I had no idea you were up close to the fire. What a trauma to have experienced! I saw it from a distance, literally. From San Francisco's Telegraph Hill it looked like a volcano blowing up with black smoke belching from the side of the hills. Ash containing paper from the burning homes rained on the city streets: parts of books, handwritten letters, recipes. My cousin and his widowed father lived in Broadway Terrance in the path of the fire. I thought about driving my truck over to help them evacuate but it had been years since I visited and wasn't sure if I could find my way to the house. I decided not to put myself in harms way as well as get in the way of the emergency vehicles and firefighters, but I felt guilt about that decision for years. My cousin's home was the last home burnt at the line of destruction. Their neighbor's home and beyond were untouched. Witnessing this from a distance was unsettling but nowhere near the actual experience you had. And like you said, this is a longtime upheaval that takes years to recover from.
Thanks Ginny. I still have some kind of survivors guilt given what horribleness so many others had to go through for years afterwards. I feel very, very lucky, having also dodged fires several other times when we stayed in California more recently.
Your experience illustrates my point exactly: even if you weren't directly in the flames, you were deeply affected by the experience from having family who were, and seeing charred bits of people's lives floating down from the sky. You did the right thing by staying away: it was bedlam there.
Wow, that's quite the story. Although I wasn't living in CA, I do remember it on the news. I was thinking about the Oakland fire as I watched Pacific Palisades and Altadena burn. Winds like the Santa Ana's are unique to just SoCal but as you experienced similar phenomena occur elsewhere. Several years ago an entire very large subdivision outside Denver was overrun by fire fanned by strong downslope winds off the Rockies, in January! Just because it's winter doesn't mean major fires can't occur. Welcome to the new norm. We occasionally get a prairie fires here in the winter when a stubble wheat field catches fire during a chinook wind event. In Sept 2020 there was a significant fire outside Bozeman. It started as a relatively little smoke but the forecast was for increasing winds and within 24 hours the fire crested a small ridgeline and ran up a canyon with many residences. In the end 7000 acres were scorched and 39 homes lost. Our former neighbors survived it but were made keenly aware of the risk of living in a wild land setting, sold the house and moved to town. Thanks for sharing.
Fire is scary, indeed. You are all too familiar with wildland risks where you are. I hadn't heard about winter prairie fires. Your stories are unfortunately more and more common.
So many places that once had manageable risks, have now tipped to being a little more risky due to climate change acceleration of drought, rain, and wind intensities and frequencies. Like you mention, fire risks are year-round now, not to mention the increased intensities of hurricanes in a broader swath of the country. Stay safe! And thanks for your comments!
A very timely post. I too didn't know how close you came to the Oakland hills fire. That must have been so scary for all of you and made you confront what to leave, what to take, what's valuable, etc. It's a hard and valuable reckoning to figure it out.
Your words about "just things" reminds me of the essay I wrote after a moving and storage company stole all our "things," everything we had except a few clothes and our backpacks. I had written some of the same ideas you mention regarding these "things" that define your life, who you are, where you've been, your past, etc. When they're gone, you need to reconsider yourself. On top of that you have to deal with the profound loss of everything you own, especially the notes from children and parents, photographs, and diaries that can never be replaced. Thank heavens we still had a roof over our heads and place to live. We were far better off than the fire victims but any kind of loss like that is profound.
My heart aches for all those in our home state who no longer have a home and have an infinite hole in their heart.
I was thinking of you as I wrote this knowing that are one of my friends who has indeed lost everything. And not through a natural event but from humans being greedy and mean and behaving in the worst possible way. I think that is worse, in that it takes away your trust in people. But of course you know all that.
Thank you for taking the time and the mental remembering to share what that experience forced you to reckon with in terms of your life's 'stuff' that had such meaning. I am still so impressed by your resilience as a result of that awful event. ❤️
Thank you for your thoughtful, kind comment. One of the worst parts was losing my trust in people and belief that people were good at heart. Alas. The only good part of the experience was it made us decide to move to Spain. That was timely.
Beautiful words on what is a terrible and sad moment for so many. And for you too, reliving what you went through. You are right that it does make you think about "things" and stripping back, and that which we are able to let go of, both tangible and intangible, and that which we need in order to locate and makes sense of ourselves ❤️
I am humbled by the fact that I have NOT lost everything like so many others.
I wish I was the person who lives without too many things, but also find great comfort in a few of the pictures and gifts from family and friends that I keep close to me.
Like you, the experience of moving away from one's home country provides another kind of stripping back, and increases the value of those few 'things' that keep us grounded just enough.
Here in Australia, I think many of us who live in fire-prone areas live through summer in particular with trepidation. We've seen our share - the most devastating was the 1967 bushfires which decimated southern Tasmania and put fire-fighting and preparedness in the forefront. Until then, no one really worried. More recently we've had national parks fires, which are in such difficult terrain and have to burn themselves out at significant loss to wildlife and rare vegetation. There was too, a fire a number of years ago which burned down to the ocean and had people hiding in the water under jetties or sitting offshore in dinghies.
In my husband's home state, two dear friends who had done all the right things and had a massive circle of cleared land around the house, both died as a wildfire swept through sucking all the oxygen from the air. Terrifying and tragic.
I live with a permanent list taped to the pantry door both here at the cottage, and in the townhouse and my son has a fire-preparedness plan on the farm. But in truth, sometimes one has to leave. Devastating to be sure.
Yes, I think you all have a similar climate and that sense of wariness during the dry seasons. There have been some horrific fires in Australia recently. Your description of the fire burning down to the ocean reminds me of the fire in Maui with the same outcomes. And I am so sorry to hear of your friends who lost their lives. Tragic indeed.
Good for you for having a fire plan. I think between fires and earthquakes, and now mudslides, many Californians have a 'go bag' permanently packed, with food and water supplies as well as batteries rotated on an annual schedule. Just like testing smoke alarms and changing their batteries on a schedule: just all part of the household routine.
And in the end, like you say, sometimes you just have to leave. Particularly as the intensity of the winds and the heat of the flames increases, there is not much one can do to survive being in it's path.
And now, let's think about delightful terrier puppies!!!! 🐶
It's true what you say about the wide-ranging and lasting impact of dire events like that (we happen to know two people who lost their homes in LA recently). Thanks for the thoughts!
So sorry to hear about your friends, Tim. These big disasters affect so many of us, in ways we can't always understand immediately. I appreciate you sharing that.
What a vivid and powerful description, Sabrina. Like Virginia, I hadn’t realized your closeness to the fires then. And Virginia’s description added even more detail to that experience.
The recent LA fires must indeed bring back strongly that scary and tumultuous time….my heart goes out to you and all of those experiencing the current devastation. I appreciate your thoughts about the yin and yang of the value of “things” vs a more stripped down approach. If we have the opportunity to balance both then we’re very fortunate. Thank you for sharing these words and memories with all of your readers.
Thank you Martha. Like I said to Ginny, I feel like my experience is miniscule and far removed from what the people who lost everything had to deal with for years and years afterwards. I certainly have huge empathy for those who lose everything that way.
An interesting outcome for me is that I now have a very acute sense of smoke smell!
I had no idea you were up close to the fire. What a trauma to have experienced! I saw it from a distance, literally. From San Francisco's Telegraph Hill it looked like a volcano blowing up with black smoke belching from the side of the hills. Ash containing paper from the burning homes rained on the city streets: parts of books, handwritten letters, recipes. My cousin and his widowed father lived in Broadway Terrance in the path of the fire. I thought about driving my truck over to help them evacuate but it had been years since I visited and wasn't sure if I could find my way to the house. I decided not to put myself in harms way as well as get in the way of the emergency vehicles and firefighters, but I felt guilt about that decision for years. My cousin's home was the last home burnt at the line of destruction. Their neighbor's home and beyond were untouched. Witnessing this from a distance was unsettling but nowhere near the actual experience you had. And like you said, this is a longtime upheaval that takes years to recover from.
Thanks Ginny. I still have some kind of survivors guilt given what horribleness so many others had to go through for years afterwards. I feel very, very lucky, having also dodged fires several other times when we stayed in California more recently.
Your experience illustrates my point exactly: even if you weren't directly in the flames, you were deeply affected by the experience from having family who were, and seeing charred bits of people's lives floating down from the sky. You did the right thing by staying away: it was bedlam there.
Wow, that's quite the story. Although I wasn't living in CA, I do remember it on the news. I was thinking about the Oakland fire as I watched Pacific Palisades and Altadena burn. Winds like the Santa Ana's are unique to just SoCal but as you experienced similar phenomena occur elsewhere. Several years ago an entire very large subdivision outside Denver was overrun by fire fanned by strong downslope winds off the Rockies, in January! Just because it's winter doesn't mean major fires can't occur. Welcome to the new norm. We occasionally get a prairie fires here in the winter when a stubble wheat field catches fire during a chinook wind event. In Sept 2020 there was a significant fire outside Bozeman. It started as a relatively little smoke but the forecast was for increasing winds and within 24 hours the fire crested a small ridgeline and ran up a canyon with many residences. In the end 7000 acres were scorched and 39 homes lost. Our former neighbors survived it but were made keenly aware of the risk of living in a wild land setting, sold the house and moved to town. Thanks for sharing.
Fire is scary, indeed. You are all too familiar with wildland risks where you are. I hadn't heard about winter prairie fires. Your stories are unfortunately more and more common.
So many places that once had manageable risks, have now tipped to being a little more risky due to climate change acceleration of drought, rain, and wind intensities and frequencies. Like you mention, fire risks are year-round now, not to mention the increased intensities of hurricanes in a broader swath of the country. Stay safe! And thanks for your comments!
A very timely post. I too didn't know how close you came to the Oakland hills fire. That must have been so scary for all of you and made you confront what to leave, what to take, what's valuable, etc. It's a hard and valuable reckoning to figure it out.
Your words about "just things" reminds me of the essay I wrote after a moving and storage company stole all our "things," everything we had except a few clothes and our backpacks. I had written some of the same ideas you mention regarding these "things" that define your life, who you are, where you've been, your past, etc. When they're gone, you need to reconsider yourself. On top of that you have to deal with the profound loss of everything you own, especially the notes from children and parents, photographs, and diaries that can never be replaced. Thank heavens we still had a roof over our heads and place to live. We were far better off than the fire victims but any kind of loss like that is profound.
My heart aches for all those in our home state who no longer have a home and have an infinite hole in their heart.
I was thinking of you as I wrote this knowing that are one of my friends who has indeed lost everything. And not through a natural event but from humans being greedy and mean and behaving in the worst possible way. I think that is worse, in that it takes away your trust in people. But of course you know all that.
Thank you for taking the time and the mental remembering to share what that experience forced you to reckon with in terms of your life's 'stuff' that had such meaning. I am still so impressed by your resilience as a result of that awful event. ❤️
Thank you for your thoughtful, kind comment. One of the worst parts was losing my trust in people and belief that people were good at heart. Alas. The only good part of the experience was it made us decide to move to Spain. That was timely.
❤️
Beautiful words on what is a terrible and sad moment for so many. And for you too, reliving what you went through. You are right that it does make you think about "things" and stripping back, and that which we are able to let go of, both tangible and intangible, and that which we need in order to locate and makes sense of ourselves ❤️
Thank you for your thoughtful comment, Jayne.
I am humbled by the fact that I have NOT lost everything like so many others.
I wish I was the person who lives without too many things, but also find great comfort in a few of the pictures and gifts from family and friends that I keep close to me.
Like you, the experience of moving away from one's home country provides another kind of stripping back, and increases the value of those few 'things' that keep us grounded just enough.
That is so true about the ‘things’ that keep us grounded through all the moving or other upheavals. Like a thread through the labyrinth 🙂
My thoughts are with all the people who have lost so much ❤️
Wow - scary times, Sabrina! And pregnant as well!
Here in Australia, I think many of us who live in fire-prone areas live through summer in particular with trepidation. We've seen our share - the most devastating was the 1967 bushfires which decimated southern Tasmania and put fire-fighting and preparedness in the forefront. Until then, no one really worried. More recently we've had national parks fires, which are in such difficult terrain and have to burn themselves out at significant loss to wildlife and rare vegetation. There was too, a fire a number of years ago which burned down to the ocean and had people hiding in the water under jetties or sitting offshore in dinghies.
In my husband's home state, two dear friends who had done all the right things and had a massive circle of cleared land around the house, both died as a wildfire swept through sucking all the oxygen from the air. Terrifying and tragic.
I live with a permanent list taped to the pantry door both here at the cottage, and in the townhouse and my son has a fire-preparedness plan on the farm. But in truth, sometimes one has to leave. Devastating to be sure.
Yes, I think you all have a similar climate and that sense of wariness during the dry seasons. There have been some horrific fires in Australia recently. Your description of the fire burning down to the ocean reminds me of the fire in Maui with the same outcomes. And I am so sorry to hear of your friends who lost their lives. Tragic indeed.
Good for you for having a fire plan. I think between fires and earthquakes, and now mudslides, many Californians have a 'go bag' permanently packed, with food and water supplies as well as batteries rotated on an annual schedule. Just like testing smoke alarms and changing their batteries on a schedule: just all part of the household routine.
And in the end, like you say, sometimes you just have to leave. Particularly as the intensity of the winds and the heat of the flames increases, there is not much one can do to survive being in it's path.
And now, let's think about delightful terrier puppies!!!! 🐶
It's true what you say about the wide-ranging and lasting impact of dire events like that (we happen to know two people who lost their homes in LA recently). Thanks for the thoughts!
So sorry to hear about your friends, Tim. These big disasters affect so many of us, in ways we can't always understand immediately. I appreciate you sharing that.
What a vivid and powerful description, Sabrina. Like Virginia, I hadn’t realized your closeness to the fires then. And Virginia’s description added even more detail to that experience.
The recent LA fires must indeed bring back strongly that scary and tumultuous time….my heart goes out to you and all of those experiencing the current devastation. I appreciate your thoughts about the yin and yang of the value of “things” vs a more stripped down approach. If we have the opportunity to balance both then we’re very fortunate. Thank you for sharing these words and memories with all of your readers.
Thank you Martha. Like I said to Ginny, I feel like my experience is miniscule and far removed from what the people who lost everything had to deal with for years and years afterwards. I certainly have huge empathy for those who lose everything that way.
An interesting outcome for me is that I now have a very acute sense of smoke smell!