Sunday, July 22, 2012

The Great Fire of 2012

Thursday, June 21st, I recieved a call from my brother.  He was on his way home from work and he was calling because he saw a fire on our mountain and was calling to see if we were ok.  I told him that it hadn't made its way over on to our side of the mountain and that we were fine.  He said from the looks of it, it looked like it had.  So I went out side to my backyard and this is what I saw.  


It had made it's way over to our side of the mountain.  It seemed to be moving slowly and by night time we weren't too worried.  Well this is what we woke up to the next day...


The fire had moved quite a bit and was burning like crazy.  It had come pretty far down the mountain and was getting close to our houses but they were keeping it contained to a certain point on the mountain so it wouldn't move any closer to us.  They had so evacuate a lot of people on the other side of the mountain but only had to evacuate a couple homes on our side.  The news was on scene reporting and so many people were calling, texting, and emailing to make sure we were ok.  We had countless offers from people to come stay at their house.  We felt so loved and cared for by so many.  Thank you to all who were so caring.  


By that night they had contained it on our side quite well and I wasn't too worried about it.  Most of us in the neighborhood felt calm and safe.  I know lots of people were praying for our safety and comfort and we could feel those prayers.  


This is a picture someone else took and it captures the beauty of it.  It was so beautiful to watch it Friday night.  Me and a couple of my neighbors sat on the porch and just watched the fire burn.  The embers were beautiful.  I'm glad that not 1 home was burned and that everyone was safe.  The firefighters, emergency response teams, and the sheriffs department were just amazing.  Working tirelessly to keep us and our homes safe.  What an amazing sight it was to see the community pull together and local businesses donating food and items for activities for those who had been evacuated from their homes. How blessed we are to live in a Zion where everyone takes care of one another.  Below are some pictures of them putting out the fire.  


Here is another view of the fire Friday night.  









This is a picture of some of the firefighters taking a break to sleep after fighting the fire all night.  I'm so grateful for their tireless efforts to keep us safe.  


Here is a picture of the before and after.  It was burned pretty bad.  It looks better now that we've had some wind that has blown away some of the ash but it does look so different.  You can see the line they kept the fire at.  They did an amazing job keeping us safe!  We are so blessed!

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