I live in Rohnert Park, the 1st town south of Santa Rosa and this is how my week played out. . . .
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| The 1st image I saw |
Around 1am a picture popped up on Facebook I'll never forget. It was an image of flames covering the hillside. And those pictures didn't stop coming. Local news started flooding Facebook stating there were several fires burning in Calistoga and Napa, which is about 25 miles East of Sonoma County.
Within an hour the fire traveled West and Santa Rosa had become a target. Sonoma County was on fire! Napa was on fire too and it was as if we were living a scene out of a movie.
I didn't sleep at all that night. I flipped from one news station to the other. All while scrolling through social media, consumed with everything that was happening and trying to get hold of as many people as I could. I have numerous friends and cousins that lived in the fires zones in Santa Rosa and in Napa county, so the few hours it took to know everyone was safe and/or evacuated was a feeling I'll never forget.
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| Images of our county up in flames flooded social media. |
My husband left for his job at UPS at three that morning and it was terrifying sending him off. With him gone, I was in charge of the whole family. If this fire took a turn for the worst we were easily in harms way, so I started packing the car instantly. Looking back my initial evacuation pack didn't have nearly as much as it did towards the end of the week. I initially only left with our wedding albums, Scarlett's Make-A-Wish box with all her memorabilia from her trip, our safe and only 2 sets of clothes for each of us.
It was still dark and the news stations seemed to have had no idea how big the fire was and where it was traveling. My husband called me as soon as he got to work to tell me the freeway was already gridlock from people leaving their homes and the gas stations all had lines 10-15 cars deep. He could see fire in the distance.
Monday still seems just so surreal and was the longest day ever. By 5:30am my parents were headed to our house because there were rumors there was a fire on the hills above Eastern Rohnert Park, which is right where they live. At 6:32am they started doing evacuations to the East side of Rohnert Park. . . another fire had broke out above Crane Creek. We decided we weren't going to wait and it was time to go.
As we left our house night fall was fading, but all you could see was the sky lit up with orange and red flames. The kids started screaming as they looked up over what they know as their hill and saw a line of fire. As I looked back in my rearview mirror into Santa Rosa I saw yet a different line of fire blazing in the hills. It was an image I can't explain.
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| It didn't take long to start hearing that we had lost full communities and landmarks. |
What normally took 20 minutes took over an hour and we were finally in Petaluma. The town was filled with people walking around in pajamas, cars full of belongings, and everyone seemed to be moving in slow motion. Petaluma had become one of the major evacuee zones and it was filling up fast. We ended up at my 94 year old grandmas house and remained there until our evacuation was lifted later that day. Rohnert Park seemed to be out of immediate danger but we were still being told to keep our belongings packed and ready to go again.
By the time we got home that eventing we heard hotels had filled up all the way to San Francisco, gas stations were closed down, and restaurants had ran out of food as the valley tried to accomdate the thousands of people evacuating. Evacuation centers were popping up all over the county and we were terrified of what was yet to come.
By Tuesday 4,000 personnel had been deployed to help with the several fires that had broken out over Northern California. They were 0% contained and had burnt over 115,000 acres in 24 hours. An estimated 2,000 structures had been confirmed lost and 100's of people were still missing and unaccounted for. I went to bed that night fearing this nightmare would never end and hoping when I woke up it would all be a dream
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| Over 2,900 homes lost in Santa Rosa alone. |
The days that followed all seem to blur together. I filled my days going to work in the Am's and my afternoons collecting and donating items to families who'd lost their homes or still weren't able to return home after being evacuated.
Everyone was glued to the news, waiting for an update and a glimpse of something positive. Each night I went over my check list of evacuation items. Tried to eat. And then attempted to sleep as my phone was dinging every couple minutes with Nixtel updates or another news break came over the TV.
Like countless other people, I slept the first 4 nights on the couch with the TV on fearing what was yet to come and praying the next day would get better. But Each day just brought on more evacuations, more fire, and more lives lost.
Everyone knew someone who lost their home, or knew someone who knew someone. Countless families took in friends and families as they were flooded with evacuees, with an estimated 100,000 people having to flee from their homes. I myself knowing 3 people who lost their home and over a dozen people that were evacuated.
By mid-week the air quality was unbearable and nobody had been outside in days. One news story saying we let off more toxins in the air in the first 24 hours then California ordinarily lets off in a year. Schools were closed, children stripped of all routines and businesses were bending over backwards to help accomadate our community getting turned upside down.
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| These heroes took flight in our skies all week long |
But through all this sadness and turmoil we saw heroes come forward like we never have before. Seeing the way this community, county, and state came together will leave an impression on all of our hearts.
The phrase #SonomaCountyProud started popping up everywhere and it was obvious our community was going to come out of this stronger then ever. Restaurants offered free food for people affected by the fires, volunteers flooded the evacuation centers as people brought in car and truck loads full of items to help those affected. By Friday places were already saying they couldn't accept anymore donations cause they were already flooded with items.
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| Got this off FB, a family feeding the fireman |
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| We went here for Scarlett's field trip last year |
Cal Fire and 1st responders were brought in from all over. They heroically took helicopters to the sky and vigorously worked on containing the fires. . . as their partners work days upon days trying to contain the fire. They are exhausted and some have lost homes themselves but keep on fighting. Fire fighters have come from all over the state and all over the country. Fleets of helps have been seen traveling to us from all over and it's been truly amazing to witness.
It's Monday now, a week since these horrific fires tore through our state leaving a mark on us like we've never seen before. My bags are still packed and by the door, a reality I'm not sure I can let go of yet.
My heart aches for all those that have lost their home and/or loved ones and I will never know what they're going through. . . I can't even imagine. I pray for each and every one of them.
I want to thank again all that is taking part in fighting this fire. We are hurting but hopeful that this will end soon and we can start to rebuild. Forever grateful for being #SonomaCountyProud and for all that everyone has done this past week.
Written by,
Kari Peepe
©KariPeepe/atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com
http://atouchofscarlett.blogspot.com
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| Heroes came in all forms this week |
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| Cooking for some families who lost their homes was a great way to keep busy. |
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| Everyone was willing to lend a hand. |
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| Schools were lost |
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| Stagering statistic |
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