By I live in between two raging fires right now, albeit quite a bit closer to the northern one. My home has been inundated with smoke for days, I don’t venture outside much to avoid any complications from weakened lungs or sinuses that don’t even need a reason to go bonkers.
I am fortunate that I can work from home and that I live where I do. Today I am reminded that many are not so fortunate. Many are right now in emergency shelters after fleeing for their lives with whatever they could grab on their way out. Some escaped with nothing more than the clothes on their back before a wall of flame came to take away their homes.
Still others never got out. They died in those flames.
As an author, I do a lot of thinking about death, about ways to die and what those methods of death do to the body. For me, there is nothing more horrific than burning to death while still alive. Nothing.
There are many stories coming out of the areas that are burning; stories of heroic rescues, of animals finding ways to survive and stories of people coming together to help one another. I saw two stories in the last 12 hours about surviving by getting in a body of water. The first was about a horse that managed to get into a pool and was found shivering, but alive. The second was about a group of people who, realizing that they were trapped by the fire, took to an icy cold lake.
There are other stories too. On my way into the office this morning I read the words of a man who barely escaped in his car, watching in his rear view mirror as his neighbors fought, and failed, to escape the flames.
Towns have been decimated. Thousands are homeless. Many have lost kin, friends, and pets. The entire concept is terrifying to me.
Firefighters are battling the blazes, working round the clock in an effort to contain the fire, and I pray that they are successful soon.
Imagine losing everything in your home; clothing, photos, mementos, family heirlooms, all gone in a flash. My heart goes out to the victims, and once I get paid tomorrow, I’ll be donating what I can. I’m thinking I can weed out my closet too. I have way too many clothes. I’ll see if I can find somewhere to donate some of them for the victims.
Please, if you can spare any amount of money, I ‘m sure that there are plenty of places you can give to support those who have lost so much.
Thank you, Readers.
Natalie J Case 