Today started so normal it was boring. We knew it was going to get really hot so my daughter and I made a quick run to the local dollar store. Bag of ice, bottled water, fudgesicles. After washing a sinkful of dishes I went to my bedroom to read and relax.
A couple hours later I heard a knock on my door. This is very unusual, we're at the end of a lonely dirt road. The moment I opened the door I saw why my nearest neighbor was knocking. Our neighborhood was engulfed in smoke and flames were visible maybe fifty yards away. The wind was blowing it right towards us.
My daughter called her dad at work. My kids and I grabbed shovels and garden hoses; then we started loading as many of our pets as we could into my car. We ran around shoveling dirt on the sparks that landed nearby, and creosote covered wooden fence posts that ignited.
The wind shifted away from us. I called 911 (which I now realize was fairly silly. There's no way they couldn't be aware) My husband came home in record time. My daughter and I were basically ordered to get out. By this time a shelter for evacuees had been set up at the high school in Cottonwood. It's probably the first time in 24 years of marriage that my husband ordered me to do anything. Definitely the first time I ever acceded and did what he said.
We opted to drive to a local park that's next to the river. It's a shorter distance, and with my legs wobbling and my lungs full of smoke and nearly blinded by smoke and the dust I'd been shoveling I wanted to avoid the longer drive if I could.
We spent hours in that park. My daughter's cellphone reception took a crap and we had no way to know what was happening at home.
The sky was loud with tanker planes flying low towards the fire. Around us were other families that obviously refugeed in that park. Others, seemingly unconcerned, were jogging in the path. It was very, very weird.
Across the road from the park county sheriffs were turning back traffic. We sat on the grass and watched the smoke billowing. After a while it was less.
Eventually we got okayed to return home. Against YCSO's advice, but they wouldn't try to stop us. My daughter was finally able to call her dad. He confirmed that the blaze was going east. We went home.
It's still visible out there, but the part I can see is smaller, spotty. It's in a very rugged, uninhabited area. The wind died a couple of hours ago.
We went home. That was when I learned that the fire had come right up to the edge of the road. That my son managed to put out a small blaze using a hose.
That was when I allowed myself to fall apart. I ugly-cried (really, really ugly) for a little while.
I've never been so grateful for a shower in my life.
I've seen some shit, but I've never been more frightened.
I really am exhausted but I don't know how I'll get to sleep tonight.
When I last checked the fire had consumed 1,000 acres. Only one small outbuilding was destroyed. The cause is of course under investigation.
UPDATE- I got maybe 3 hours of sleep last night. Today we all ache all over; the smoke and grime have been washed away but the stinging eyes and stuffed up sinuses remain. I have a bit of a cough from the smoke I inhaled while shoveling dirt on the small fires that sprung up near our house. All of us have headaches. I can't tell how big that fire is now. There's a thick layer of smoke hanging over the entire valley. Can't even see Jerome or Sedona today.
My kids just left to buy groceries in Cottonwood. I'm so grateful for them I can't even express how much. I'm thankful for firefighters, and neighbors with backhoes clearing a swath of brush from around all of our houses.
I'm thankful that I was able to wait until it was relatively safe before giving in to tears. I surprised myself with that.
FURTHER UPDATE- I just went outside. The sky to the north is mostly clear; hopefully that means that Sedona is safe. There are thick smoke clouds to the east though. Just saw two slurry bombers headed out that way. The breeze is starting up again, coming from the south.