on
Monday telling us to prepare for possible evacuation.  At 11:30, we
got a call asking for voluntary evacuation so we hit the road.

By 7pm, we'd finally got some accurate info from
http://and-still-i-persist.com and determined that our area wasn't in
any real danger so we headed back home and hunkered down, keeping an
eye on all the info we could.  Needless to say, I didn't sleep much
Monday and Tuesday night.

Wednesday, we could see the wind had shifted to a more onshore
direction so we figured we were pretty much out of danger.

My sister's place was very close to some homes that burned and she
spent the early part of the week shuffling her horses around because
the "safe" areas she'd take them to would become unsafe.  Trying to
move 5 horses with a 2 horse trailer (in the midst of several hundred
other horse owners all trying to do the same) was an exercise in
frustration for her and me.

Thankfully, other than a LOT of ash and some throat/lung irritation
from the smoke, we're all ok.  Nobody I know lost their homes, but a
few of my sister's friends did.  I keep hearing about a ranch with a
lot of exotic animals that was destroyed, killing all the animals, and
I can't help but wonder if it was Joan Embry's place but so far, no
news about it.

Yesterday the wind shifted again and we got some more smoke, but no
more ash.

I went flying (full scale) yesterday just to check out the damage.
Unbelievable.  HUGE areas (as in hundreds of square miles) are black
and the destruction of propertly is jaw-dropping.

Fires still burning out East, but firefighters expect 100% containment
in the next couple of days for most of 'em.  Those guys are heros to
say the least.