When there's smoke there's fire

It was a typical Saturday evening. My roommate and I were sitting on the couch watching Bones. We got an email. Forest Fire Spotted, in a nearby the valley. 911 has been called.

What?!  I I throw some flip flops on and go outside to see if I can see this fire. I'm a little worried, but it can't be that big of a deal. One of our maintenance guys is at the end of my driveway, I walk over to him. He is  frantically attaching fire hoses.

This may be a bigger deal than I realize. Some people walk by, I learn I can see the fire if I go up near the dumpsters. My roommate and I venture out there.


The view isn't perfect, but there it is. The valley is on fire, fire is only a mile away (maybe 2, there isn't a trail to get right there, all the dry trees and grass blocks the path) It's a small fire, we hear reports that only an acre was burning and that it wasn't spreading.

Where are the fire engines?  Why aren't they here yet? You can hear panic in people. We all see that the fire isn't an immediate risk, there's no wind, it's not growing. But we all know it only takes a second for the conditions to change. Everything in my day to day life is here, and I can see a forest fire in the valley.

I am panicked, but not panicking. It doesn't seem real. The threat of this fire is very unsure. That 1-mile distance feels so close and so far away in the moment.

We went back to our house to get the tea that I brewed right before that email came in, and to plug in our phones in case we have to evacuate. While we are there, Gus (a maintenance guy) stops his truck in front of our house.  Unloading all the fire hoses we have next to the hydrant. He has the Cal Fire radio app. We can hear the firefighters trying to figure out how to get to the fire. There isn't a road there, just narrow hiking trails, no way to drive close, and on our radio we can hear the debates of what back road can get closest to the fire.

Gus asks me if I wanna hop in his truck and help direct the firefighters, I do (even though Gus and I aren't really friends) I can tell he is a little scared, and unsure all while wanting to do everything he can in the excitement of this fire. This fire was so disorganized. No one knew where to go, or what to do. You could hear the power struggle. There is a flipping fire, called in at least an hour ago, and the fireman are still not there.

It was comforting that they were close. But I just wanted them on the scene.

After a while, Gus was called to do something else. I asked if he could drop me off at my house as he drove to his next task.

Once home, I learned that my roommate was back at the dumpsters watching the fire. I go up there, and her and another family are standing in this opening staring at the fire. We can tell that the fire size is about the same. We hear over the staff radio that nothing is happening with the fire. It's not growing, or spreading. But we stand and stare. We can hear the fireman on the scene. we see the fire circle being made around the fire. We hear the logistics of getting the hoses across the small stream of the route that they close to get closest to the fire.

Finally, the fire gets smaller. They are putting it out. It's not immediate. The radio chatter told us that it would be hours until it would be out.

We all stand a little longer. We want to see that orange glow go out before heading home into bed. I didn't want to sleep until I knew we were okay. I didn't want to be woken up with an emergency evacuation.

My roommate and I go home. We open up all our blinds and finish our episode of Bones while watching all the Response vehicles drive in front of our house to and from the scene.

By 12:30 pm we are confident that we are now safe, the radio conversations and amount of fireman at our site confirm that.

I was tired and went to bed. (and nothing happened, they got the fire out completely within 24 hours)

A really cool thing happened that night, though:
The very first time that we went up to the dumpster that night, and when we could see the flames.  I was silent for a minute or two. Then out of the deeps of me, I pray aloud for safety. I pray for God to protect us.
It was a real prayer. I knew God would here, and I could feel my heart tug for the Lord. I knew he was in control and needed to be my rock in the this

It's been a long time since I have prayed like that. It was good to pray like that.