The journey from there to here
Published on March 16, 2006 By Gideon MacLeish In Current Events

As we move into the weekend hoping for enough rain to put an end to the constant vigilance we have had to maintain since we put out the fires that threatened our community, we're beginning to assess the damage.

Our department lost a truck, although the three firefighters in it were treated and released for minor injuries. A nearby department still has a firefighter in critical condition. Over 11 deaths have been blamed on the fire, and at least 8 towns in our area including our own had to be evacuated at one time or another. Smoke from the fires was smelled in Oklahoma City, some 200 miles away.

One has only to drive to the highway to see just how close we came to losing our town to the flames. The wreckage of the truck sits outside the firehouse, and we are working constantly to repair minor damage to our other trucks. Trucks are rolling in from several states, and we have seen trucks from Odessa and even Houston rolling to the north, where the fires continue to blaze.

On a 20 mile stretch of highway south of town, over 100 cattle have been found burned to death. One  nearby community lost 7 houses, and one of our "locals" who lives outside of town lost about 18 horses. Black charred earth is now as common on the landscape as the ever present yucca, many of which are still smouldering from the inferno.

In all of this, however, we must count ourselves fortunate. Wildfires happen, and we did not lose a soul in our little town, or a single house within the city limits. A community that bickers about the most insignificant things put aside those differences as we worked throughout the day and night to protect our community. Food was brought in by local restaurants, and a doctor even volunteered to set up at our firehouse to treat firefighters as they came in.

We aren't out of the woods yet, although the NWS is promising 3-4 days of steady rain over the weekend that will be more than welcome, if it arrives. But when we were needed to work together as a community, we did. And for that, we can ALL be proud.


Comments
on Mar 16, 2006

Gid: Glad to hear that you and yours are all right amidst this tragedy. 

I hope the much needed rain comes.

on Mar 16, 2006
The hardest part was when we had family members of the firefighters who were out coming in to ask if their loved ones were on the truck. I had been on the scene immediately after, and I knew who the three men were, but I couldn't say anything, but had to refer them to dispatch. I couldn't even tell them the condition of the three who had been in the wreck. It would be easier in a larger town where you don't always know these people personally.
on Mar 16, 2006

You are truly in the heart of America!  Thanks for the riveting accounts of the fires from one on the front lines.  We read the stories in the papers, but like the San Diego ones of a couple of years ago, until you see the damage, you cant truly grasp it either.