The last 2 weeks and change have been crazy...and it all started with a text message. My brother in law Zach pinged me about the Thomas Fire which all other sources said was just a small thing north of Santa Paula. He said that it was moving fast and might even be passing his house in East Ventura. I went out and lookup up at the sky and saw all that I needed to know - smoke billowing down out of the north and being pushed right over the top of our house.
I cautiously split our emergency kit gear between our two cars and prepped them to be loaded up. Another glance upwards a few minutes later showed that the situation wasn't getting better and with the gusting winds picking up, was bound to get worse. I went up and woke Sokny up to get her up to speed on the situation and as the sleep worked its way out of her eyes, she started to pack up some of her things as well.
We had the kids sleeping in the living room for a sleepover with daddy that night which put them in the best spot possible to be staged for easy loading into the car. The power begun to cut out...then on...then out...taking our already spotty internet up and down with it. A few more glances up at the sky made it clear that it was likely we would have to leave so we started packing up some things for the kids, clothes and some key electronics.
As the power continued to flutter on and off, I handed out flashlights and staged battery powered lights around the house to allow us to continue our preparations without having to stumble around more than necessary. I shared with Sokny that we needed to be 5-minute ready...ready to leave with 5 minutes notice which was barely enough time to get the kids in the car and go.
That point came sooner than either of us expected as the next check outside revealed a strong orange glow emanating from a point just over the ridge to the north east of our housing tract. I quickly ran across the street in my socks to wake our neighbors with 4 kids at the same time noting that most of the neighborhood was completely devoid of activity, with only a handful of lights visible from other souls who had been alerted to the proximity of the fire...or perhaps just responding to the lack of power in the area.
As the orange glow brightened even more, we carefully loaded the kids into the car with their backpacks, blankets and pokemon cards to keep them company. They didn't have a chance to pick out anything to bring but as a consolation, they didn't have to experience the tense rush out of the house consciously.
The power was out so after we backed out of the garage, I disconnected the connection to the automatic door opener and eased the door down into place, which thunked down with all the finality of a tombstone. We eased down the street, into the flow of a handful of early adopters who similarly feared what the later hours of the night might bring to our homes.
It dawned on me that many of our neighbors had not been alerted to what seemed to be imminent danger so I cautiously gave the horn a few honks wondering if when the morning came, I would be remembered as the village idiot or the town hero. As we rounded another dark corner, I sounded the horn a few more times with a bit more confidence. As we went down the final stretch of the neighborhood, I was at full confidence, sounding the horn to alert any and all who dared sleep that something was amiss in the hopes that they would realize what was coming over the hill to consume the beds in which they now slept.
We evacuated to my parent's house just a few minutes down the hill and set the kids up for what seemed like a fun sleepover with the grandparents. Sokny and I wouldn't find much sleep that night, with the police scanner reminding us of the rush of activity to and from our neighborhood and those near us on the hills of Ventura.
As the night wound down, the winds continued to stoke the fire. At its peak, the fire moved as quick as 200' per second, carried on winds gusting at up to 80 miles per hour. From my parent's house, we could see the fire dancing across the hills, making them seem like a playground for a fire-breathing dragon. It was a tense night as we attempted to decipher cryptic calls to remote fire teams to various 'blocks' around town.
At 3am, our bodies gave out and we succumbed to sleep, waking just a few short hours - that would be easier quantified in minutes - later to more of the same. The fires continued, with the daylight only serving to remove
I cautiously split our emergency kit gear between our two cars and prepped them to be loaded up. Another glance upwards a few minutes later showed that the situation wasn't getting better and with the gusting winds picking up, was bound to get worse. I went up and woke Sokny up to get her up to speed on the situation and as the sleep worked its way out of her eyes, she started to pack up some of her things as well.
We had the kids sleeping in the living room for a sleepover with daddy that night which put them in the best spot possible to be staged for easy loading into the car. The power begun to cut out...then on...then out...taking our already spotty internet up and down with it. A few more glances up at the sky made it clear that it was likely we would have to leave so we started packing up some things for the kids, clothes and some key electronics.
As the power continued to flutter on and off, I handed out flashlights and staged battery powered lights around the house to allow us to continue our preparations without having to stumble around more than necessary. I shared with Sokny that we needed to be 5-minute ready...ready to leave with 5 minutes notice which was barely enough time to get the kids in the car and go.
That point came sooner than either of us expected as the next check outside revealed a strong orange glow emanating from a point just over the ridge to the north east of our housing tract. I quickly ran across the street in my socks to wake our neighbors with 4 kids at the same time noting that most of the neighborhood was completely devoid of activity, with only a handful of lights visible from other souls who had been alerted to the proximity of the fire...or perhaps just responding to the lack of power in the area.
As the orange glow brightened even more, we carefully loaded the kids into the car with their backpacks, blankets and pokemon cards to keep them company. They didn't have a chance to pick out anything to bring but as a consolation, they didn't have to experience the tense rush out of the house consciously.
The power was out so after we backed out of the garage, I disconnected the connection to the automatic door opener and eased the door down into place, which thunked down with all the finality of a tombstone. We eased down the street, into the flow of a handful of early adopters who similarly feared what the later hours of the night might bring to our homes.
It dawned on me that many of our neighbors had not been alerted to what seemed to be imminent danger so I cautiously gave the horn a few honks wondering if when the morning came, I would be remembered as the village idiot or the town hero. As we rounded another dark corner, I sounded the horn a few more times with a bit more confidence. As we went down the final stretch of the neighborhood, I was at full confidence, sounding the horn to alert any and all who dared sleep that something was amiss in the hopes that they would realize what was coming over the hill to consume the beds in which they now slept.
We evacuated to my parent's house just a few minutes down the hill and set the kids up for what seemed like a fun sleepover with the grandparents. Sokny and I wouldn't find much sleep that night, with the police scanner reminding us of the rush of activity to and from our neighborhood and those near us on the hills of Ventura.
As the night wound down, the winds continued to stoke the fire. At its peak, the fire moved as quick as 200' per second, carried on winds gusting at up to 80 miles per hour. From my parent's house, we could see the fire dancing across the hills, making them seem like a playground for a fire-breathing dragon. It was a tense night as we attempted to decipher cryptic calls to remote fire teams to various 'blocks' around town.
At 3am, our bodies gave out and we succumbed to sleep, waking just a few short hours - that would be easier quantified in minutes - later to more of the same. The fires continued, with the daylight only serving to remove
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