Interesting evening, last

[Scrappile]

Large Fires on the North and South of us ... 30+ winds.  God Bless the Firefighters.  They do a great job and a lot of them are volunteers.  They had  firefighters called in from 4 areas around us.  Helicopters with water buckets, Planes with water and planes with fire retardant.  It was close to us but we were pretty safe.  Asked us and all neighbors to evacuate.  We did, not so much from fear of the fire, but I feared what the smoke would do to my wife, who is on oxygen and the second reason is I hate it when people are asked to leave and they do not and then some brave sole has to risk their life to save them.  The biggest help people can give is get out so the fire fighters can worry About saving houses and not people.. Anyway they did a great job. In some places you could see where the planes dumped the orange flame retardant right on the house to save it. The local paper showed pictures of the water planes scooping the water out of the river to refill,  Imagine the skill of the pilots to do that in high winds. This was not our first experience, happen every few years.  That is why I have a pretty big cleared area round my house, and a big lawn...

[Dak0ta52]

Stay safe!!! I live in the middle of a pine forest. Besides mowing 8-acres around my house (partially for fire prevention but also for snake prevention), I put a metal roof on my house the last time I needed shingles just in case a fire ever broke out in my area.

[wombatie]

Glad you are safe.  I agree those pilots are amazing and so are the fire fighters.  Hope your home stays safe.

Marg

[barb.j.enders]

Glad that you and your wife are safe.  Thanks for your attitude regarding evacuation.

I agree, the pilots make it look easy, so skilled.

[Gene Howe]

Glad you're all safe , Paul. It looks nasty. We've experienced a couple fires in the area we used to live. None so close, though. 

Gotta agree, those whirly bird and bomber piolots are amazing.  

[heppnerguy]

wow Paul,  that is close. So you packed up all your wood and left home and  had to turn around and go back because you forgot Pattie?  Not a joking matter. About 5 years ago they had a fire start on the north end of Heppner and it  quickly rushed across town and on the hill that  sits on the side of several houses. It spread so quickly. The fire department was able to save all the houses but it was a monumental task. Keep us posted on the fire there.

Dick

heppnerguy

[OCtoolguy]

Glad you are safe Paul. I always wondered if I had to evacuate, what would I take with me. I finally decided to just grab my coat and my wife and split. What did you take?

[Scrappile]

Two dogs and a wife.  The old cat was on his own.

[Tom-in-Ashland]

Know exactly how you feel. Live in a remote area of south west Oregon and have been evacuated three times since 2005.

[Scrappile]

We are actually a lot safer now than many years past.  Most ff the arid land around us is covered with vineyards now.  Next years wine crop, may have a hint of a smoky flavor.  My wife use to keep some precious things boxed in the entry way closet so if need they could be loaded up and taken with us.  We have never had to evacuate before, this time they were being extra cautious because the wind was blowing so hard.

[spirithorse]

I'm glad your family is safe, Paul.

Take care of yourself. You're in my prayers.

God Bless! Spirithorse

[Scrappile]

On 6/15/2023 at 10:11 AM, heppnerguy said:

wow Paul,  that is close. So you packed up all your wood and left home and  had to turn around and go back because you forgot Pattie?  Not a joking matter. About 5 years ago they had a fire start on the north end of Heppner and it  quickly rushed across town and on the hill that  sits on the side of several houses. It spread so quickly. The fire department was able to save all the houses but it was a monumental task. Keep us posted on the fire there.

Dick

heppnerguy

Darn Dick, you know me well.  I knew something was missing as I was driving around trying to decide where people go when they are told to evaluate. I keeping looking in the back seat and the dogs were there so I don't know .  Maybe that is way when I did get home she was standing on the front porch, looking totally discussed.  I could see she was yelling something at me, but you know I can not hear, well I can not hear anymore at the frequency she uses to yell at me.  I have had two ear tests an seen an ear specialist in the last month.. The first question they ask me after the test is "how long have you been married!"  I don't give them numbers anymore, I just say, "well over a half of a century!"  They just shake their heads back and forth with a sad look on their faces.

[Scrappile]

On 6/15/2023 at 10:16 AM, OCtoolguy said:

Glad you are safe Paul. I always wondered if I had to evacuate, what would I take with me. I finally decided to just grab my coat and my wife and split. What did you take?

Really you coat is all you need.

[heppnerguy]

On 6/16/2023 at 5:37 PM, Scrappile said:

Darn Dick, you know me well.  I knew something was missing as I was driving around trying to decide where people go when they are told to evaluate. I keeping looking in the back seat and the dogs were there so I don't know .  Maybe that is way when I did get home she was standing on the front porch, looking totally discussed.  I could see she was yelling something at me, but you know I can not hear, well I can not hear anymore at the frequency she uses to yell at me.  I have had two ear tests an seen an ear specialist in the last month.. The first question they ask me after the test is "how long have you been married!"  I don't give them numbers anymore, I just say, "well over a half of a century!"  They just shake their heads back and forth with a sad look on their faces.

I see you have a visitor coming to visit you for the first time, next week. I wish I could be in attendance too, but no luck. Sharon said she does not think she will be able to make the trip to Heppner any longer. She has been there for almost a month now and I will be traveling up there on the 6th of July and leaving a week later, flying with her back here. It looks like we will not be traveling back to Oregon unless there is a big health problem or a death in the family. So I am not sure if I will have an opportunity to get together with you again, perhaps. That said, I want you to know that I truly enjoyed the opportunities I was able to be with you and I cherish your friendship and always will. I will be calling you from time to time on the phone of course.

Dick

[Scrappile]

Yep, Dick.. one of the down sides of old age.  But we have dealt most our lives with being far from cherished family members.  Even as close as our own kids and grandkids.  What makes it bearable is modern day communications.  For most of the years,  we did facetime, and such which helped a huge lot.  I remember the years when our son was in a foreign country he could call us on cell phone and we could see him and he could show us where he was and what he was seeing. Very neat, and really shortened the distance.  So if you don't make it up this way there are other modern ways to visit, that far exceed the old landline telephone.  Just got off one such communication with my son who is half the way across the U.S. from me telling each other Happy Fathers day..  

[rafairchild2]

1 hour ago, Scrappile said:

...Just got off one such communication with my son who is half the way across the U.S. from me telling each other Happy Fathers day..  

My eldest daughter and husband (US Army Major) are traveling in Alaska right now.  She just sent me a video message to wish me a happy FD, as I did not answer her calls... Guess I was in the workshop making sawdust when she called!  Ooops...

They are doing a helicopter tour.  She actually spent 3 summers in Anchorage from age 15-17 working on a missionary airbase.  She solo piloted while up there when she turned 16.