Fires

What a week it has been for us. It started off Monday when I showed up to run with my girl's at the church and received a call from one of them telling me she and one of the other running girls had to evacuate their homes at 5:30 that morning due to the fires and that they wouldn't be running that day (one of them actually lost their home in the fire). When the other girls showed up to run we decided the air quality wasn't good to be running in due to the smoke and ash flying around. So, instead we went to Denny's for breakfast and had a great time. I dropped off Hayden at school only to get a call an hour later that they and all the local schools were being evacuated. I frantically rushed in to get him, not sure what to find and I brought him home where we received notice of several other people receiving mandatory evacuations. We offered our home to several people and I started preparing for company. There were some conflicting reports about whether or not our area was supposed to evacuate but we erred on the side of caution, packed up the cars and left to stay with my parents at their condo on the coast. That night was rough, 8 people in a 700 square foot one bedroom condo, and having to stay inside due to the smoke, we decided to go home the following evening. We got home around 6 p.m., and were a little apprehensive due to the police blocking off our street, but he said he was there to prevent others who didn't live in the immediate area from getting into town, which had all been quaranteened. We decided to leave our car packed in case we had to leave in the middle of the night, got settled in the comfort of our home, as much as we could, put the kids in bed and turned on the tv to get updated on the situation. To be assured we were safe at home we also decided to wake up every few hours to check out the windows to be sure no flames were coming near our home. Well at about midnight we were awakened to sirens and search lights. We thought the police were looking for looters and were expecting someone to come running over the hill, freaked out Jared called the police and we were told we were under mandatory evacuation. Seconds later police cars came streaming down the street, sirens and everything else blaring, lights flashing in every direction, they were driving down all the driveways making sure every person was alerted. We quickly grabbed the kids and we left for the condo again.
The following day some friends of ours invited us to stay with them in Riverside County. Along the way we had to drive through a large portion on the freeway that was still smoldering and the smoke was especially strong, due to all the smoke we inhaled Carson wasn't feeling too hot and I decided to take him to Urgent Care when he had a fever of 102.8 and was croupy. We got him meds and took him back to our friends for some shut-eye. Thursday morning we received word that we were one family of very few which received the green light to move back in to our home, for that we were very fortunate. The town is still pretty much locked down due to the polluted water supply. Every street leading into Fallbrook is either taped off or has police men standing watch. The only street open is the one leading to our home and very few others in comparison to the town as a whole and there is no way of getting in unless you show identification and proof of address. We did however manage to sneak my parents in past the national guards tonight for a home cooked meal. Despite the two fires which came near my parents home, as far as we know it was spared.
The "Rice" fire, which included Fallbrook and surrounding areas has burned over 200 structures, all together in the 13 or so fires that were burning in the county, there have been 1500 structures burned, 719,000 square miles, and more than 375,000 people evacuated. The population of San Diego is a little over 1.2 million, so almost a third of the county has been evacuated. The response has been amazing though. At some of the shelters there were more volunteers and supplies than there were evacuated individuals. My friend Karen whose husband is a local firefighter he left Sunday and probably won't be home for another week and a half. The sacrifices they make for our safety has hit home this week and I have so much respect and admiration for the job they do and all the other officials. It has been a horrible tragedy but one that could have been so much worse. We only hope we are at the end. I don't know what I will do if we have to leave again, I suppose we will do it, but I really hope it is over.
Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support. We truly felt buoyed up at this time in our lives.