Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Fire Evacuation Drill

Well the last weekend was crazy. When the fire jumped the 57 freeway we thought for sure it would end up in the hills right behind us. I panicked and started to pack things. Initially I thought...Wow what do I take??? I felt overwhelmed at first. Kris and the girls were gone and it was just Cole and I. I called Don and Debby and they came over to help. Cole was scared at first but once I got him busy with stuff he was quite the trooper and did whatever I asked him to.

Once we got started it was simple. Cole and I gathered everything ever made by Grandma Barb(dolls and quilts because these things are irreplaceable). Next we grabbed Kristin's quilts, laptop, cameras, I-pod and anything else electronic that she has. All the photo albums, boxes of photos and medications. Don took care of the computers by grabbing all of the towers, Debby grabbed a little something from each of the kids rooms (clothes and stuff) and some pictures we had around the house. I grabbed a few important documents that were already in a fire safe box and some clothes and that was it. We stacked everything in the entry way of the house so if we had to pack and leave we could do it within minutes. Overall we had a small collection of our life and it was amazing what really mattered to us and what we were willing to leave behind.

Once Kris got home with the girls we had them go back through their rooms to add anything we might have forgotten. Jessie didn't add much, we had already grabbed what was important to her (Scriptures, family history stuff, I-pod, photo album and some school stuff). Harlie was upset that we didn't take her "Joe Jonas" pictures off the wall and I don't remember what Tommie added. Probably a giraff or two.

After it was all done we sat around and watched the news for updates. When we got tired of that we went outside and looked for the fire to come over the hill. I spoke with some neighbors I hadn't talked too in months and it was almost like a big party as we watched the fire from the front of our homes.

As I look back over the last couple of days I am thankful for two things. This family and the Church. I recieved calls from my home teachers as well as others to see if we needed help. I saw several of the kids turn to prayer when they were scared. How awesome is that. The fact that they know Heavenly Father listens to us. Don, Debby, Jenny and Warren... Thanks for helping us over the weekend. Just being there helped to put us at ease. Kris, Jessie, Tommie, Harlie and Cole....thanks for being strong and helpful even though I know you were scared.

The lesson learned...make a quick inventory in your homes of what is important to you and discuss it with each other. Like what happened to us, most likely not everyone will be home at the time of a disaster or evacuation. One of my neighbors made a video of everything inside his home to document everything for the insurance company. Not a bad idea (at least take photos of each room).

See you all later,
Brad

1 comment:

SusieQ said...

Glad you guys are ok and your home was spared! We've been there a few times so I know how it feels. And I'm usually here by myself while Ed is at work. It's very scary! You really do realize what's important to you when something like this happens. We all need this wake up call every once in awhile. Love you guys!

Valentines

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