Vista Grande Fire (and an Uninvited Guest)

There has been a lot of unwelcome 'excitement' at Casa deRosier recently. I was working upstairs in the afternoon of Monday, June 2 when I smelled smoke. This was the view out the window. 

 

I checked the Watch Duty app and learned that it was a very small grassfire about 3/4 mile from us. We watched as the smoke increased, then became concerned as it went to a second, third, and then fourth alarm.  

We learned from our previous wildfire experience that it is smart to evacuate early, while you still have time to grab a few things, and before the roads are clogged with everyone trying to get out at once. Steve and I quickly packed our medications, a change of clothes, and food for the bunnies. At this point, we could see flames. It was shocking how fast the fire was moving, aided by the strong wind. We were loading the bunnies into their carriers when a firefighter banged on our door and said it was time to leave. 

As we were putting our things into the car, we heard a plane overhead. And then we were covered with fire retardant. It was all over my arms, running down my hair, and even in my mouth. It was inside our car, since the doors had been open. Fortunately, it did not get on the bunnies, who were waiting patiently in the garage in their carriers. 

Just like our last evacuation, we drove over to Ken and Sheena's house a few miles away first. Ken washed our car while Sheena got us towels and drinks and Devin cooed at the rabbits. Sheena snapped my picture after I'd wiped off most of the fire retardant. 

My shoes were five days old. Sigh. 

Once our next plans were in place, we headed to Suzzi's house in Sacramento. At this point, the fire had grown to 62 acres and was at the back fences of our across-the-street neighbors. 

And then, great news: forward progress was stopped. The evacuation order was lifted just as we arrived at Suzzi's. Hurray!

The bunnies had been in their carriers for 2 hours, so we set them up in a bathroom. Suzzi cleaned the interior of our car while Steve cleaned his backpack and I showered and changed clothes. It felt so good to have the fire retardant off me. 

Then we ordered a pizza and watched about the news. It was surreal seeing our house and our neighbors.

 

I saw a Facebook post from our fire department and learned that there were 110 personnel who fought the fire: 1 air attack, 1 helicopter, 2 air tankers, 2 dozers, 2 water tenders, 2 hand crews, and 22 engines. Wow. I am incredibly grateful to every single one of them. 

We loaded the bunnies back up and arrived home at 10:15 pm. It was dark (obviously) so we had to wait until the morning to see what the neighborhood looked like. Here's the view from our driveway. 

This is the end of our court. 

We walked along the fire access road behind our neighbors' houses, which are a lovely shade of pink.  

All of the grass that wasn't burned is pink, proof that the fire retardant totally did its job. 

 

It was fascinating seeing what was pink and what wasn't. It was very easy to tell which direction the wind was blowing during the fire. Most people's houses had one or two pink sides and two or three normal sides.

The mailboxes have two pink sides, plus a pink top. 

The trees and other vegetation are pink as well. That includes my garden. Disappointing, but anything that saves homes and lives is infinitely more important than my veggies. 

Once we finished looking around, it was time to clean up, starting with our solar panels. We thought it would be a simple matter of spraying them off. It was not simple. It took three hours with both of us scrubbing to clean the panels to the point that we couldn't see any pink and they were able to work at full capacity. 

  

Next, we tackled the windows. We'd heard from neighbors that the firefighters told them not to bother trying to clean the stucco. If you get the pink off, you've also taken the paint off. 

We spent all day long cleaning... until Steve noticed an uninvited guest in our backyard. Yep - a rattlesnake. Because of course there would be a rattlesnake. 

While I waited for Animal Control to arrive, I looked up the Spanish word for rattlesnake. (Es un serpiente de cascabel.) Might as well turn this into a learning opportunity! The snake was not happy to be picked up and rattled menacingly on his way into the red bucket. Sorry dude. I'm a fan of snakes, but you can't have deadly venom and live in our backyard. That's the rule. 

I'm incredibly grateful to firefighters, Animal Control officers, and everyone else who works hard to keep the rest of us safe. Thank you for all you do!