Fire
Posted by Colston | | Posted On Tuesday, November 18, 2008
As some of you know this weekend has been an adventure and a heartbreaking one. SO this is a series of unfortunate events told from my perspective. Everything is true and all pictures are taken from my phone during the events.
I woke up pretty early for a Saturday and went to the church to finish up some work. While on my way home roughly 9:45ish i noticed smoke coming up from a mountain near our home.
This is a small shopping center less than a quarter of a mile from our house. On my way home I noticed the smoke and drove past my house to this shopping center and this was the view. That day was sunny without a cloud in sight and as you look at this picture you will notice the sky isnt very blue. However, being from Texas I didnt think much of a grass fire because I have seen and been around a few of them throughout my short existence on earth, so I went home. I stayed home and waited on my wife and her sister, who had just flown in for the weekend on Friday and left on Monday. So roughly 10:15ish we hopped onto our car and headed for Hollywood. We came out of our complex and turn and headed towards this shopping center because the highway is in the same direction. Once we got to the shopping center we noticed the smoke was worse and they had shut down the road leading past the highway. SO being the good Texan I turned around and went home and we packed some of our belongings. Its interesting and I dont know if anyone has ever been in the situation in where you have decided what you will save and what you possibly could lose. So I grabbed all my underwear and any t-shirt I could. I dont know if I own anything of value that I would rather have than clean under ware. Anyway, we packed up and left the house. At this time we were not forced to evacuate however my wife was already crying and freaking out so I had to calm her down so I packed her up and left. This next picture is on the mountain above our home. Our home is located at the bottom of the mountain so this picture is taken aprox. a mile from our home.
If you look at the light pole on the right, you will notice flames located to the left of the light pole. At this point my wife really freaked out so I called Brian and let him know the seriousness of the situation. He had already heard and was actually headed our direction to check on an elderly lady that lived about 1 1/2 miles from our home further up the mountain. So I sent Emily and her sister to Brians house and I jumped into the car with Brian and we headed to the lady's house. Her name is Lolly. Lolly is in her early 90's and she doesnt drive and even walking is not always possible. SO we head past where our home and then past the shopping center and then we hit the road block. We explained that we were Lolly's only possible way out of her home however they wouldnt let us pass. SO we drove down this bridge and parked under the highway. This bridge is only about a 1/4 of a mile long but from this bridge to Lolly's house is about 1 mile. SO we got out and ran to her house. This picture was taken as we were running to her house. This will show how close the fire was to where we were.
These were the houses that were burning in the picture above. Once we were out that house we decided that we couldnt do much else so we decided to head home. We had the guy from our church drive us out to our car. Well, we got to the blockade and they told him he couldnt get back to his house. Well, Jim, the guy from our church that lived up on the hill got out of his car and argued with the gard. They told him he was going to get arrested if he didnt get back in his truck and move his truck. He argued and they finally let him go back to his house. So we had to walk from the bridge again to the car under that highway. These pictures were taken as we walked across the bridge which was over a river bed. This river bed was what was on fire in the top picture and as we walked across the bridge below us everything was either on fire or had already burned.
Once we got back to the car everyone that had been evacuated from the area had been sent to the highway. The highway was shut down because the fire had jumped from one side of the highway to the other so they stopped traffic. Brian and I decided that if we were going to drive we would be stuck in traffic for about 5 hours so we started walking. We walked for about 1.5 miles down the highway. We quickly realized that we were in trouble because we were all lone. There was no one once the highway except an occasional firetruck that would drive by. These pictures were taken as we were walking down the road.
This was a long walk and a long day for Brian and I. By the end of the day we had walked over 4 miles in the fires and smoke. Our faces were covered in soot and ash, our feet were blistered from wearing sandals. By the time we got to the church it was around 4:30 ish... We had been out for about 6 hours and had seen alot of destruction. This last picture was taken at the church. IT was really creepy and it made me think of the end times.
Im not the kind of person who is worried about the end times because I know I wont experience all the tragedy because I will be Raptured. However, the thought that things are close did cross my mind and I thought that I have got to get on the ball. There are so many students within a five mile radius of the church that need Jesus and I have got to get to work. Thankfully no one at this current time is known to be killed in the fires but it has been a wake up call. Pray for the church, for the students and for the staff during this time. I believe more than ever people will be asking questions and I hope that we are ready to give an answer. Are you?
I woke up pretty early for a Saturday and went to the church to finish up some work. While on my way home roughly 9:45ish i noticed smoke coming up from a mountain near our home.
This is a small shopping center less than a quarter of a mile from our house. On my way home I noticed the smoke and drove past my house to this shopping center and this was the view. That day was sunny without a cloud in sight and as you look at this picture you will notice the sky isnt very blue. However, being from Texas I didnt think much of a grass fire because I have seen and been around a few of them throughout my short existence on earth, so I went home. I stayed home and waited on my wife and her sister, who had just flown in for the weekend on Friday and left on Monday. So roughly 10:15ish we hopped onto our car and headed for Hollywood. We came out of our complex and turn and headed towards this shopping center because the highway is in the same direction. Once we got to the shopping center we noticed the smoke was worse and they had shut down the road leading past the highway. SO being the good Texan I turned around and went home and we packed some of our belongings. Its interesting and I dont know if anyone has ever been in the situation in where you have decided what you will save and what you possibly could lose. So I grabbed all my underwear and any t-shirt I could. I dont know if I own anything of value that I would rather have than clean under ware. Anyway, we packed up and left the house. At this time we were not forced to evacuate however my wife was already crying and freaking out so I had to calm her down so I packed her up and left. This next picture is on the mountain above our home. Our home is located at the bottom of the mountain so this picture is taken aprox. a mile from our home.
If you look at the light pole on the right, you will notice flames located to the left of the light pole. At this point my wife really freaked out so I called Brian and let him know the seriousness of the situation. He had already heard and was actually headed our direction to check on an elderly lady that lived about 1 1/2 miles from our home further up the mountain. So I sent Emily and her sister to Brians house and I jumped into the car with Brian and we headed to the lady's house. Her name is Lolly. Lolly is in her early 90's and she doesnt drive and even walking is not always possible. SO we head past where our home and then past the shopping center and then we hit the road block. We explained that we were Lolly's only possible way out of her home however they wouldnt let us pass. SO we drove down this bridge and parked under the highway. This bridge is only about a 1/4 of a mile long but from this bridge to Lolly's house is about 1 mile. SO we got out and ran to her house. This picture was taken as we were running to her house. This will show how close the fire was to where we were.
This was less than 50 feet from us as we were running down the road. it was interesting that they wouldnt let a car pass but they would let you walk past the blockade. What sense does that make I dont know? So we get to her house after stopping along the way to help other people. There were other elderly people in her neighborhood that need help. They had shut of all power to the neighborhood and many of the people couldnt open their garage so Brian and I help a few people. Once we got to Lolly's house her neighbor had already taken her out which was a huge blessing because we werent sure how we were going to get her out. She didnt own a car and we didnt drive their so... Yeah we just went.
Once we found out she was gone we headed up higher on the mountain to another member of the church that lived close. We got there and watched a house above his home burn. The first picture was taken from his house on Saturday and the second was taken on Monday when we drove around to asses the damages.
These were the houses that were burning in the picture above. Once we were out that house we decided that we couldnt do much else so we decided to head home. We had the guy from our church drive us out to our car. Well, we got to the blockade and they told him he couldnt get back to his house. Well, Jim, the guy from our church that lived up on the hill got out of his car and argued with the gard. They told him he was going to get arrested if he didnt get back in his truck and move his truck. He argued and they finally let him go back to his house. So we had to walk from the bridge again to the car under that highway. These pictures were taken as we walked across the bridge which was over a river bed. This river bed was what was on fire in the top picture and as we walked across the bridge below us everything was either on fire or had already burned.Once we got back to the car everyone that had been evacuated from the area had been sent to the highway. The highway was shut down because the fire had jumped from one side of the highway to the other so they stopped traffic. Brian and I decided that if we were going to drive we would be stuck in traffic for about 5 hours so we started walking. We walked for about 1.5 miles down the highway. We quickly realized that we were in trouble because we were all lone. There was no one once the highway except an occasional firetruck that would drive by. These pictures were taken as we were walking down the road.This was a long walk and a long day for Brian and I. By the end of the day we had walked over 4 miles in the fires and smoke. Our faces were covered in soot and ash, our feet were blistered from wearing sandals. By the time we got to the church it was around 4:30 ish... We had been out for about 6 hours and had seen alot of destruction. This last picture was taken at the church. IT was really creepy and it made me think of the end times.Im not the kind of person who is worried about the end times because I know I wont experience all the tragedy because I will be Raptured. However, the thought that things are close did cross my mind and I thought that I have got to get on the ball. There are so many students within a five mile radius of the church that need Jesus and I have got to get to work. Thankfully no one at this current time is known to be killed in the fires but it has been a wake up call. Pray for the church, for the students and for the staff during this time. I believe more than ever people will be asking questions and I hope that we are ready to give an answer. Are you?
