close call

a few days ago,  there was a small fire on my road.  Here's the report from yubanet: 

"August 8, 2013 at 10:34 AM The fire on Sycamore Lane was caused by a downed powerline. The fire is fully contained, but some interior burning is occurring. PG&E en route. Firefighters are on scene, smoke can be seen in the Bullards Bar area."

Here in Northern California everyone knows how quickly a small fire can turn into a big fire real quick.  I'm always on edge till the end of fall when the rains return.  Every summer we try to be prepared if the horrible does happen and we have to evacuate. What to bring?  

Well, yesterday the fire was super close.  Too close for comfort.  I realized if it spread quickly the road could be blocked.  When we saw the flames I said to liam, time to pack the truck.  We calmly raced around the house grabbing items and shoving them into boxes and bags.  I already had our important papers box packed.  

Later it was really interesting to see what we both packed.  Roy was out of town.  These things always happen when he is out of town.  I took some photos of what I packed.

I packed one apron, my iPad, dittie bag still packed from last overnight trip, favorite dress, one dog leash, knitting bag with my Stephen West old forge blanket project and my autographed copy of the pattern book 3(see previous post), my calendar book, my glasses, a stripped linen shirt, 2 pairs of skivvies, one bra like thing, bass pro bag packed full of knitting paraphernalia, my awesomely new knitting project bag made by soxy sue herself- which contains the man shawl thendara project I'm making for hubby, 2 skeins of yarn and a gorgeous pigeonroof studios merino braid in the verbena colorway. If our house was going to burn down and all my fiber with it, I needed at least one braid so all was not lost. oh, and my pockets were crammed full of little sentimental objects too dear for me to post.

 

Here's some close ups:

liam packed his bike and his mandolin and his current hemingway book, "to have and have not."  i was totally freaked out that i couldn't find the old baby photo books.  it was very fortunate that my neighbor was in her garden when it happened and was able to call PG&E and Fire right away or the outcome might not have been so good.  We lost power for the day and late into the night.  liam took these shots of the fire:

  

 that was a close call.  two days later another fire started by yet another downed power line.  not so close this time but still in the area.  we lost power again.  sigh.  i'm very thankful to all the incredible fire fighters we have here that help us in so many way.  thank you.  and yes, in case you are wondering we did pack the dragon.