Okay, We are Toast

[thistlebloom]

They set up evacuation centers Bee. Often at schools or churches.
Many people volunteer their barns and pastures for animals that are in the fires path. People really pull together to help out when their neighbors are in need.

 

[Beekissed]

I like that! They never really go into detail about where folks end up and for how long, if they get help from the government at that point with FEMA housing or what.

 

[ninnymary]

That's exactly what they do Beekissed. But no one gets any sleep. Imagine tons of people trying to sleep all on the gymnasium floor, men, women, children, and babies.

Mary

 

[Beekissed]

I can only imagine....but it would be something a person would have to try and view as an opportunity, instead of a hardship, in order to get through it with grace.

Our home burned down when I was young and we lost everything but our important papers and photos, which was a blessing at the time and still is. I can still remember my mother sobbing as we watched the house go up in flames that could not be put out. Nine kids and no home to go to....but the community pulled together like you would not believe and we were showered with clothing, a place to live, furniture and food and it was like being loved by the whole county all at once. It was a miracle of love that I would not have traded for that house and all its contents.

Hard times and hard things can shape a person and a community, develop character, and give opportunities for love like nothing else that can happen in a life. I would never wish anyone to have hardship, but sometimes it's a blessing in many ways and that I would not wish to be otherwise either.

 

[thistlebloom]

That's so true. It's a blessing to the receivers, and also a great blessing to those who are able to help someone else out.

 

[NwMtGardener]

Here in Montana, I often notice that they'll set up an evacuation place (like Thistle said, school or church) but that no one will really utilize it, or not many people. It just seems that most people have options of friends or family (or strangers) houses, which are more comfortable than a gym.

When the Reynolds Creek fire evacuated several Glacier Park lodges and campgrounds, all the employees that live there were displaced as well as tourists. The company that runs the concessions sent an employee with a huge van to buy enough tents and camping gear for all the employees, and they set up a "tent camp" at a campground outside the park. So lots of different solutions out there! Luckily the Going to the Sun road is now reopened and most (but not all) businesses are back in operation.

 

[thistlebloom]

The fire that was closest to me recently caused part of the town it was burning through to evacuate, and what Heather said is true. They opened up the local high school for lodging and nobody used it. I guess there were enough people stepping up with housing that everyone was taken care of.

 

[Beekissed]

How cool is that???? A company that would do that! Never heard of that too often in my life.

 

[Rhodie Ranch]

I volunteered for 9 hours three years ago for The Rim Fire, near Yosemite. It was at the Sonora Fair Grounds, and the Red Cross had set up. I started in the old folks room, setting up privacy screens and making beds for the elderly. It was horrible to see very old people in various medical shape come into the room with their clothes on their back, clutching purses and each other. Volunteer nurses and two Dr's were there.

In another of the Fair grounds halls, were the families. Mothers, fathers, kids and teenagers who were so horrified to be seen there. I helped set up cots - about 400 of them. Food banks from all over came with highly organized routines of feeding the evacuees. Certainly many of these groups had drilled and planned and were under the direction of the Red Cross man in charge.

Another room was for people with pets. Humane society came with crates for the displaced pets. Pets had to stay outside so you can imagine all the dogs and cats under canopies. (100 degrees most days) One lady had her two parakeets - they were the re- incarnation of her two children who had died years earlier. The RC didn't allow her parakeets to be in this hall, so the first night she slept outside with them. Mental health came in and found her and the birds a temp home at a volunteer's house.

As the fire ebbed and flowed and moved, people drifted away from the Fair grounds. It was finally shut down about 2.5 - 3 weeks after the beginning of the Rim Fire.

What an operation that was! I was impressed at the skills and organization of it all.

 

[Beekissed]

What a wonderful thing to be a part of!!!! Bless you for your time and compassion for others in their most trying of times, Murphy. I've always wanted to do the Red Cross disaster runs and I so applaud some of the retired folks who spend their golden years in these kind of activities as well. Simply amazing that they looked at their free time and said, "I think I'll get busy helping others!"