Wildfire evacuation

[Kiki]

There are a lot of downed power lines in our neck of the woods, so no idea if those are even a priority since we are not very densely populated. They have one larger area that will probably be next (Lake Blvd/Quartz Hill/Keswick).
My husband is going to try, once again, to sweet talk the road block guys into letting him take care of our birds. I keep telling him to put on his Cal Trans hard hat and vest and see if that helps!

What a great idea!
You sneaky thing you!

I hope they let him through to check!

You think they will let you back in before the power is restored?

 

[orrpeople]

What a great idea!
You sneaky thing you!

I hope they let him through to check!

You think they will let you back in before the power is restored?

It's not their policy to re-pop until there's power restoration - I don't think I completely understand why, since we fairly regularly lose power and no one comes to get us out then!
I'm sure they have their reasons. I also know that as of this morning, there were still fire crews manning the roads above our house (we are at the base of Mule Mountain and lots of nice homes are above us... in fact the surgeon that operated on my broken ankle lost his home up there ) so that probably means there are still areas of concern.

 

[1muttsfan]

@room onthebroom encouraged me to pop in. We are dealing w the Carr Fire here in Redding, CA.
We had to leave behind the lion's share of our flock. .. I have lots of thoughts about this. Some thoughts tend towards despair and self-loathing because of all the "couldas, shouldas, and wouldas" that seem to plague my mind in the wee hours of the morning when I should be sleeping.
Other thoughts, though, are these:
1. I could not have predicted the path of the fire, or the moment at which I would be called upon to evacuate.
2. I could not have known law enforcement would turn away my helper with cages and truck.
3. We left lots and lots of food and water - as well as drizzling hoses. We left their coops open. (They were free-ranging that day anyway, so catching them would be - well, you all know)
4. We called Animal Control and they assured me they would do their best to, at the very least feed/water, once it was safe.
5. We were able to catch 8 birds consisting of one very nice SFH breeding group and a couple layers.
6. That was all I could do. End of story. The situation was beyond my control and second guessing any of the things that happened - when we were also desperately trying to get photos, important papers, etc together will never be helpful.

Now, I have to convince my 3 AM brain of what my 10 AM brain knows to be true.

 

[Kiki]

It's not their policy to re-pop until there's power restoration - I don't think I completely understand why, since we fairly regularly lose power and no one comes to get us out then!
I'm sure they have their reasons. I also know that as of this morning, there were still fire crews manning the roads above our house (we are at the base of Mule Mountain and lots of nice homes are above us... in fact the surgeon that operated on my broken ankle lost his home up there ) so that probably means there are still areas of concern.

Can we do something here to help you stay busy?
Keep your mind off of real life?

 

[orrpeople]

Can we do something here to help you stay busy?
Keep your mind off of real life?

Haha!! You and the Pond guys/gals are really great! I should probably do school prep (that's going to come up quickly) or some other responsible adult activity... but I've been on this cell phone like a life line since Thursday.

 

[bobbi-j]

Haha!! You and the Pond guys/gals are really great! I should probably do school prep (that's going to come up quickly) or some other responsible adult activity... but I've been on this cell phone like a life line since Thursday.

It's hard to adult when you've got so much else going on...

 

[Sunshine Flock]

@room onthebroom encouraged me to pop in. We are dealing w the Carr Fire here in Redding, CA.
We had to leave behind the lion's share of our flock. .. I have lots of thoughts about this. Some thoughts tend towards despair and self-loathing because of all the "couldas, shouldas, and wouldas" that seem to plague my mind in the wee hours of the morning when I should be sleeping.
Other thoughts, though, are these:
1. I could not have predicted the path of the fire, or the moment at which I would be called upon to evacuate.
2. I could not have known law enforcement would turn away my helper with cages and truck.
3. We left lots and lots of food and water - as well as drizzling hoses. We left their coops open. (They were free-ranging that day anyway, so catching them would be - well, you all know)
4. We called Animal Control and they assured me they would do their best to, at the very least feed/water, once it was safe.
5. We were able to catch 8 birds consisting of one very nice SFH breeding group and a couple layers.
6. That was all I could do. End of story. The situation was beyond my control and second guessing any of the things that happened - when we were also desperately trying to get photos, important papers, etc together will never be helpful.

Now, I have to convince my 3 AM brain of what my 10 AM brain knows to be true.

I had a breakdown in Trader Joe's yesterday when I saw the stack of blueberries. I hand feed them to Henry because the hens steal them from his beak. I had some rough moments today and no support from the husband element. He hates Henry and is annoyed that we have this "burden."

He's also so focused on getting back to work and losing his job, and yet there's no way I can breathe the air there. Right now we have shelter, air conditioning (which we don't have at home), and most of the animals were rescued; just not the chickens.

Someone I've never met, a stranger on Twitter, stepped up on my behalf, created a #SavingHenry hashtag, and made some calls. He found two local options. I called one and she said she'd take all eleven chickens. There's a covered coop with yard waiting for me, but it has to go to someone else if I don't get there soon. I told her not to hold it, and she already knows that. It's first come, first serve.

They just need to lift the darn evacuation orders so I can go home, rescue whoever's left, assess the smoke damage situation, and decide what happens next. We're five hours away with nine animals here at my parents' house. They're all settled and doing well. But we're both anxious to be back home. When the phone rings, my dad's TV rings, too, and then the phone starts talking to tell you who's calling. The refrigerator beeps when the door is open, and at every sink is 20,000 containers of liquid hand soap. Yesterday my husband found my dad waving at a block of cheese!!

Since my husband can't drive, I can't just stay here while our home owner's insurance gets a hotel for him, because the nearest one is 50 miles from his work. They'll pay for it, but how does he get to work? He needs me there. But then what about our nine animals here in Livermore? My dad forgot to latch the gate and two dogs got out and could have run in traffic. They've been amazing, but I left home as a teenager for a reason!!

This dilemma is assuming the house is uninhabitable due to smoke damage and poor air quality. I have respiratory problems and am chemically sensitive. They'll rent two large HEPA air purifiers for me, or give me the rental cost in cash and I can go buy some. But our house is horrible. It's not sealed and sucks in the smell of smoke, and the cedar siding (unpainted) absorbs it, too.

Quite the dilemma. It's one day at a time. But he's so anxious to get back to work and doesn't seem to understand that we may not be able to live there in our home for a while. While he's at his air conditioned work, I'll be in a 110 degree home, with no fresh air and smoke damaged everything. Grrrrrrr.

And even if I could find shelter for nine animals, when other people fleeing from a still active fire need to shelter their own animals, I'd have to make two 50-mile roundtrips a day just to get him to work. We'd have to pay for the gas out of pocket. It'll be reimbursed, but we can't do that.

Here's to hoping the house is inhabitable. Sorry for the ramble. This is a chicken forum. We're having chicken for dinner tonight, and nobody knows I've had problems eating chicken ever since I lived with Henry in a bedroom for a month during his coyote recovery experience.

Signing off for the night. Double grrrrrrrr.

P.S. Thank you so much for all of these great comments.

 

[Sunshine Flock]

Wait. Pond people?

I think I need to go back and make sure I've read everything.

 

[Peppercorngal]

I had a breakdown in Trader Joe's yesterday when I saw the stack of blueberries. I hand feed them to Henry because the hens steal them from his beak. I had some rough moments today and no support from the husband element. He hates Henry and is annoyed that we have this "burden."

He's also so focused on getting back to work and losing his job, and yet there's no way I can breathe the air there. Right now we have shelter, air conditioning (which we don't have at home), and most of the animals were rescued; just not the chickens.

Someone I've never met, a stranger on Twitter, stepped up on my behalf, created a #SavingHenry hashtag, and made some calls. He found two local options. I called one and she said she'd take all eleven chickens. There's a covered coop with yard waiting for me, but it has to go to someone else if I don't get there soon. I told her not to hold it, and she already knows that. It's first come, first serve.

They just need to lift the darn evacuation orders so I can go home, rescue whoever's left, assess the smoke damage situation, and decide what happens next. We're five hours away with nine animals here at my parents' house. They're all settled and doing well. But we're both anxious to be back home. When the phone rings, my dad's TV rings, too, and then the phone starts talking to tell you who's calling. The refrigerator beeps when the door is open, and at every sink is 20,000 containers of liquid hand soap. Yesterday my husband found my dad waving at a block of cheese!!

Since my husband can't drive, I can't just stay here while our home owner's insurance gets a hotel for him, because the nearest one is 50 miles from his work. They'll pay for it, but how does he get to work? He needs me there. But then what about our nine animals here in Livermore? My dad forgot to latch the gate and two dogs got out and could have run in traffic. They've been amazing, but I left home as a teenager for a reason!!

This dilemma is assuming the house is uninhabitable due to smoke damage and poor air quality. I have respiratory problems and am chemically sensitive. They'll rent two large HEPA air purifiers for me, or give me the rental cost in cash and I can go buy some. But our house is horrible. It's not sealed and sucks in the smell of smoke, and the cedar siding (unpainted) absorbs it, too.

Quite the dilemma. It's one day at a time. But he's so anxious to get back to work and doesn't seem to understand that we may not be able to live there in our home for a while. While he's at his air conditioned work, I'll be in a 110 degree home, with no fresh air and smoke damaged everything. Grrrrrrr.

And even if I could find shelter for nine animals, when other people fleeing from a still active fire need to shelter their own animals, I'd have to make two 50-mile roundtrips a day just to get him to work. We'd have to pay for the gas out of pocket. It'll be reimbursed, but we can't do that.

Here's to hoping the house is inhabitable. Sorry for the ramble. This is a chicken forum. We're having chicken for dinner tonight, and nobody knows I've had problems eating chicken ever since I lived with Henry in a bedroom for month during his coyote recovery experience.

Signing off for the night. Double grrrrrrrr.

P.S Thank you so much for all of these great comments.

Oh honey, you are experiencing all the stress of this horrible situation you are in. I think you will be allowed to go home very soon, maybe tomorrow! You have been through a very difficult situation and are reacting normally, believe it or not! Try to de-stress. Have a glass of wine or two (no more than that) and try being grateful that you have a home to return to. Many do not. Buck up, it's almost over!

 

[Sunshine Flock]

There are a lot of downed power lines in our neck of the woods, so no idea if those are even a priority since we are not very densely populated. They have one larger area that will probably be next (Lake Blvd/Quartz Hill/Keswick).
My husband is going to try, once again, to sweet talk the road block guys into letting him take care of our birds. I keep telling him to put on his Cal Trans hard hat and vest and see if that helps!

Do you think it's possible we may not have electricity when they reopen evacuated areas? Or is that a condition of reopening them?