Ben Anton asked:


It is essential that no matter where you live you take care to protect your home and family from fire. Homes in areas that experience high temperatures and dry conditions are even more susceptible to fire dangers, especially during the summer. There are a number of safety measures you should consider as fire season is in full force around the country to protect your family and your personal property from the potential for fire damage.

Advanced Planning

The simplest and easiest way to prevent fire damage is to think ahead. Educate yourself on the high-risk areas around your home, the type of vegetation surrounding it, and how fire-resistant your land may or may not be. If you live in a wooded area, know the history of wildfire in your area. Is there a history of drought during the summer? Have there been fires near your property in the past?

Evacuation

Homes in areas at high risk for wildfires should have a proper emergency evacuation plan - this may be the surest way to protect your family. Plan several escape routes in case a fire blocks main roads and have emergency kit materials ready to go at a moments notice.

Safety Zone

Creating a safety zone around your house and property can help reduce the amount of damage done to your home by flames. Minimizing the amount of vegetation within thirty feet of your home will lessen the risk of fire damage to your possessions. It is recommended that trees and shrubbery be pruned to fifteen feet of fireplaces, stoves, and chimneys. Brick walls, stone patios, and swimming pools can also act as barriers against flames.

Making sure the area immediately around your home is clear of combustible material is also very important for fire disaster prevention. Home and business owners should try to install electrical lines underground if possible. They should also notify the electric company if branches start to interfere with power lines. Keep firewood and gas grills away from any structure and combustible or flammable materials in approved safety containers. Overhangs are high risk items for fire; using the area under them for storage greatly increases that risk. Some property owners encase their overhang or porch stilts in non-combustible material such as brick, concrete, or metal to reduce the risk of fire damage.

Home Materials

Wire mesh added to air vents and chimneys will help prevent embers and flaming debris from entering a building. Fire-resistant siding, such as stucco, metal, or brick helps a home resist catching fire if flames get too close. Dual- or triple-pane thermal glass helps reduce the risk of heat passing through your windows and igniting materials inside your home.

The roof is the most vulnerable part of your home during a fire. Wood, shake, and shingle roofs are particularly risky. It is best to stick with fiberglass, slate, metal, clay, or concrete tile.

Proper disaster preparation could mean the difference between losing everything - property, possessions, lives - and salvaging your home and everything you hold dear. Take the time to learn the fire history of your area and implement proper fire damage prevention measures in order to drastically reduce the risk of damage and the need to restore your home, documents and important materials completely. Contact your local fire department and find out what they recommend for fire protection if you have any questions about your particular area.

~Ben Anton, 2008



Kurt

Diana Ennen asked:


As the California wildfires continue and the new threat of mud slides emerge, disaster recovery planning is front and center. It’s important for all to take this time to plan. If you havent prepared a disaster recovery plan, now is the time to do so. Even 30 minutes now can save one from a lifetime of heartaches.

Dr. Paulo J. Reyes, a First Responder in California and author of the fiction thriller Sledgehammer has firsthand disaster recovery experience and participated in various disaster relief efforts in California including the major earthquake in L.A. in 1994. He advised, “Loss of lives can be greatly reduced if everyone has a complete plan of action prior to the event. Not only with the reduction of heart attacks and stress related illnesses, but people tend to get to safety quicker if they have already planned ahead and know what they are going to do. Here are some steps to take to prepare:

Step One –Identify a safe place for everyone to meet. This pre-determined place should be discussed with family members prior to an emergency. A second location should be discussed. Also, out-of-town relatives should be advised of this location. Additionally, each person should have a list of phone numbers for immediate neighbors and family members. 3X5 index cards work well.

Step Two  Take an inventory now. Write down all your valuables (personal and business). Don’t forget the little things that can truly add up. Keep receipts of all purchases. The receipts allow you to get that value when filing a claim. Take photos. Secure all this in a safe place.

Step Three — Write down a complete family medical history. Include any medical conditions, medicines and dosages, doctors names and contact information, where medical records can be found, etc. Be specific. A life can truly depend on this one step alone.

Step Four  Get a copy of all important information, wills, trusts, mortgages, deeds, birth certificates, contracts, medical records, even household bills to help get things restored quickly, etc. Back-up your computer. Get extra cash. Often ATMs are down so cash is needed.

Step Five — Write down all your computer passwords, and important information.

Step Six — Doublecheck all your insurance coverage. Are you adequately covered? Write down all your coverages, insurance policies, contact information, policy numbers, group numbers, date of births, etc. Think coverage of everything — life insurance, car insurance, property insurance, business insurance, etc.

Step Seven — No one wants to think about this one, but you should for your family’s protection. Do you have your will up-to-date? If not, please do. Especially for those with minor children. You need to know that they will be taken care of and placed in the homes of those who you trust and whom you know will provide the best care.

Plan now and update your plan often. Also, when you write down your information and contact numbers it allows you to see if you have the coverages you need. The amount of stress this will save can make a big difference in how you recover if a disaster were to offer.



Linda

Michael Wilson asked:


Restoration forestry is the process of restoring forests to a more natural condition. Most of the forests in the Western United States have been altered to an unnatural condition by over a century of fire suppression and past timber harvest practices. The current condition of our forests leaves them vulnerable to disease and catastrophic fires. Many people believe that we need to lock up the forests to protect them from human activity. The problem with that idea is that this does not allow us to fix the problem and it leaves them in an endangered condition. Even though past forest harvest practices have contributed to the problem, responsibly harvesting forest products can also be a viable tool to restore our forests

Forest fires are a natural part of the forest ecosystem. Before the arrival of Europeans fires were started naturally by lightning. Native Americans would also start fires to improve hunting. Our western forests are naturally dominated by conifers which have thick bark that provides insulation that protects them from fire. In the past fires would periodically be ignited and creep along the forest floor. These periodic fires would benefit the forest by cleaning up the forest floor and burning much of the underbrush and small trees that would compete with the larger trees for water and nutrients. After a fire the large trees with their foliage held high above and out of reach of the flames were left widely spaced where they had plenty of room to grow in the nutrient rich layer of ash left by the fire. Out of this ash will sprout grasses and forbs that provide food for wildlife.

With the arrival of Europeans the Native Americans were displaced and they were no longer a source of igniting fires. Then early in the last Century we started putting out lightning fires. Without fires brush and small trees were able to grow and compete with the larger trees. Early in the last Century early explorers were able to ride their horses through our forests but now after a century of fire suppression the forests have grown so thick that it can now be difficult to walk through them. With so many trees competing for limited nutrients and water they are not as healthy and don’t grow as fast or as large. The competition makes the larger trees less disease resistant less able to tolerate drought causing millions of trees to die every year from bark beetle infestations.

An even bigger problem comes now when a forest fire is ignited either by humans or lightning. The fuel load in the forests has become so high with all the thick trees and brush that now when there is a fire it will often burn at such a high intensity that it will incinerate the whole forest. Instead of having light fires that clean up the forest like they once did the thick trees and brush now act like a ladder and carry the flames high into the forest canopy where it kills everything including the big trees. These fires can be so intense that they sometimes bake the forest soil which can leave them impervious to water so precipitation just runs off causing erosion landslides and flooding. This baked soil can also make it more difficult to regenerate a new forest.

Some environmental groups advocate leaving the forests alone to let them burn because fire is a natural part of the forests. The problem with that idea is the forests are out of equilibrium and letting them burn often destroys them. Before we can allow fires to burn in a natural way the excess fuel load must be reduced. In many cases the most economically viable way of doing this is through commercial thinning where the excess trees are removed and utilized for wood products. In this way the sale of the wood products can help cover the enormous cost of restoring the forests. The excess conifers can be utilized to make products like lumber and poles. The hardwoods can be used to make excellent firewood.

Restoring our forests is an area where environmentalists and the forest products industry can work together to solve a problem. We can restore our forests while supplying our communities with jobs and forest products.



Manuel

Jim Corkern asked:


While a house fire may be one of the most preventable disasters to happen to a home, a wildfire can be one of the least preventable on a small scale. Prevention of wildfires requires that a large number of people do what they can to make sure that the wildfires that do start are not manmade, but this awareness is only just now starting to catch on.

When the fire is creeping toward your home, you are not likely to care what caused it, only what you can do to slow it down and in fact, there are a few different things that you can do to minimize the damage.

You may enjoy living in a more rural area, but you are at a disadvantage when it comes to wildfires because this is where they begin. One of the bad things about living in a rural area is that fire departments are not as prevalent, so the response to your home may not be as quick as you need it to be.

If you are contemplating having a home built for you, have it made of fire-resistant materials. Houses with an exterior made of brick, stone, or even metal will resist catching on fire much more than those that have exteriors made of wood or vinyl siding.

The most important exterior surface of your home is the roof. This is the largest surface area on the exterior of your home and it should be made of fire-resistant materials instead of the traditional wooden or oil-based shingles. Everyone knows that oil catches on fire very easily, so if you live in an area that is prone to wildfires, you may want to have another roofing material put on your home.

Something else to do with your roof if a wildfire is nearby is to wet it down with the garden hose. This will give a little extra protection against the firebrands that are being carried in the air by the wind. Wetting the exterior walls of the house and wood decks is also a very good idea.

Do not allow any dead vegetation to build up in the yard. This includes grass cuttings, sticks, dead plants, and leaves. If a wildfire starts before you have a chance to get these dead organic materials cleaned up, all you can do is soak them and the rest of the yard with water via the hose and hope for the best.

Trees should also not be located close to the house, especially if the branches hang over the roof.



Grace

Eddie Frank asked:


There is never a time when services for board up in Colorado Springs can sit back and relax.  That is because there is always a threat of wildfires in and around this green and beautiful city.  Aside from the usual board up situations, wildfires could create problems at any time. 

One of the problems is that the area surrounding Colorado Springs is so aesthetically pleasing; people want to live in its natural setting.  When they do this, though, they face a higher danger of wildfires reaching their homes.  Being nearer to nature may mean that they will need board up Colorado Springs services at some time. 

It does not take much to start a wildfire, either.  A campfire can emit a spark that reaches an area of slightly dry grass.  This can start a wildfire that can encompass many acres.  With little or no notice, people rush from their homes to escape the flames that are coming upon them.  They are not thinking of board up Colorado Springs services at the time it happens, but after it is all over, they may need to call one of these companies. 

Often, a homeowner will have notice of wildfires in the area.  When this happens, they might set up sprinklers on top of their roof to keep it from burning.  With the roof wet, it is protected to a point.  However, the sides of the house may still be vulnerable.  Then board up Colorado Springs may be called for afterwards. 

People sometimes do not know all the tricks of protecting their homes in the case of wildfires.  For example, flimsy curtains can spread fire quickly.  If homeowners do not know to take them down, the curtains can provide easy-burning material to carry the fire into the house.  Board up Colorado Springs services will be needed when everything is over. 

Sometimes, no matter what precautions a homeowner takes, they will eventually end up calling out board up Colorado Springs services.  The wildfires can burn too hot and cover too much area.  It might be impossible to protect the home completely. 

However, with the sprinklers going on the roof, all doors and windows firmly shut, and flammable furniture moved to the center of rooms, the overall integrity of the structure may be maintained.  Board up Colorado Springs companies can come out and protect it from weather and wildlife. 

If your home is in a woodland area away from the city, you may feel that you do not need board up Colorado Springs services to protect your property from vandals and thieves.  The truth is that there is crime everywhere now.  People who go out to the woods to camp are not necessarily happy-go-lucky family groups.  Some are malicious invaders.  You will want to secure your home with board up Colorado Springs services.   

You may go your whole life without the need of a board up Colorado Springs company.  No wildfire may ever reach your home.  However, it is nice to know that there are services available should you ever have an emergency. 

 



Mike

Paul Purcell asked:


A classic 70’s tune gives us the lyrics, “She ran calling ‘Wildfire’…..” Then a love song, but today, possibly the beginnings of an action / adventure / horror movie. With rainfall low, and temperatures and winds high, the wildfires we’re currently battling across the country are heavily taxing our first responder assets. More fires will surely follow if these conditions continue.

First responder assets aside, these fires have affected local civilians. Thousands have evacuated, and many find nothing but charred vacant lots when they return. What are some innovative ways civilians can protect themselves, their property, and actually help firefighters in the process?

At the household level, most of us have smoke detectors. That’s good, because in a house fire, as in a wildfire, where there’s smoke, there’s F.L.A.M.E.:

Family – Something as massive as a wildfire will affect your whole family. Prepare them now.

Landscaping – Simple and subtle steps can make your property much more fire resistant.

Awareness – In an emergency, time is crucial. Stay aware of the threat and get the warnings early.

Moisture – Some say you fight fire with fire. We say you fight fire with water.

Evacuation – Even after taking all the other steps, a wildfire is something best avoided.

Family

A prepared and involved family is far more able to handle any type of disaster than those who wait for last-minute instruction. Therefore, one of the best things you can do for your family is to prepare them for one of the most common and least forgiving enemies; fire.

1. Take the family on a fire-safety tour through the house. Locate dangers such as overloaded electrical outlets and safety items such as extinguishers and escape routes.

2. In emergencies, redundancy is our friend. You should have more than one smoke detector, fire extinguisher, and escape route from rooms or the house. Hint: If you’re a heavy sleeper, buy a “baby monitor.” Put the transmitter near the farthest smoke detector and the receiver in your bedroom.

3. Make sure everyone in the family knows how to use a fire extinguisher, and how to call 911.

4. Have regular fire drills. Let each family member have a turn being the one who discovers the fire and who has to warn others. On at least every other drill, have everyone evacuate blind-folded on their hands and knees (while exercising due safety) to mimic the realistic conditions of a fire evacuation.

5. Revisit every family emergency plan with the whole family during wildfire season and certainly if one is in your area and possibly heading your way.

Landscaping

Though tragedies usually take the lead in newscasts, stories still abound of how some homeowners managed to protect their properties from wildfire by simple and subtle changes with their landscaping and home. Take these steps now, since in a fire, time is of the essence.

1. Your main landscaping consideration is to remove any dead, dry vegetation, whether on the ground or in your trees, that could transfer fire to your house. Since this aspect of wildfire preparedness has been adequately covered by others, here are a few good outside sources:

 General wildfire landscaping tips: http://www.firewise.org/resources/files/wildfr2.pdf .

 Florida wildfire landscaping pointers: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/FR/FR07600.pdf .

 More on landscaping during wildfire season: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/FR/FR04700.pdf.

 Fire-resistant plants: http://web1.msue.msu.edu/emergency/pubs/wildfire_resistant.pdf.

2. Be ready to seal your house before evacuating. Create covers for any opening on your home such as attic vents (roof turbines can be covered with metal trash cans), crawlspace openings, etc. Gather your material (such as plywood) and cut, paint, and label (where it goes) each cover now, keeping them stored on your property for immediate use. Put a couple of hooks over each opening you might cover and drill corresponding holes in the plywood covers. The hooks will hold the cover in place while you drill in the screws. This allows one person to do the job and frees up others to perform other necessary tasks. Hint: Also make covers for your windows (including garage door windows) just as if you lived in a hurricane zone.

3. Create a “fire tool box” and include everything needed to prep your house in advance of a wildfire. Store extra garden hoses, water sprinklers, “Y” connectors for extra hoses, wrenches to turn off your gas, rolls of heavy-duty aluminum foil (to cover the openings you didn’t make covers for), machetes and gloves for last minute brush clearing, etc. Store extra tools because you won’t have time to replace tools that might have been broken or lost.

4. Make sure first responders can see your home’s address. Put your house number on your mailbox, near your front door, and painted on the curb by your driveway.

Awareness

A common theme in all our publications and presentations is the fact that in an emergency, our most crucial asset is time (see our other articles at www.disasterprep101.com). The two key elements of time in a wildfire are one, to have as much done in advance as possible, and two, get as early a warning as possible.

1. Don’t wait for a wildfire to approach to start your landscaping. Perform that now and keep your property as fire-retardant as you can.

2. Don’t wait for the smell of smoke to warn you a fire is on its way. If fire conditions are right, monitor news channels and listen for community warnings.

3. Learn to recognize your community warnings. Does your community have a reverse 911 system? Sirens? Will the local TV or radio station broadcast the alert? If your community doesn’t have any of these systems, why not start them in your neighborhood? At the very least, have a phone tree.

4. Buy an NOAA Weather Alert Radio since they’re being incorporated into the overall Emergency Alert System. You should also know who your local Ham Radio operators are. See http://www.arrl.org.

Moisture

Water is the king of firefighting and fire suppression substances. The best protection for your property lies in your ability to keep a “dome” of moisture in one form or another all over and around your home.

1. One publication under “landscaping” above lists beneficial plants that hold their moisture well. Regardless of the types of plant life in your yard, keep them well hydrated (while following watering ordinances).

2. When setting up your sprinklers, give your yard adequate spray coverage, especially over areas that might worsen the fire such as an above-ground propane tank or wooden deck attached to your house. The best sprinkler for surface areas is the professional directional type rather than the small garden variety that only sprays a weak pattern over a small area. Your garden store rep can help.

3. Put sprinklers on your roof, being sure to anchor them in place since the high winds generated in some wildfire wind storms can blow them off the roof.

4. If you have an in-ground sprinkler system, great! It will give you even water coverage over the grounds and provide a good foundation for the comprehensive water system you’ll need. To your in-ground system add separate “fire” lines that feed water to sprinklers that either spray directly against your house, or outward from your yard to cover vegetation surrounding your property. Too, have a sprinkler line permanently installed on your roof to save you the time of manually putting sprinklers up there. Also, install an additional input valve to allow water from a secondary source like a water pump drawing from your swimming pool.

5. If you have a pool, pond, well, or creek, you have a reservoir that should be put to good use so you don’t draw off the municipal water firefighters need to prevent fire from nearing your property in the first place. It’s a simple matter to keep a gas-powered generator (which self-reliant families should have) and a water pump (such as a pressure-washer), and use the two to draw water from your pool and feed it to your sprinklers. If you have a well with an electric pump, hook your generator to the pump to keep it running should local power fail. Exercise caution when setting up your generator so it doesn’t start its own fire.

6. A final consideration with sprinklers is position. Cover the outer perimeter of your yard, spray against the outer walls and roof of your house, and cover the crowns of your trees if possible. Also, consider outward-pointing sprinklers anchored to an elevated position such as an upper floor deck or porch, or your roof.

Evacuation

We strongly recommend evacuation, even if you’ve taken all the above steps and feel they might work. It’s best that you be pre-prepped and ready to leave at a moment’s notice since time is our most valuable asset. The more ready you are in advance, the more time you have.

1. All your landscaping steps should be taken care of now and maintained, especially during fire season.

2. In wildfire-prone areas, and especially during wildfire season, keep your bugout kits and vehicle ready at all times (with fuel tanks topped off). Hint: With your documents, keep the non-emergency numbers for local authorities so you can call to find out when it’s safe to return.

3. Perform last-minute landscaping ONLY if time allows, since you’ll want extra time to perform the household shutdown steps. However, don’t do anything until you’ve loaded your car with provisions and have nothing left to load but people and pets (in their carriers and/or ready to go).

4. Inside the house do the following:

 Move all flammables (such as furniture and curtains) away from windows making sure each is closed and latched. Lower and close any metallic blinds.

 Leave your fireplace damper open, and close the fireplace protective cover.

 Close all interior doors but don’t lock them.

 Turn off your heat/AC system, and cover any window air-conditioners or floor heater vents with aluminum foil and duct tape inside and out.

 Turn off all gas coming into the house whether from underground line or above-ground tank.

 Turn on inside and outside lights so your property is visible in heavy smoke. Firefighters may need to use it as a beacon.

5. To protect the valuables you don’t have room for in your evacuation vehicle, consider these:

 For waterproof valuables, put them in a bathtub, storage tub, or trashcan you’ve filled with water. (Notice we didn’t recommend your pool, since you should be using it to feed your sprinklers.)

 Large valuables such as antique furniture, etc. should be carried into the center of the house on the lowest floor (the same place you’d go in a tornado).

 Major appliances, such as your oven, fridge, freezer, dishwasher, clothes washer, and dryer, tend not to be consumed by flame or crushed by debris and thereby offer a protected storage location for other valuables. Hint: Disposable diapers are surprisingly flame resistant, and might be useful as wraps for some items stored in an appliance.

6. Lock up the house, leave a note on the door telling authorities you’ve evacuated, check with neighbors to make sure they’re on their way to safety, hop in your vehicle, and leave. Hint: If the area is getting smoky, listen to your radio for road closure information, turn your headlights on low, and set your climate controls to “re-circulate” so as not to draw in smoke from outside the vehicle.

Naturally, this is an article that could go for a few dozen more pages since it’s such an important topic and certainly one where we could offer extensive detail. For now, this will have to do. Will the above information make you fireproof and prevent any damage to your property? No. But it’s very likely to help, especially if you take these steps now. Taking these measures also helps firefighters since any time a wildfire is delayed or a home protected, you take one more item off the shoulders of first responders. Prep now, stay safe, and remember that preparedness is not only a social responsibility; it’s your only true protection.



Harold

Beth & Lee McCain asked:


We lost our homes in the wildfires of 2003 in Lake Arrowhead. It was a time that we just didn’t think we would ever get over. So to see homes burning once again in Lake Arrowhead and San Diego was a déjà vu.

At the time, it was heart wrenching to see everything we had go up in smoke. There was nothing left in the ashes, absolutely nothing, except for a jar of pennies my son was saving but we couldn’t tell that they were pennies, as they had all melted into one big heap of copper.

From where all the houses had burned, it looked like a nuclear war had come through. The fire randomly picked and chose which homes to take. Three hundred homes in our neighborhood had burned to the ground yet one house across the street made it completely unscathed, and a few yards up the road a lone wooden playhouse had been spared.

We lost everything. Our thirteen year old family cat, Baby Ruth, perished in the fire. All of our physical memories like photos of ancestors, my great grandma’s rocking chair, a violin that had been played by my husband’s great great grandfather; all of it gone. Yet in spite of all the destruction, we felt very thankful. Our family was intact.

We lived next door to my parents who had a cute little mother-in-law house. Our daughter could walk to Grandma’s every day with it being only twenty yards away. Our homes were deep in the woods of Cedar Glen and even deeper in the stands of trees that were dying from the bark beetle. The unforgiving pest, which had already ravaged forests from Colorado to Alaska, beetle had been attacking Lake Arrowhead and its surrounding communities for years. The result of its ravenous consumption was millions of trees standing like matchsticks ready to fuel a fire unlike anyone could have ever imagined.

In mid October 2003, Lee and I were scheduled for a number of lectures in the Midwest. We decided to take my mom and our then four year old daughter with us to the Colorado dates. Dad and our three teenagers stayed at home.

On our way back from Colorado, our teenage daughter reached us by cell telling us there was a fire up on the mountain. She was concerned. From the tightness in her voice, we knew this was real. The “Big One” everyone on the mountain had feared for so long had arrived.

Lake Arrowhead and the surrounding mountain communities had just two escape routes, and they were inadequate in the best of circumstances. Lee called some colleagues at the newspaper and some friends we knew at the fire department. They related the seriousness of the situation. There were fires everywhere, and some were threatening Big Bear and Cedar Glen.

Evacuation was still voluntary, but the firefighters said it would be wise to get out now. We called our kids and Dad and told them to meet us at the bottom of the mountain at a local hotel for the night. No one expected the houses to burn. We assumed we’d be back in our house within a few days. We left food out for Baby Ruth since she was nowhere to be seen, and we commenced our waiting out the fire.

One of the problems when there is a fire is that there are rarely accurate news reports. One report will swear that all the local businesses are totally wiped out, and then moments later another reporter on another channel will be standing right in front of them depicting them as perfectly fine. We didn’t get accurate news. The only news that was real was of true videos capturing neighborhoods that burned. We actually saw our homes burning on the television news. We knew at that moment that we were officially without a home.

It took over a week for the fire to be extinguished before we were able to return home. When you lose your home to fire, there is something inside of you that insists you have to see the remains.

When we turned onto our block, we couldn’t even tell where one block ended and the next one began. The fire had taken our roads, our cars, and our animals. It had eaten everything and left nothing. The ashes were still warm after a week. It was a moonscape.

While we were there, a woman approached, asking if this had been our home. We nodded but just couldn’t speak. She said she owned a rental in Lake Arrowhead and wondered if we would like to live there until we figured out what we were going to do. Amazing. An angel (and many more angels) would come to our aid that day. When we arrived at the rental home, someone we didn’t even know had already gone from neighborhood to neighborhood asking if they would be willing to clean out their garages and give us anything we might need. That evening a huge moving van pulled up full of new everything: clothes, dishes, bedding, beds, more than we could have ever needed. Phone calls came from people with gift cards to grocery stores and clothing stores. It was truly incredible, the kindness that was offered us.

FEMA was a gem. Right after the fire they met us at a restaurant parking lot to fill out all the paperwork required to put money in our hands as soon as possible. We expected maybe a week’s worth of rent, or maybe some grocery money, but FEMA set us up with funds for everything we lost and additional living money for six months. Again, the kindness and the help was overwhelming.

It can be hard to look at the bright side when something like a fire uproots one’s life, but by concentrating on all the good and kindness offered from strangers, and by concentrating on what you do have and what you can rebuild, will reduce some of the sting.

A house is just a thing, possessions are replaceable, and our memories are something we brought with us and we can keep. The wildfires could never steal those from us.

Four years later we have seen firsthand that even out of the darkest time, or impossible situation, that good can still peek through and take the day. We had always wanted to live in Oregon and the 2003 fire gave us the freedom to do that. We are so grateful for our lives and especially grateful for all the people who helped us through such a trying experience.

To those of you who may have lost a home in the wildfires in California, life will get better. It may be hard to believe or understand right now, but in a few years you will see and appreciate the fact that you have made it through. You will appreciate your family all the more and will always hold a special place in your heart for the kindness exhibited by all the volunteers who helped you through this trying time. And one day, when you return to look at the place where your house once stood, in addition to the new signs of life and regrowth sprouting from the ground, you will have the memories that will keep you in good stead. Life always regenerates itself.



Jennifer