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Carr Fire

Discussion in 'General Chat' started by KellyW, Aug 1, 2018.

  1. Aug 1, 2018 #1
    KellyW

    KellyW Orchid wonk Staff Member Supporting Member

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    Location:
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    The Carr Fire burned into west Redding as well as some of the rural communities to the west of us. In fact, one small town is still threatened.

    We evacuated Thursday about 9:00 pm and were able to return around noon on Monday. Our street and house are intact but the fire got unsettlingly close.

    Here are some photos I took at 7:30 Thursday before we felt imminently threatened. Things changed very fast and by 8:45 we were loading the pets in the car to get out.

    The fire has destroyed over 1,000 houses so we feel very fortunate to be back in our standing house.

    Oh, the greenhouse went 4 days without getting watered. The saving grace for it was that we didn't lose power so the swamp cooler was able to keep temps down. Also, the dense smoke is creating dense "shade". It appears I only lost 2 plants. How lucky is that? Daytime temps were 106-110 F.
    Fire north-1000.jpg Fire west-1000.jpg Retardant jet-1000.jpg Smoke and sun-1000.jpg CDF plane-1000.jpg
     
    John Klinger, AnonYMouse, Selmo and 1 other person like this.
  2. Aug 1, 2018 #2
    carl

    carl Active Member

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    Very lucky indeed. I'm happy to hear you've come through unscathed so far.
     
    KellyW likes this.
  3. Aug 1, 2018 #3
    RustyExotics

    RustyExotics Nicholas - It's a terrestrial thing

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    Oh my gosh... I'm glad you're okay!

    I have never seen a sky that color before. That's both incredible and just terrifying... Like something out of a some "alien invasion" movie...
     
    KellyW likes this.
  4. Aug 1, 2018 #4
    KellyW

    KellyW Orchid wonk Staff Member Supporting Member

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    By the time we evacuated it felt very apocalyptic. By then it wasn't just glowing smoke but flames coming down the hill.
     
  5. Aug 1, 2018 #5
    Kipper

    Kipper CoffeeCoffeeCoffee... Supporting Member

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    Very glad you guys are OK. The thought of 1000 family's losing their homes is jarring.
     
    KellyW likes this.
  6. Aug 1, 2018 #6
    spiro K.

    spiro K. Well-Known Member

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    Unbelievable !
    Glad all is well with you. This summer has been a real pain for people all over the planet.
     
    KellyW likes this.
  7. Aug 2, 2018 #7
    sam1147

    sam1147 sam1147

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    Take care
     
    KellyW likes this.
  8. Aug 2, 2018 #8
    Ray

    Ray Orchid Iconoclast Supporting Member

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    Glad to hear you're OK, Kelly.

    When I was moving here to coastal NC, folks said "Why? There are hurricanes there!" At least with a hurricane, I know a while in advance that it's coming.
     
    KellyW and RustyExotics like this.
  9. Aug 2, 2018 #9
    AnonYMouse

    AnonYMouse aka Ree, the not-so-stealthy lurker

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    Glad you're okay!
     
    KellyW likes this.
  10. Aug 3, 2018 #10
    Chuck-NH

    Chuck-NH Well-Known Member

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    Hi Kelly,

    I was out in the SF Bay Area of California last weekend doing an “Orchid Crawl”, basically oblivious to the reality of the fires as those are so rare where I’m from. It wasn’t until someone said, that’s where Kelly lives and then later on...”he had to evacuate” that it became real. Glad your situation turned out ok!
    Hopefully I will complain less about the annoying weather we’ve been having in the east as there are many people on this forum that have experienced life altering or potential life altering events.
     
    KellyW likes this.
  11. Aug 3, 2018 #11
    CoveLady

    CoveLady Active Member

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    Hi Kelly,

    I am so glad that you have dodged the fire, I have been wondering how it was in your area. Hopefully, this will all be under control and be dying down as fall approaches. I am not sure if that is how the fire season progresses out there though.

    My family in Los Osos seems to be outside of the fires zones, at least at this time. I feel for all those who have lost their homes, what a terrible tragedy. And as Chuck says, I will complain a lot less about the constant rain we have been having for the last few weeks and is still coming, about 2-4" a day. My area of the Blue Ridge is technically a temperate rain forrest, but this is very unusual.

    Keep us posted if the fires come back in your direction.
     
    KellyW likes this.
  12. Aug 3, 2018 #12
    KellyW

    KellyW Orchid wonk Staff Member Supporting Member

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    Thank you, everyone. I appreciate all the kind words.

    My wife and I feel so fortunate to have come through this unscathed when so many people have been affected so deeply. Some of the first-hand accounts that have been described to me sound like something straight out of a disaster movie.