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["Lisa K.V. Perry" <lisakvperry AT gmail.com>]

Hey Gang,

This past Monday we had an experience w/ fire that was, as the expression
goes, 'too close to home'. Let this serve as a reminder to be prepared. I'm
sure most of you are, but living in rural areas we have to be more prepared
than most.

My husband and oldest son went for a walk after he and I had returned from a
stressful meeting.  I stayed home w/ the live-in clients, it was to be my
turn when they returned.

There was smoke in the air; it was a warm day (60 degrees), so we questioned
the source figuring it was probably not a wood stove. As they walked along
our dirt road, they took a detour down a side road and saw a small fire near
a neighbor's woodshed.

My husband yelled for the neighbor, no response. He banged on the door of
his home, no response. He went in and called 911. When my husband stepped
outside to check on the fire (while on the phone), the woodshed was engulfed
in flames. My husband called another neighbor (the homeowner's parents--who
live down the road) and reached them then called me. By now the air outside
at our house was thick w/ smoke and some falling ash.

Within minutes the first fire truck arrived. It had just enough water to
work on the woodshed and ran out just before the second truck arrived. My
husband and son stayed and helped.

Five minutes later I rec'd another call, the fire was in the woods and going
up the ridge towards us. We live .25 mi. tops from the home w/ the fire. In
between was acres of woods and a farm. The FD sent two more trucks and two
bulldozers to the top of the ridge to make a fire break.

Our farm is a 'holler' on the other side of the ridge. Our driveway, a
private dirt road, is shared by the neighboring farm on the top of the
ridge. Our road would have been on fire before it reached our house, I was
told we might need to leave.

I walked through the house and began gathering stuff you think you don't
want to live without. Photos came to mind first. Youngest son loaded the
van.

Two minutes later my husband & son were dropped off at home and said we had
to leave. We loaded the van w/ 2 live-in clients (and their meds & record
books), two cats, our youngest son and myself and one box of misc. items.
They put our two dogs, my son's bird, and family Christmas ornaments in my
husband's Jeep. He would stay until the final "Get out NOW!" call (the FD
had taken down our phone number).

Fortunately, the call never came. I was in town and my husband called twice
to check in, the last call was that we could come home since the fire was
under control.

We lost power that evening due to a tree on the line and we didn't sleep
much. It rained Tuesday like cats & dogs and still a hot spot flared up
yesterday. We learned that fires are watched for 7 days afterwards due to
hot spots. 30 acres of mostly woods was burned. Our neighbor's woodshed
burned to the ground (and his land), but his new house was saved.

If my husband had discovered the fire five minutes later, it would have been
disastrous. We are very fortunate. Our neighbor said that he owes us a
house. Maybe that's how we can get rid of the mortgage. ;)

The near miss by the fire was a lesson learned on many levels.

Quickly walking around the house thinking "What do I need to take in case
the house burns down?" was humbling, yet  there was very little we needed. I
grabbed picture frames as I went room to room, grabbed my almost 18 year
old's old favorite bunny stuffed animal (he got as an infant that occupies a
spot on the floor near his bed -- probably grabbed that for my sake!) and
his guitar, grabbed my youngest son's camera but forgot mine, grabbed my
husband's ID & money clip (he doesn't usually walk w/ them) but forgot a
folder of our SS cards in my office file cabinet. I grabbed the books on the
bedside table that each of us are reading figuring we'd still want to read
at night for a sense of normalcy. I thought to grab our contact cases.

As I left, my husband asked if there was anything he wanted me to get (we
had already loaded his guitars), all that came to mind was a box of family
Christmas ornaments. Nothing else. There were a few other things I forgot,
including things the boys have made over the years, but I only thought of
those on the drive back home.

I have neglected the pictures I store on my computer which would have been a
melted pile of plastic and metal had the worst occurred, so taking care of
4+ years of digital photos is now a top priority. Also on the list is making
copies of important documents in a "Take This" file. Add to that a List of
what to take to aid a frazzled brain in times of crisis.

Our Fire Department is made of volunteers and they are getting a donation
from us.

Lisa