California Gardening: Hellllooooo?, 1 by quiltygirl

quiltygirl wrote:
SW - wished I had your talent with the camera (then, of course, wished I had thought to use mine). Took a couple shot with cell phone from the area I drove to with house animals. Only a block away, but easier road access and not in way of emergency personnel.
A friend and former neighbor came with her horse trailer. She works for the County in Riverside in the Fire Dept. and although she does clerical work, everyone in the Dept. is trained to respond and they are told they need to come in in case of major emergency. She said if the roads are broken with an earthquake, she can ride her horse in. lol. That would take awhile from Elsinore. Her pass and being with the Dept. is the reason I was able to get back IN when the immediate danger had passed. There was no official evacuation, but the fire, at its closest, was probably 300 yards away.

One elderly lady living with adult children, called this AM to thank me for calling them as the fire got closest to them. They were out in 15 minutes with their 4 vehicles and pets as a fire truck parked in their yard. There was a truck in each of the other 2 neighbor's yards also, and until about 10 this AM. The crews had chainsaws going all night and this AM they stilled had hoses going to cover everything that had already burned. The 'dozers are out right now and only a few trucks are left.

They set up a command post on our property for County, City and CDF personnel. I guess we were safe or they would not have had the command post there. Praise them all, they were fast. It turned dark just after it started and I could see their blue flashlights and helmet lights working in those hills. Here is an article I found and was surprised to see DH quoted.: http://www.swrnn.com/southwest-riverside/2010-08-19/news/new... As it turned out, it was only 25 acres, but plenty enough to scare us - especially hearing the crackling flames. Oh, and while on the other street, I could see more and there was a fire vortex. Very cool looking, all things considered.