California Firestorm

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I was awakened abruptly last Monday morning by the frantic ringing of my doorbell.  It was my friend & neighbor Ivan rousing me to ‘answer the bell’ so to speak; I could already smell the smoke before he told me there was a raging firestorm just ten miles away.  I live in wine country, Sonoma county where much of the terrain is heavily wooded canyons, many peppered with residential neighborhoods; so dealing with a potential wild fire is always in the back of our minds.  Now it was foremost on our minds.

Little did I know that the day I was waking into would see the worst firestorm in Californiahistory.  Beginning just before midnight on Oct. 8th, fires sprang up in several different Sonoma and Napacounty locations.  The weather was zero humidity, no moisture in the air, with winds gusting 50 to 60 mph.  Before Daybreak there were a total of 14 fires racing primarily north, and eastward, away from my hillside canyon home…for now.

Wildfires such as this actually create their own weather.  As the flames grow higher into the air it creates a vortex, a sort of fire tornado which in turn draws in all the air around it.  Add to this devil’s mix a 50 mph easterly wind and you get a self feeding, self sustaining firestorm with a halo of burning airborne embers falling to earth setting new fires, which then join with the parent fire.  Maybe a case could be made for fire being a kind of life form: It breathes air, consumes food which strengthens it, and it reproduces itself.   Fire spirits, Hmmm.  More on this in a bit.

You don’t have to be a prepper to be ready ahead of time for such natural disasters; all it takes is having been a boy scout, and later a combat veteran, to see the sense in being ready to bug out with a Go-Bag full of emergency survival needs already to load in the car.  If you don’t have them pre-packed and ready to load in the car, you won’t have timewhen you are watching the flames advance on your home as floating embers ignite your roof.

Watching three hurricanes in a row wreck death and devastation on parts of the country should have motivated a lot of people to prepare, including making detailed evacuation plans for the family.  It sure motivated me to drag my go-bags out and double check them in the days before the firestorm. 

Brewing up some coffee was the first order of business, and as it was perking away, the second was to check communications status.  Had electricity but not much more.  No television, no internet, no text.  All gone, and with no word on for how long.  Time to dig out the hand crank, portable emergency radio.  I hooked it up and before long found what I was looking for, all day coverage of the firestorm in my back yard.

 

                                                                                ~Cal-Fire Official

It’s kind of funny, the difference in perspective you have when packing a bug out bag in the calm before the storm; and re-packing it when faced with the possibility of everything you own turned to ash.  With no immediate threat to my residence it gave me the luxury of doing a kind of triage on my go bags.  There is no way you can take everything which is special to you, so hard choices must be made.  Sometimes the emotional gives way to the practical as some things are removed from the bags to make room for something of a more emotional value.

When you walk thru your home with the idea it might all burn you begin to see with new eyes.  As long as the wind is our friend and blowing the fire away from us this hopefully becomes just a dress rehearsal this time.

So as I listened to the reports flowing in on the radio, I found I couldn’t sit still, I had to be doing something even if it was pacing about trying to think of the next thing I forgot to pack.  Hearing odd noises I quickly checked outside to see what was up.  It was my 70 year old next door neighbor, up on his roof with a rake and water hose, courting a broken leg if he fell.

It occurred to me I was darting around like a ferret chasing a meal it can’t see.  I sat and thought about that a moment and then it dawned on me, PTSD awakes from it’s slumber, given enough stressors.  I’m sitting in a bone dry old house on a wooded hillside in a firestorm, and no information save for the radio which was mostly helpful but not terribly useful.  I’m hearing about places I liked going to, burned to the ground, along with area landmarks like the Hilton hotel. Entire subdivisions are going up in flames. People are dying out there in my back yard.

                     ~ Sonoma County Sheriff

 With no internet access all; transactions were cash only, and the roadways were choked with evacuees and those seeking emergency supplies.  I am suddenly feeling pretty smart for having bought two flats of Aquafina bottled water last week.  You could say a hurricane inspired me to prepare for a firestorm.  My friend Ivan has the day off work due to the firestorm so we spend it pre-loading stuff into the car, just in case.  Tomorrow I’m buying a chain saw because no damned down tree is gonna prevent me from bugging out if the need arises.  Boy scout, gotta be prepared!

People are calling reports into the radio station all day, one man reporting that eight water trucks showed up, without water in their tanks.  Maybe it’s a cost effectiveness thing, why haul all that water any farther than you have to?  Intended to fill up at a local hydrant??  Another man called in saying there were no Cal-Fire aircraft working in his area.  He didn’t understand they have to be able to see where to drop their load of fire retardant.

 

 Day two sees the number of uncontrolled fires at 17, with 20 dead and over 1500 structures destroyed.  Nobody was prepared for how fast the flames raced over the land, it’s like some kind of surrealistic nightmare.  I am stressed and frustrated that all data lines are down, except for my wonderful radio.  I’m just feeling a need to see this monster on satellite view, so I can properly engage it.  I spent several years on radio in Alaska, so I know well the idea of words painting pictures, and the scenes coming from my emergency disaster radio are horrific.

Smoke from the firestorm can be smelled at San Francisco airport 60 miles distant.  It covers more than 115 thousand acres of land, over 65 square miles, in eight counties! 

There are now more than 4400 firefighters working over 40 hours straight.  Twenty thousand people have been evacuated to shelters, churches & high schools as just dealing with the displaced becomes a storm itself.  The early estimate of 180 missing people has now become 660 missing people, a number certain to keep rising.  The firestorm remains at zero containment.  And it is still growing.

                                                             ~TV news reporter

Firemen and first responders are often “lost” and  not knowing exactly where they are because all the street signs melted.  Steel melts at 2500 degrees Fahrenheit.  Some cars exploded when their gas tanks ignited, leaving charred upside down slag heaps, each with puddles of melted aluminum beneath them.

Human  nature sure comes out fast at times like these, there have been very few incidents of looting so far, but volunteers by the hundreds are calling local officials wanting to help.  I’ve heard of three ‘hubs’ where volunteers can go to register &then be dispatched somewhere to render aid. 

I like that.  Shows that hope maybe has a fighting chance after all.

Late afternoon I get the sweet sound of a text notification from my cell phone. Minutes later internet was restored, and an hour later TV service came back.  I was quite pleasantly surprised; anticipating a much longer outage lasting several days.

                                                                        ~Unknown Evacuee

Seeing the images of this monster firestorm came with a case of cognitive dissonance at the sheer size of the thing, and how incredibly fast it was consuming everything in its path.  If the recent string of hurricanes was a wake up call, this then was indeed waking up to a nightmare literally on my back door.  The same conditions that birthed this inferno exist in the canyon I reside in.  It would only take a spark, and I could be among the homeless victims of this wildfire.

Aerial views of the devastation are truly like something from a war zone, specifically Hiroshimaafter the bombing.  Watching these images as I fine tuned my evacuation luggage, was just feeding my awakened PTSD; it never really goes away, hibernation is the best you can hope for.  The good part of it is that the awakening PTSD also brushes off the skill-set needed to deal with the stressors, and the emergency.  They never go away either.  As I move through the house; I take the time to bless, thank &release a lifetime worth of possessions I have managed to hold onto until now.  Some things are more difficult to let go of than others.  There is a reason they’re called possessions.

By Wednesday the 11th, the firestorm is now 22 separate fires and has become twice the size of Washington DC and continues to grow, it’s appetite unabated.  Throughout the devastated area only chimneys remain standing, like gravestones marking where over 2000 homes died.  They say the winds are going to pick up again tonight.

                                         ~Cal-Fire Spokesman

Late in the afternoon authorities announce the mandatory evacuation of Calistoga as the fire marched over the hillside overlooking the tourist town, and the rolling smoke moved into the valley like a massive ghost.  A pocket fire sprang up near Garberville causing even more evacuations, eating still more land. 

There are now over 8000 exhausted firemen (Heroes) battling the firestorm and saving lives.  More than 53,000 people have been evacuated and there are 3500 homes and businesses burned to the ground.  There have been 0ver 50 helicopter rescues, as the state amasses the largest aerial bombing campaign in American history to fight the firestorm.  They have 73 helicopters, 30 air tankers; including a DC-10 and a brand new 747 jumbo tanker being used for the first time.

As darkness comes to day three there are 26 known dead, and 468 missing with over 265 square miles burned; and 80 cell towers destroyed.  In their evening press conference authorities stress that people should avoid the evacuated zones or face arrest.  They also advise that this emergency event is far from over, saying it could be two weeks or longer to get containment & control over the inferno. 

Many years back during the practice burning of an old dilapidated building one of the firefighters took a snapshot of the blaze and was astounded to clearly see what many say is an Indian chief on horseback.  I’ve been intrigued by such fire images ever since, and was quite surprised to see one show up in the growing collection of images from this firestorm event.  Look closely at pictures of raging fires, you may find some yourself.

Daybreak on day 4 came after an overnight respite as the winds did not pick up as feared they would.  Even though, it continued to consume thru the night while the air armada was grounded.  It is now thought that downed power lines and blown transformers started the wildfires around 11:45 pm, last Sunday night.  Smoke from the growing inferno caused 130 flight cancellations at San Franciscoairport.

There were over 1000 people missing, of them 485 have been located alive.  So far the firestorm has destroyed 2834 private residences and killed 30 people.  Ironically there is a movie due to be released on October 20th called “Only the Brave” which is an action yarn about “Smoke Eaters” otherwise known as firefighters.  Not wanting to disrespect the real life heroes fighting this inferno, but maybe they could push back the release date for this whole area, it might be too much too soon for those who have lost homes and entire families.  Just sayin, A little compassion goes a long way.

Tonight I am grateful for having a place to live and food to eat, and yet this event has already affected my future.  I’ve been trying to find another place to live, closer to town and wheelchair accessible to things I’m interested in doing for two years now and I’ve learned one thing for sure and that is the housing market is depressed.  There has been a drop-off in new construction.  There is a severe shortage of family residential housing and apartments throughout the region; and way too many people looking to buy or rent.  Those numbers must got skewed for maybe a decade or more with almost 3000 homes destroyed so far. Not only that, but I can almost feel my rent increasing as I write this.  Leverage and taking advantage; purely human traits.

 

My PTSD is getting a case of disaster fatigue; not sure how much more I can handle.  We’re 226 days into the disaster called the Trump inauguration, and the hits just keep on coming faster than we can process.  Soon psychic numbing sets in with the first symptoms of PTSD, as you become hyper alert to your surroundings, & do threat assessments on every new sound or noise.  Welcome to my nightmare.

Whether or not you get help or rescue in the next disaster depends entirely upon whether you voted for Trump.  If you voted blue or are a banana republic, know that you’ll be on your own once you catch your allotment of paper towels.

It is always a wise precaution to have a few crucial items kept in the trunk of your car: such as a few gallons of water, some canned food, blankets & clothes etc. and some basic tools.  Add a small chain saw if you face the possibility of fallen trees across critical escape roadways.  I always keep a tent, rope, duct tape & giant green poly tarp in my trunk as well, because I don’t like roughing it.  You should already have a Thomas guide book of the entire roadway system in your state or area.  If not, perhaps you should consider getting one because knowing where to go and how to get there can literally save your bacon.

Stored somewhere like an entry closet you should also have your “ Bug-Out-Bag” pre-packed, loaded and ready to go at a moments notice.  The question arises, what to include?  First &foremost are all needed medications, reading glasses, money and your important personal/family papers.  Next, backup important computer files & documents to a mass storage device like 64GB flash drive.  You will want to pack headlamps, flashlights, [with xtra batteries] – candles and perhaps even a small alpine single burner camp stove for cooking.  That’s the thing about mass evacuations; you have no idea where you will end up, or if you’ll ever see your home again, so the ability to cook might be a game changer.

You will want some spare clothing, how much depends on how high maintenance you are I suppose.  At some point extra space in your Go Bag becomes very valuable indeed, so you’ll know if you packed too many clothes.  Ideally you should limit your bug out luggage to what you’d feel comfortable carrying, on foot, over unknown terrain conditions.  Assume the worst case scenario, everything less will seem like good luck.

Next include a decent first aid kit, and a multi-power source emergency radio.  Be sure to pack cell phone chargers, and extra batteries or power bank devices.   It should be a no-brainer but if you own firearms, pack them as well.  Not that you’re gonna be going road warrior, you just don’t wanna leave them for looters.   Plus you may need a little Mad Max now &then.  You’ll need a supply of breathing respirators: 3M makes their N95 which is rated to defeat the smallest particles of smoke, it the mask you want, period.

People aren’t all the same and neither are bug out bags, yours will eventually contain the items you deem crucial to have in a very uncertain future following some unknown disaster.  It’s a work in progress, start today.

Got children? They each get their own bug out bag as well.  A few clothes & a lot of toys/games to hold their attention and give a semblance of normal even in crisis.  Fail to do this and risk being taken to the limits of parental sanity.  For child mood emergencies, have a couple of Hershey bars tucked away for emotional bribery.  Works every time!

Watch the news footage of any disaster and you’ll see literally hundreds of refugees carrying plastic garbage bags and pillow cases holding their worldly possessions.  Every one of them thought there would be time to pack.  Sometimes…there just isn’t.

 

Officials with Cal-Fire are saying this is nowhere near under control, and that it could be weeks before the fire is out.

Stay Tuned…