Just last week our Order Manager, Jami, one of her daughters, 3 dogs, 4 cats and a Mosquito Fire evacuee staying with her, evacuated her home as a fire burned less than a mile away.
She drove a scary, back-roads, 70-mile detour to get her son from school; a trip that normally takes 15 minutes. Her father snapped a horrifying shot of the fire and thick smoke as he drove away from his home.
Jami’s sister, evacuated more than a week ago, doesn’t know if she has a home to return to.
This fire was contained. Jami, her children, and pets are back home. But that could change any minute.
Mosquito Fire, the largest California blaze this year, already destroying over 76,000 acres with just 39% containment is less than 20 miles from Jami’s home.
Her family lives with the day-to-day, very real fear that Mosquito Fire will eventually take her home and neighborhood and the possibility that a small uncontained fire will merge with Mosquito Fire bringing it to her neighborhood without enough time for evacuation or containment.
They are always ready with a packed bag of essentials by the door and a full tank of gas in the car. Her credo right now is “leave before you have to”.
California’s worst wildfires have consumed entire towns. Thousands of people have lost their homes and business. Lives have been lost. And, the actual fire season doesn’t start until October.
The worst could be right around the corner; all it takes is one little spark from a blown tire on the freeway, a dropped cigarette butt, or a lawn mower starting.
Cooler temperatures and rain would bring much needed relief to this region.