Quail Fire in Alpine Utah

Yes, I actually took this photo outside of my front door at about 6:30 p.m.  This huge fire only started at 2:30 p.m.  Where was I at that 2:30 p.m......not home!  I was working at the hospital. The mother of one of my patients was talking about the Quail Fire...and I didn't put two and two together.  She then asked me where I lived and I told her.  She encouraged me to find out if we needed to evacuate.  

Yes, as soon as they left, I fired off a call to my husband....who was not home!  After checking the news online, our area wasn't evacuated yet, but just north of us 500 people were being evacuated.  I couldn't finish work fast enough, the drive home seemed even longer.

When I got home, I checked our 72 hour kits, our water cubes, our emergency 'pouch' of information that we would take and got ready to grab them, my photo albums, and my computer in case we were evacuated.  Luckily, we didn't need to leave our home, and I am grateful to the heroic Firefighters who are battling this and other blazes.

There have been around 400 fires in Utah alone this summer. We really didn't have much of a winter in regard to precipitation, and the same was true for the spring. The grounds and canyons are just so dry....and it is July Fourth today.  


Here is a view of the fire just now....but the trees are blocking much of the view.  It is red on the mountainside.

I was pleased to see the following notice emailed to my email by my city:

July 3, 2012 5:37 PMFIREWORKS RESTRICTION REQUESTED due to Quail Fire - EVACUATION INFORMATION updated on alpinecity.orgIt is requested that residents in Highland, Cedar Hills and Alpine refrain from lighting fireworks until further notice. All resources are currently being used to fight the Quail Fire.Due to the nature of the Quail Fire in Alpine City it is requested that residents in Highland, Cedar Hills and Alpine* refrain from lighting fireworks until further notice. All resources are currently being used to fight the Quail Fire. 
There have been no evacuations issued for Highland residents at this time. Residents are encouraged to utilize the City website (www.highlandcity.org) for up to date information. Subscribing to the "Notify Me" feature from the website will provide email updates as they are available.
FOR CURRENT EVACUATION INFORMATION, please visit the Alpine City website at www.alpinecity.org
(*NOTE: there is a mandatory ban on ALL fireworks in Alpine City)

Our Governor has been pleading with citizens of our State to use "common sense" and not put our lands or our people at risk.  Even with common sense, there are lightning strikes, and accidents (machinery, catalytic converters, etc)

Take home message for our family today:  
  • Have everything backed up on our computers.....off site!  Had we not been able to get to our home, our important documents would have been protected.  I recently changed platforms with the purchase of a new computer.  I have been battling my back-up service to remember that I don't have a PC anymore. I will be calling to correct this asap.
  • Keep my car kit current.  If I had to live out of the items I keep in my car, I would have been fine....except for the clothes and baby wipes thing.  Note to self....fix that!
  • My 'pouch' of important info was at the house.  I need to scan the information to store off site.
  • Keep at least a half of a tank of gas in our vehicles.  I am usually the one harping on this...and today my tank was nearly empty.  I need to do better!
  • Notify the key, out of state person, that we are okay.  I had calls from family members inquiring as to our status.  If we were evacuating, I may not have been able to answer or would not have had the time to answer.  The out-of-state contact could have let everyone know we where we were and how we were.

If I were to grade our efforts today, I would give us a "B", but not an "A".  We could have survived and most of the information in the "Pouch" could have been replaced after a great deal of inconvenience.  Today was a wake-up call for us.  
Please pray for the safety of our brave Firefighters and Service men and women who answer the call to protect us all.

And.....Use Common Sense!!!!!






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