Al Smith
Mac Daddy
Thanks for the update Mrs B .
Some good, yesterday afternoon and evening.
First, I broke the rules (I know, again ), M and I drove into the closure area to our house to pick up some things that had been bothering us that we'd not included in the first mad dash, along with some more clothes as this looks to be dragging on far longer than we anticipated. Felt safe enough doing it, as the fire behavior has laid down quite a bit with better weather conditions for that. Turned out we were far from the only folks doing so. Saw one state patrol out our way, but she didn't stop us.
Second, the power was back on when we arrived. Had only been so for a few hours at most, but the refrigerator was fairly close to normal temp, and the freezer was still well below freezing. So perhaps that's not a loss after all. Stunned, I am. Power was off for 4 days. House is OK. No fire in the immediate area, still a couple of air miles away. Though that last has to be considered in light of the fact that this fire ran 15 miles the first day, 17 miles the second, 5 miles the third on a front 36 miles wide.
Third, the evac. level was lifted one notch for where we are staying with our friends. So now 2 clicks away from mandatory evacuation instead of 1.
On the other hand...smoke is still unbelievably heavy. Far too unhealthy to go outside but for brief times, or critical tasks. Reports of loss of property and life climb by the day. Not done with this by a long shot.