lilyjohn Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 I just posted this letter on Myspace for my friends and family. I thought it might be a good idea to post it here as well. Please say a prayer for all of the brake firemen and all of the family's who have lost their homes or are in danger of losing theirs. Sorry I am not very attentive here but this is pretty much taking up all of our time around this area. TODAY Good news bad news Good news yesterday and today is that we only reached a high of 112. Bad news is that was because of the layer of smoke. During the night night before last the wind picked up with gusts 30 mph and more. The fires that were starting to be contained got new life. About 80 or 100 miles southeast of here one small community lost at least 40 homes. Hundreds more are threatened in that area. The fires up here took off again too. The one by Shasta dam grew and a new area of evacuations were called. One large area in old Shasta has been evacuated as well as the town of Keswick a few miles from here. That area of Old Shasta is where I had one client when I was working. I felt the danger in fire season right away and told my boss that I couldn't work there during the summer. I ran from one fire with only one way out and didn't want that again. The other fire not far from here grew by about 2000 acres yesterday. Several communities and a couple of small towns were evacuated. Thousands of firemen are working out on the lines in temperatures that are 110 and over. They are just amazing people to put themselves out there in those conditions. Temperatures are supposed to go down into the 90s by next Monday. That still makes for nearly a week more of these temperatures. They are breaking all records. Night before last at 8:30 it was still 110 and didn't go below 89 that whole night. Last night was cooler in the 70s but today back up to 112 with 8% humidity. I went out today to do some shopping. I had been staying pretty close to home. I just couldn't believe that everywhere I looked toward the mountains I could see smoke from another fire rising. This weather is unheard of. Hot weather here is not abnormal but these temperatures for this long and so many fires this early in the year is not normal. We just didn't get the normal rainfall of 60 inches. We only had about 20% of what we shoudl have. Anyway I just thought I should update you on what is going on here. National news tends to just concentrate on the fire in Big Sur. They did take notice of the one in Concow but only after it burned 40 homes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shellit74 Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 thinkin of you Lilly.. stay safe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lilyjohn Posted July 12, 2008 Author Share Posted July 12, 2008 when you think it can't get much worse Body: Just when you think it can't get much worse The news today is not good, In fact it is very bad. The motion fire up by Shasta dam and Keswick dam jumped the lines with the high winds again today. Areas of French Gulch where I used to live have been evacuated. Naturally I am concerned about my niece and her family. According to the news hiway 299 has been closed between Redding and French Gulch. I havn't gotten much news so far. I just know that once they leave French Gulch they can not come toward town. They will have to go West toward the coast but that area between them and the coast is also plagued by fires and is often closed. They may have to just go to the next town and pray that the fire doesn't go there. I knew it was bad but never dreamed it could be this bad. I know the area that has been evacuated. It is not right in the gulch but it is just a mile or two to the East of there. My friend told me last night her and a neighbor had been watching the smoke rise up behind the mountain behind the mobile home park where I used to live. The fire at Whiskeytown lake is between here and there on one side of 299 and the Motion fire is on the other side. If they join forces there are miles of forests and several small historic towns that could very well burn. Please say a prayer for the people who live there and the brave firemen who are out on the line risking their lives every day. Today our manager's granddaughter and her boy friend came by. He is a firefighter with CDF (California department of Forestry). That young man is just 21 years old. The same age as Jared and Erica. (two of my grnadchildren) He is on a 48 hour off shift for the first time in 3 weeks. They are working 24 hour shifts in temperatures that have been 110 and over. The gear they have to wear on top of those temperatures must make it almost unbearable especially when they are out there on the fire line with the fire often just feet away from them. They are expecting a delta breeze to pick up and move up here from the bay area. That should drop the temperatures back into the 90s and add some humidity. It will sure make it miserable here but it may give them a chance to save some homes and towns. Just one more thing. When officials suggest or tell you to evacuate do it for your good as well as their's. Today in one of the homes than burned in Concow they found the body of a person who refused to leave. It is sad that that person died but a fireman could have lost his life trying to save him. Another thing is one family moved up to Concow aftern Katrina took everything they again lost all in the fire that burned those 40 homes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.