Inferno

Labor Day weekend Oregon saw a wind storm that brought winds gusts greater than 50mph. Monday evening these winds knocked out power, but only for a moment. I thought in that moment, “Of course, on the eve of the much anticipated return to distance learning, we would loose power and there would be no school!” As I cursed the unlucky fate upon us, our power was restored and I figured we tempted fate and won.

The next morning I was relieved that our power was intact. I got up early to get my workout in before school chaos ensued. My plan was foiled however mid workout when I received a robo call informing me that school was cancelled. It sighted multiple power outage related to the wind. Fine so one more day.

Tuesday morning also brought news of a wildfire that started near an abandoned warehouse just 3-5 miles from our home and spread rapidly with the dry, hot, windy weather. Late that night there was reports of another fire on a small island about 3 miles in the other direction. Neither of these fires ended up being much to talk about. Wednesday morning was met with another robo call. Much of the district was without power still, and wildfire was growing dangerously close to many in our school district. We watched anxiously as the plume slowly crept in.

By Wednesday afternoon things were escalating fast. Several of my friends and coworkers began to worry for their own safety and that of their homes. Our entire county was placed under evacuation notices. 2/3rds under “Go NOW”, level 3. We were under level 1, “Ready”. We all packed some clothes, toiletries. I put our important papers file box in the car. But we live in a fairly populated urban part of the county, surrounded by businesses and industry. I couldn’t fathom the kind of devastation that would have to precede an order for us to evacuate.

Yet the news got worse and the color all around became more and more ominous. Thursday morning the robo call cancelled school for Thursday and Friday. My friends had to evacuate some Go NOW, some “get set”. By mid morning the news on the fire front was just bad. Firefighters were pulled from evasive action to help save lives and evacuate. Two enormous fires were expected to merge and the weather was still unfavorable. Two small towns, Estacada and Molalla, were totally threatened. The fire it seemed was going to win. Our county case worker for the boy’s disability services called me. She wanted to discuss our evacuation plan and offer resources. She warned me that the interactive evacuation map available online was not well maintained and sometimes hours behind. It chilled me to the bone.

We were feverishly trying to get updates and information. We signed up for every notification we could find. In hindsight, it’s not surprising that we received a chilling alert Thursday afternoon. I was reaching out to coworkers and friends about an emergency safe spot when all the devices in out home start blaring alerts. A lot like an Amber alert noise, it stated that we were upgraded to level 2, “get Set”. What!?! I’m not going to lie, all my calming nature, you got this girl relaxation style was gone. Inside, I was full on panic mode.

The fire had moved within a mile of the other fire and 2 miles of Estacada. My friends in Sandy, were our first house here is, were evacuating and seriously threatened. This was all happening fast and too close for me! The alert turned out to be for Canby, a small town nearby, but not us. Still that level 2 border was now just 3 miles away. Our kids go to the Oregon city schools, and Oregon City was all evacuated under levels 2 and 3. We nearly left Thursday night. We packed everything in the van. Dog crates and food, all our clothing bags, all the nonperishable food in the house. I started making videos of the inside and outside of my home, inventorying everything and trying to place a value as to is this replaceable, irreplaceable, or priceless. What was the most priceless and is there room in the van for it with six people, two dogs, and the necessities? I never ever want to look at my home that way again.

Friday brought some good news, the winds had changed and humidity had increased. The fires had only grown a little, but were now within 1/2 mile of Estacada. We relaxed a bit, and later that day the level 2 zone border was retracted some. Feeling better about staying home, we turned our attention to the grim reality that our air quality was rated the worst in the world. We were feeling it too. Headaches, scratchy irritated throats, runny noses, more difficulty breathing, tiredness, we had it all… well have it all. Nothing has changed. School is off “until further notice”.

Visibility on Sunday was down to “sort of” across the street. In this view you can’t see past the trees on my property (which is small). The color changed from yellow, to orange, to gloomy grey. We haven’t seen the sun in days.

I felt like this improved today, but the AQI was still near 500ppm (bad)! Our dogs want a walk and the kids want to play outside. We want to run outside. But the smoke fills your lungs the minute the door is opened. Our air purifier hasn’t stopped running. I have gotten used to the campfire smell everywhere. We went to the grocery store on Saturday and there was a layer of smoke sitting above the shelves throughput the entire store.

Look, twice the sunlight today as yesterday!!! They predicted rain today… that was no rain today.