For two weeks now, the people in the southern half of Lake County have been dealing with the massive Rocky wildfire that's made news around the world.
As of last night, forty-three families have lost their homes. Still more out buildings - barns and sheds and other structures - have been burned or damaged.
The family of one of my co-workers was evacuated more than a week ago. They moved in with 'mom', bringing their pets and infant son. This weekend, they got the all clear - it was safe to go home, until Sunday.
Then, a new fire started very close to the same area. This one is called the Jerusalem Fire and there are fears it will spread and join up with the Rocky Fire.
On Sunday, I happened to be out in west Sonoma County and was heading home. It was about five o'clock in the afternoon and the sky was, for the most part, cloudless. Except for a massive plume of smoke rising above Mt. St. Helena, about twenty miles in a direct line from where I was, on River Road. The top of the 'cloud' was so huge it and self-contained that it looked like a volcanic eruption or thunderhead. Across its mid-line was a layer of purplish gray smoke, unmistakable for clouds.
Until I got home, I thought the Rocky Fire had taken off, again. Sadly, it wasn't. It's a new fire, one that's burning closer to developed areas.
Matt Keller with ABC 7 News, our local affiliate, Tweeted on Sunday: "At 3:45pm, #JerusalemFire was reported as 300 acres. 5 hours later at 8:45pm, it was at 3,000 acres."
http://abc7news.com/news/jerusalem-fire-prompts-evacuations-in-lake-county/916863/
This image is a screenshot of the CDF website showing the perimeters of the Rocky Fire (the large area) and the Jerusalem Fire. If they merge, it means the perimeter suddenly expands to a larger area through rugged terrain.
As of yesterday morning, that tiny gap between them was about seven miles - which also helps give an idea of the scale of the total fire area. On that map, Clearlake, Lower Lake, Hidden Valley Lake, Wilbursprings and Knoxville are communities - not scattered properties of several or more acres. They are developments and towns with clustered neighborhoods.
Now, because of this fire, my colleague's family have been evacuated again.
I know that California isn't the only place in the world to suffer from wildfires. The Australian Outback is well-known for theirs. They burn everywhere but, for us here, with our friends and their families directly impacted, it's a bit too close to home, literally.
I was here in 1989 when the Loma Prieta earthquake rattled the Bay Area so I know how things go. The news travels far and wide and the farther it goes the worse it gets. After the earthquake my family in Perth called, expecting, I think, that I had died or something. The excitement in their tone and our conversation was one-sided. It was bad, tragic and terrible, but considering what could have been, we got very lucky.
The MacArthur Maze was not jammed with commute traffic as it normally would have been. Because of the World Series, most people were already at home, at the ballpark or sitting in bars, so the Maze was relatively empty. Not empty enough, sadly, but it could have been so much worse.
Factually, we have been fairly lucky so far in this summer given the drought and conditions. Tinder doesn't come close to describing it. It's more like a black powder vault. One spark, one tiny opportunity for a fire to start, and it probably will.
It's amazing, but so far only one firefighter died in this one. It's terrible, but given the terrain, the heat, the narrow roads and difficulty of access, it could have been much worse. So far as I know, no one else fighting the Rocky Fire has died, even though a news crew had to sit tight in their their vehicle for two hours while the fire burned around them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuDnPES4Vzk
Tragically, another firefighter did die on Sunday. He was with a crew fighting a fire up in the Sierra Nevada. A tree fell on him. He was only twenty-one years old.
Saying 'I'm sorry' to his family is empty and meaningless to them, I'm sure. But I am. And I thank their son, and others like him, from my heart for their efforts and sacrifice.
God bless the firefighters who work until they're exhausted and still give all they have!
Best~
Philippa
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