A month ago today, July 17th there was a wildfire that picked up speed and burned through my hometown of Pateros. It was incredible sad and heart wrenching to experience from far away and yet I'm positive I have no idea how bad it felt to be one of the many families who lost a home due to fire.
Thursday I got a call from my mom saying she might not be bringing Madison home because there was a small fire up the road about 6 miles. Very much not concerned, but just letting me know they were going to take off on Friday instead. A few hours later my mom is packing and getting what they feel is important, throwing it into the beds of the trucks, loading up animals and evacuating to Downtown Pateros. As they are coming down the hill they see the fire has already crested the hills behind Pateros so they decide to drive south to wenatchee to wait it out. My dad had stayed behind to watch and keep an eye on the farm. Everyone else had left, so he was manned with a bucket and a shovel to take on the flames. I was on the phone, texting, calling, on Facebook and listening to internet radio KOZI station trying to get as much information as I could. Once I knew my mom and my daughter were safe in wenatchee all extra left over worry and panic shifted to my dad still on the farm. At one point he texted and said the fire was down to the shop which sits about 50 yards from the house, I was not sure if their house would make it, but the wind would shift and give the flames a push the other direction. I'm pretty sure my dad was fed up with me and my worried texts. I made him text every 10-15 mins to make sure the dude was still conscious and ok. We had quite the system. He would text "ok" and that was all I needed. But if he missed a checkpoint I was texting him for a response. My siblings and I were all on the phone multiple times sharing info and trying to figure out what we could do. The fire seemed to be the worst from about 7-11 pm that night. Then it had shifted from the farm and at that point we were hearing many sad stories about Pateros. Then hearing the fire was moving towards Brewster flats and Brewster. I think I finally went to bed around 3:30-4:00 am.
My brothers and I decided we would leave Friday morning to drive to Pateros to help my parents. We really didn't know what we could do but we figured moral support could go a long ways. Plus poor madi was still there and needed to come home. And the return plans for her had just been thwarted, sooooo about 7 Friday morning I left for Pateros.
It was a long day of driving but always fun when I see my brothers. It seemed like a normal smoky summer day until we got to Bridgeport/Brewster area. That's when it became very real. Downtown Brewster had fire sirens going off. The town was glowing from fires still burning on the hill. It was warm and smokey. It was sad feeling. It was eerie. We drove the rest of the way to our parents house and I'm honestly glad it was dark. So we didn't have to see all the destruction at once. There was no power so the town just looked and felt sad and eerie. I don't really know how else to explain it. Lots of sadness. We made it home and everyone got right to work. My brothers helped my dad hook up a generator in the dark to get power to the fridge and freezer to save food. I didn't do much but I did get madi and help her get ready for bed and settled in. Then we all went to bed in a hot smokey house. It was actually the best night sleep I had had in awhile. I'm pretty sure I didn't move. The next morning I got up early and went on a walk to see what I could. The farm looked sad. Most of these pictures are from that morning walk. It's amazing to think about fire and the power it has and the speed it can move and how much destruction it can cause. So sad to look up the hill and see the two closest neighbors and how their houses were just gone. Nothing but some twisted metal left. And everything was black. And the air was so smokey.
The days that followed were full of getting generators hooked up to irrigation pumps and other peoples houses. It was a lot of cleaning and cooking(camping style). And there were some intermittent laughs shared. And a lot of taking it all in. I did eventually go on a drive to look around, made my heart sad to see so much gone/destroyed/ blackened. But it helps put a lot in perspective. Made me realize the things that are important, and if my house burnt to the ground, what would I want with me and what is just weighing me down. It was a very enlightening time and I'm glad we were able to go. I'm glad that my family is safe and I'm grateful for the things I have in life.
Here are my pictures, if you have never been to my house it probably won't hurt your heart like it does mine, but here they are anyways.
A very sweet friend knew we loved popcorn and it was tradition for us to eat popcorn on Sunday nights. Well she made us a huge bag full of delicious popcorn. So sweet and so tasty.
This here was our best friend. Worked like a champ.
This was a treasure find. No one even knew anything was down in this ravine becUse it usually has tons of weeds/brush and snakes. But turns out there were some fun finds!
The famous half burnt Pateros sign that was on so many Facebook posts... Well that is what is left of that sign. :(
Our gate. Well half of it. The other side is still standing!
This was a hose my dad used until the pump got fried and the power went out. Then he was left to just a 5 gallon bucket to dip into the pool and a shovel. My mom did the math and he hauled like 600 gallons of water. He did a great job of saving a power pole and their shop. Pretty sure those would both be gone had he not stayed. Crazy man. Grateful for him though!
If your house burnt what couldn't you live without? Might be a question we should ask ourselves more often so we know what's really important.
