Wildfire Lessons

bycatladymori

279 followers

11 years ago

A couple days ago while sleeping (I work at night) I gradually became aware of helicopters repeatedly flying over my house. Half awake, I wondered what they were looking for: escaped prisoner (there is a prison nearby), grow-op, fire? Since it is hard to sleep when a bunch of helicopters sound like they are landing on your roof, I finally had to wake up completely and check it out.

Outside I could see the helicopter trailing a container on a rope. Likely water. Uh-oh. It’s been very hot and dry over the whole province. And they weren’t flying far either. Back inside the internet informed me that the nearby mountain top was on fire and fire crews from four municipalities were fighting it, along with the forest service and the water bombers (the helicopters).

I advised work I might not come in. I called fire/dispatch later on when it was dark and was advised that search and rescue was just starting to go door to door giving an evacuation alert. I told work I wasn’t coming in. Then I started pulling cat cages out of storage. That was scaring me.

I have a bunch of rescue cats, most of which are wild. Chasing, catching and caging them in a hurry means scratching, biting and screaming from them. I piled the cages outside the door. Some were actually long traps from my trap/neuter/release work. I discovered that now with my back issues even the empties were hard to handle. Adding two or three well-fed cats would make it harder. All this to go in my tiny import car. I packed a few clothes and waited.

The waiting was hard. I caught up some email. The concern was that the wind would pick up as it is often fairly windy here with the wind coming in from the ocean. The internet said the water bombers would start again in the morning. I slept but was up when they started. When next I woke up they had stopped. Last night I was advised that the forest service stood down and our own municipality was inspecting through the night. I left a note on my door with my cell number and came to work where I am now. No phone calls. Thank goodness.

They are supposed to be still checking for fire in the soil today. I feel sorry for the plant and animal life lost. I feel glad I didn’t have to pack up my cats and run for it. I think I should face this back disability of mine and invest in several carriers that hold only one cat each.

Mostly, I am grateful to the people who make it their work to fight fires and for the search and rescue volunteers who help them. They talk about the fire in language I don’t understand -- they tell me it is contained not out. This tells me they know far more about fire than I do. And I am grateful for their knowledge and diligence.