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April 11, 2006
Fire and the Storm
The storm of the century approaches.
There will be ten to twenty tornadoes in your area.
Hail is expected. Stay indoors if at all possible.
So, the storm is coming. I decide to leave work early and prepare. Get the kids beds set up in the basement, make sure we have water, find a flashlight or two, make sure the cell phone is handy.
As I pull into a gas station at the bottom of the ridge we live on, I notice smoke billowing out from behind the ridge. Billowing. Right where my house should be.
I immediately turn around and race up the ridge praying that everyone is alright. Once I reach our road, I become calmer. There is no smoke coming from anywhere on our road. Everyone is okay.
Once arriving home, I go outside with Ender to see if we can determine the source of the fire.
The smoke is coming from further along the ridge, and within minutes, we hear the distant cry of sirens.
Fast forward 4 hours.
The storm is about to hit. Everything has been set up in the basement. So, I go outside to watch as the roiling mass of clouds wends its way towards us.
Night has fallen, and yet as I look outside, I see a faint glow along the ridge. It doesn't seem to be the city. I call my wife for verification.
Its a glow. Not from unnatural light. Perhaps the fire is still burning.
So, we go to the front porch, to get a different angle and see if we can determine where the glow is coming from.
The front porch makes it easy. Straight across from us, about a quarter to a half-mile away, there are about 15 fires on the mountainside.
Posted by oriondark at April 11, 2006 12:42 PM