I woke around 7 that morning to see a big gray/ brown cloud south of us. About 8, my son, Donovan, said there was a fire somewhere, and we’d best go. We packed the truck bed full of things we might need, and while we were loading, one of our cats got out. Abi, Donovan’s wife searched everywhere, but he was gone.
We finished loading, and said goodbye to the house I’d owned for just about a year. As we came to the Skyway, we became part of the traffic jam. Finally, someone let us in, and we went down the Skyway, animals in the back, and us up front. As we came down the hill, we became aware of the extent of the fire. It was everywhere. We saw houses burning, and people walking with backpacks. I wanted to stop and help them, but we couldn’t because of the traffic. We were re-routed onto the north going part of the Skyway (the other road was for firetrucks ) and there was fire all around us.
We finally made it down the hill, and met up with my daughter and son-in-law. They had left after we did, but not by much. They were going south to stay with friends, so we said our goodbyes, and we headed north. We stayed with a friend for several days, but then started our round of staying at motels until we could finally go home, in April.
Since then, I’ve sold the house, because Abi and Donovan moved out of state. When they get a house of their own, I’ll move up there. In the meantime, I’m in Magalia, with my daughter and son-in-law.
