FIRE!

Yesterday we were spending another very hot afternoon surviving the heat and getting over the shock of the past few weeks, Tom reading downstairs where it is cooler, and I upstairs with the laptop. I sniffed a little wood smoke, not so much as to be alarming, but enough to remind me that these days people barbecue with wood -- just the sort of thing the Italians next door might be up to. But the smell persisted. The wind seemed to reduce a bit. I looked outside to the east and saw nothing, so I dismissed it.

A few minutes later, Tom came up from downstairs and went out to the lanai, looking west and north. he called to me, and we both looked at plumes of light brown smoke billowing from just north and west of us. We had heard sirens, but only one or two, and at least 20 minutes before. Although the smoke seemed to come from the general direction of the fire house across the highway, we decided to call 911 anyway; they had heard about the fire already. So we waited.

A few minutes later we figured that the fire was under control: the smoke had lessened, the smoky smell had dissipated, and the wind had shifted to the north. Tom decided to take a look, partly from curiosity, and partly because we are at the end of the cul-de-sac, pressed against a rocky gulch. If the fire came toward us, we would be trapped.

So he took a little ride in the truck and reported by cell phone that it was a brush fire, ironically in the field next to the fire house, and all was well. So he took a brief tour, and came back.

A few minutes later, the smoky smell returned with a vengeance. We saw smoke directly to the north of us, and flames reflected in the light. The fire had jumped the highway and was moving uphill in the stiff breeze, parallel to our neighborhood, which is surrounded on three sides by dry ranch land. We called Debbie, who is staying in the cottage and told her we were going to pack a few things and leave. She was initially confused, but then realized that it might be better to leave for a while than risk spending the night in the swimming pool. so we packed up the laptop, our glasses and medications, locked the house, and left.

We spent the next two hours watching the fire from the vantage point of the closed highway below our neighborhood. Ultimately twelve fire companies were involved, and we saw trucks from the forest service and highway departments, and numerous private water trucks and earthmovers. Three small helicopters circled the fireline next to the neighborhood dumping small buckets of water. One was getting his water from a tank near the firehouse, but the others were dipping into swimming pools.

While standing in the crowd that had formed, one man told how the fire had been started by four young teen aged boys who escaped on motor bikes, but not before a neighbor had photographed them with her cell phone.

After sunset -- a beautiful one no one was watching -- the wind shifted a few times and them died. We decided that it was safe to return home, although we kept a bag packed near the door in case we had to abandon ship during the night.

At dawn the helicopters started up again, and the neighborhood was filled with unusual traffic -- fire trucks of various kinds and neighbors out for a look. I changed my usual bike route, and checked out the various sites. The actual fire area was not even close to the edge of our neighborhood, but a few houses built in the ranch land itself were apparently damaged. One helicopter was dipping into a neighbor's pool, which was being fed by two hoses running full blast. Neighbors on the edge of the neighborhood were keeping a careful watch with their morning coffee on the roofs of their houses. Some were irrigating their yards and hosing their roofs.

The firehouse, which normally has two or three cars in front and no signs of life at all, was busy as a mall on sale day. the parking lot was full, and firetrucks were being filled with water and hosed off.

The danger is likely over, but the wind hasn't come up yet. For those of us who escaped the Oakland firestorm, it will be a nervous day.

A fire truck emerging from the fire zone just after daylight.













A helicopter about to dip its bucket into a neighbor's pool.























Rushing back to the fire.