Friday, June 3, 2011

Super Angie...Forest Fire! Keystone 2011

After school yesterday, we went to McDonalds to get milkshakes--last day of school celebration. On our way home, I noticed some smoke and as we got closer, we could see the flamesKeystone Gulch, right by our house was on fire.
As we got closer home, I called Rick who advised us to hurry and go pack.
You can see the roof of my house in front. The flames are very close.

When we got home, our property manager told us to evacuate. So we started packing. That was quite frantic. What things do you take when it really looks like your house will burn down? We grabbed a hand full of clothes, favorite toys and books, special artwork hanging on our fridge, scriptures, picture frames from the mantle, snacks, and of course, my ice skates and dress for Skate for Hope. The boys were very brave, taking all our bags and luggage down to the car by themselves, while I finished up in the house. Later our neighbor Nicole told me that Dallin kept repeating "I'm not scared" but she could tell he was. All three were crying. It was very very emotional and very scary. The smoke was now red. There was ash in the air and the whole building was full of smoke. It was REAL. We were being evacuated and who knew if we'd come home.

Once we left our house, we were not allowed back. Our street was closed. There were cops everywhere!

Once the sun went down, you could really see the flames. This is a tree that burst into flames. Amazing! So scary...this is just so close to our house. Finally at 9 pm, we were allowed to go home. Oh, that was such a relief. The kids were very very scared because you could still see a lot of fire on the hill side, so we drove to the firetrucks. The firecrew were incredible to the kids and really funny. "We are having so much fun!" they said. They were really fun to talk to and it really eased the kids. We knew the crews would be working all night to keep us safe. We went home.
Today we went on several walks over to the fire zone. It was really interesting to watch the crews.
But the highlight was the helicopter drop. So awesome!

Dallin and the Sheriff.
Hot shot crews doing their thing.

Tanith and Dallin. This firehydrant was leaking a bit and the kids thought that was cool. Behind is a forest service truck.
Up the Keystone Gulch road. Hot Shot trucks and forest service trucks took over from the local fire crews. We had crews come yesterday from as far away as Gypsum!
Tanith in front of the Flying Dutchman sign. The fire was directly across the street and its still burning today!

This was quite an experience.

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On Belay

On Belay
Brennan Top Roping

Climb On!

Climb On!
Dallin top roping