We’ve been paying a lot of attention to the fires south of Salt Lake City and the devastating fires in Colorado Springs. Then, it happened here! I was at work in Idaho Falls and, while waiting for a meeting to start, was checking Twitter and saw that there was a fire in the Mink Creek area, less than 5 miles from where we live. I sent the link over to Nina (who at first thought it was a joke).
A few minutes later she sent me a picture of a huge cloud of smoke taken from our front porch. It was time to get out of there and for me to get back home. My office in Idaho Falls is about an hour from home in Pocatello. Nina loaded the car up with the “absolutely must save” stuff from the house. Then came the phone call instructing us to evacuate. We set up a meeting place a safe distance away from the fire. I took the picture on this post from my car as I came into the Pocatello area.
We met, parked by the railroad tracks, and watched the fire on the hill. The fire came close to our neighborhood, but didn’t jump the ravine. It was clear that we wouldn’t be sleeping at home, so we made a reservation at the Hampton Inn for the night.
Nina did a good job of getting stuff we needed out of the house, particularly given the stress of knowing the house may well not be there a few hours later. However, a couple of essential items were missed, such as the hose and mask to my CPAP machine. She got the machine, but missed the hose and mask. So, we checked into the hotel, had dinner, and then tried to go back to the house. While that wasn’t allowed, a police officer drove me to the house so I could get the items we needed. That was very helpful! Thank you, Pocatello Police Department!
It’s now the next morning, Friday, June 29th. We checked out of the hotel. I made up a breakfast plate. Nina headed back to the house. She called a few minutes later. Our neighborhood is still closed. No one allowed back. The local TV new channel just reported that we might not be able to go back for another couple of days.
Some 20 homes have been lost in this fire. I’ve no idea how the fire started, but it definitely moved VERY FAST. We’re really early in the summer. It’ll probably happen again.