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Greetings from my Oregon Wildfires personal report and update!
Thank you for your notes and prayers and highest thoughts of love and concern.
Our house is packed with people, dogs and cats as we fit in extra people and beds to help others we love and care about.
Evacuees came in on Monday as trees and burning houses from miles away shook the air, the earth, and the trees up on mountain ridges 1/2 mile or less from many, many homes of our immediate family members and extended family on my husband's Oregon side.
About 35 of them plus lots of friends of either us or them went from barely a warning of "look out for air quality" to unbelievable winds (up to 75 m.p.h fanning the flames of Central Oregon that suddenly charge into western valleys and canyon with 2 major fires now merged into one deemed "massive" Santiam Valley Fire".
Trees and shrubs whipping around. Tall old growth forests trees breaking off at the top of mountain like hills "ridges" and creating resounding crashes.
Sending before losing. Will continue in new screen if i can. (Only 1/2 bar of cell coverage)
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Checking phones to find out what was happening to messages of "Get Out Now! Many, many grabbing only car keys and cellphones leaving with the clothes on their backs.
Some in pjs grabbing few clothes all bringing pets but some unable to get terrified cats to come having to tearfully leave them behind.
My kids were among those realizing winds and smell and yellow skies meant fire near and get out now. Some sent some family members and children in one car immediately "out now" while one member tried to catch livestock and here them into horse trailers etc. or domestic smaller animals (cats dogs chickens rabbits birds etc) into pickups and telling wives they'd bring clothes, papers with them but having to give up on that plan and rush out not thinking to close open for cooler night air windows fanning flames and letting fire or ash into homes.
3. In our own and extended towns upctge Santiam Canyon (towns in news are Lyons, Idanha, Mill City, Detroit and now Sweet Home, Lebanon and others
Merging major fires now massive trapped families in their homes or cabins on fallen roads unreachable for exiting or easy fire trucks/emergency vehicles.
Families trying to flee often not surviving but yet to be ascertained or validated as deaths
One terrified and distraught father racing from work far away to get his wife, 12 year old son and the grandmother bedridden with a broken leg. The wife had struggled valiantly to get her mother into the family car but it was so challenging she told her son to run, run,
Stories vary as even fathers awareness of events and timeline update. But brave son ran long ways probably into more fire and returned towards home trapped and not surviving possibly into car with grandmother who also died. Mother wearing her underwear ran and ran for help for her trapped family in car. Burnt, black with burns or ash and her husband was unknown to either heading towards his family.
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Passing a desperate pleading man he utter terror for his family had to tell him he was heading in and towards fire not out.
Later he sees a burnt womanin underwear telling her I have to save my wife. She tells him "I am your wife.
could not even recognize his own wife.
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These are our daily stories from our nearest wild fire and homes of our families coming in over word of mouth or texts or family members or friends all online or sheltering in safe family homes like ours
Now we know the the Santiam fire crossed from one side of the area and towns to the others fed by vegeatation often deterred by something as simple as better vegetatation feeding on one side of the road not the other.
Logging mills, lots and lumber companies usually but not always feeding the flames to larger intensity or even altering direction of fires and the same with changes in the wind.
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in our own big extended families many factors played into their own or their homes survival. Fires swept through central areas of towns but left farther out of direct path homes alone. So some residents and their homes still remain but town stores or hair salons or tiny eateries locals are dependent on are gone-- burned to the grown. Many churches as well
My own families as well as friends phoning us to say don't know where to evacuate to, of course were welcomed into our home. Some into our spare bedroom or my sewing/ crafting room. Others are in our garage where we had stored a bed (20-years ago already made up with clean bedding
My garage shelves storing lots of my emergency or extra goods. Years of stockpiling for the Cascadia Sub-induction Fault potential earthquakes long predicted to be bigger than California's when (if please please) hits
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We are all well though our air quality is now deemed the worst in the world and major fires burn every where in Oregon. We currenljy have 37 fires many have merged with smaller ones. Half a million Oregonians have bern told to evacuate. But many refuse and stay to do all they can to try to save all they have
More and more Californians have moved to escape California fires in years past are now in others ones facing 2nd potential losses of all they own.
It is beyond terrifying for many and there is rampant anxiety, fear, plunging into immediate depressive states but also rising to their highest and most resilient selves
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My family is safe and filled with hope all week long. Our guests well fed and cared for and latching onto our hope and optimism but needing constant emotional support. The multiple cats and dogs not only getting along and interacting even playfully.
We have not faced powers outages thank heaven as temperatures were quite higher part of the recipe of factors that trigger the entire perfect storm of events here.
We have our garden and fruit trees produce and frozen berries, our canned applesauce and so on all from this summer
My heart is breaking for you and everyone in the path of those wildfires as I read your first-hand account and see the news stories about both the fires and the horrendous air quality. Thinking of you all and praying for rain.
God bless you, Michele, for all you are doing.
The destruction of our beautiful beautiful land is heartbreaking but the fears of so many is staggering as they escape with little or nothing.
Those who could not escape I can barely write about. Their screams are ringing in me if I don't push the sound away. I send healing love and prayers for them to let go of all that freezes them here in this dimension and journey into peace and love instead.
So terribly sad for so many now. But so far my family extended family and friends are OK as far as I know. We are blessed
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Bless you and amen! to absolutely everything you said!
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The polarity and the massive chasm of political divide in Oregon is as blazing hot and destructive in the hearts and souls of the collective.
Friends, family, and those holding important jobs are allowing their mouths to mispeak falshoods, their eyes to glare distrust and hatred of others and their hands to grasp at any chance to spread with typing and texts hands what are documents and verifiable truths. Their hearts are tight and closed to others as their lungs gasp for air all around the ethers.
The most ardent are the angriest, resistance compromise anf it is on ALL sides. Facebook liberals are spreading hatred and untruth almost as fast as the conservatives. I am dismayed.
We are all in danger of the virus and wildfires, hurricanes, flooding. Climate change is speeding up and Mother Earth is shaking and heated with emotion from all of us.
Everyone is preaching on social media evrn as they seek to shelter or feed or give to others only wanting "their " kind of people to benefit.
Family members are trying and or getting permission to travel into fire ravaged areas to check on their homes, livestock desperately needing more food and water but beibg warned by deputies to always identify themselves by name and address and reason for fear of gun toting neighbors not knowing or recognizing them in different cars as we all wear masks, borrow or make do.
Everywhere people who should be focusing on helping are hindering because of their own personal vendettas or agendas abd the immediate defunding of police in Oregon has now created insurmountable deficits of trained officers in all areas sbd levels when we desperately need more patrols, more emergency responders, more roadblock officers.
Worst of all dominoing scenarios is how we are now destroying ourselves by our own choices.
Major upheavals everywhere.
Oregon fire marshal Jim Walker put on leave amid historic wildfires -
"A source familiar with the situation said Oregon State Police Superintendent Travis Hampton had lost confidence and trust in Walker’s ability to manage the historic wildfires. Walker, the source said, had effectively turned over day-to-day management of the fires to his chief deputy, Mariana Ruiz-Temple.
Ruiz-Temple has been appointed the acting fire marshal.
"Mariana is assuming this position as Oregon is in an unprecedented crisis which demands an urgent response,” Hampton, state police superintendent, said in a statement.
“This response and the circumstances necessitated a leadership change. I have the absolute confidence in Mariana to lead OSFM operations through this critical time.
She it tested, trusted and respected – having the rare combination of technical aptitude in field operations and administration."
oregonlive.com
https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2020/09/oregon-fire-marshal-put-on-leave-amid-historic-wildfires.html
@michele my heart breaks at the your horrifying description of the land on fire and the citizens pitted against one another. I pray as a country we realize the only way out of this hellscape is to work together and respect one another and our Earth. I am glad your family is safe and I pray for protection for you & your family. I am also praying for Oregon,Washington, and California and an end to these horrific fires. Praying all of you are kept safe. ?
You are so very right. We have to meet one another on common grounds --i see it as poet Rumi's field.
The constant judgment and separation from love into fear and hatred of others is destroying us from the inside out.
Most people are truly good, decent loving people but politics and lies and manipulation and subterfuge has spread into hearts and souls from all groups on all sides and destroying each of us, our beautiful country, and our democracy as a nation.
We.all need to meet somewhere in the middle but it must start with each of us now.
Oregon is being destroyed by destruction and decisiveness. From anti police to anti people of color to anti religion or perception of none at all or the "wrong kind" of religion to gender to gender change to sexual orientation. My goodness we need to look at each of ourselves first.
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We are doing aa well, or even better than most would do. Between my husband and myself, we rose up to be fully present as much as we could as we met/meet emotional, physical and even "never give up" emotional needs by lots of care giving and feelings of neing held up and supported.
We just feed, fill immediate needs (like filling the tank of a car that we synchronisticslly gave to a friend its current owner when he had to call an ambulance on 911just to get to a doctor when he fell and couldn't get up because none of his or hisvkids cars were running.
We washed endless dishes and I did laundry non-stop laundry and kept each other and our dear house and garage guests and menagerie of animals fed, clean, entertained and listened to.
We both became storytellers. Just as i used to help those who were ill or dying by focusing on where we all are now not where we might be tomorrow, we both just shared stories from years past, photos of shared memories, people long gone and those we are contacting now. It lightened and brightened each of us.
Everyone notices positive reconnections being forged. Friends they lost touch with decades ago, people some had previous disagreements with now talking to one other who knew of them and had a phone or texting number and the "really lonely all the time folks " made lots and lots of reconnections.
We tried to socially distance bestbwe could among us as families, but went outside into the surreal nuclear winter air and endless skies --sitting on either side of the opened garage door to take multiple turns each and every day between house family and garage friends and for the two worst non-sleepers at 4 a.m. socially distanced coffee time after 3 before 4. I serve as official hostess ?
Lots abd lots of stories of the challenges and sometimes horrors of our lives moving on and into how we rose above them and look at us as survivors now! Old best of the best accolades and achievements shared without havectov feign humbleness but hey! I actually did that, achieved that, won that award ,or got my photo in the paper for that! Lifts people as I remind them all those versions of ourselves is still us !
My husband said I'll cook and cooked hig breakfasts of pancakes with our own previously frozen spring blueberries or hearty oatmeal with our berries or eggs from our chickens with toast and bacon and our fresh apples, plums or pears on the side.
Then typical sandwich lunches but addings our garden lettuce & tomatoes and cucumber to our sandwiches) and for dinners several big crockpots of homemade stew (our garden potatoes, carrots, onions and garlic cloves) and freshly baked at my insistence (without knowing why yet) double batch of apple crisp (our own trees' apples) and vanilla ice cream i had brought right before fire with my husband saying our freezer is past capacity! more orders of freezer anything! haha I had ordered pickup ice cream "just in case". Good food lifts the spirit and creates gratitude and a big feeling of abundance! And sure hamburgers and bratwurst rolls and simple quick foods too but a lot of homegrown goodies! Several years ago big threads here were on self and land reliance during climate change.
Well didn't anticipate fires and smoke though we did drought! But for now our super gardening paidcoff.
Words cannot describe what this abundance and providing of home cooked family meale did for the "heading into depression" guests. We held each other up really. This is all the good that comes out of challenges. Not the politics and social media ridiculousness. It feeds everything and almost creates infighting and arguing among people. Ugh!
Banding together can be so healing too. One guest hadn't eaten in days, No appetite and was refusing offers from us but ended up eating a full sandwich 2 Oregon craft beers he raved over and 2 servings of stew plus apple crisp and ice cream.
He came to us with 60 cents in his pocket, no bank account and a repossessed home he shared at times with 6 more of his family members (all leaving for other other family members before the fires exploded.
Despondency displaced aas we shared memories and reminded each other how fortunate we each were no matter what, compared to so many.
These are our miracles whether they lose their houses/land or not. And right now in the middle of towns devastated by fires every one of our 35 family members and counting so far still miraculously still has a home.
All amongst many many of us in safe zones as this includes as many as 5 generations per house !
Grateful and blessed. All of us.
@michele-b thank God for you and your husband. The healing, love and care you are providing brings tears to my eyes. I will pray for you that you continue to have strength, heart and stamina to keep going. I believe for every act of kindness and love we give our world heals a bit more. Thank you for what you are doing. Stay safe. ❤️☮️