Jimmyeatworld
Silver Member
I've had an interesting start to 2006. Some of you may have heard about the fires in Oklahoma and Texas. About 4 O'Clock Sunday afternoon, the warning was put out for a possible evacuation of the city. About 5, it happened.
A fire started roughly 15 miles west of here and was moving our way. There is a little town called Ringgold about 10 miles west of here that was essentially burned to the ground. We could clearly see and smell the smoke from my mother's house.
After loading up my mother and my aunt, who is in a wheelchair, we went to friends house in the country about ten miles east of town and waited to see what happened from there. About 7pm, an area near the lake was evacuated, and it was only 8 miles from where we were. Thank God for cell phones, I called ahead to Gainesville, Texas, about 35 miles east of home and reserved a motel room so my mother and aunt would have a bed for the night. I can pile up anywhere.
I went to Wal Mart to make sure they had food, figuring that we wouldn't be able to get back into town until the next day. My cousin was helping to fight the fire, and from the reports he was giving me the fire might miss town, but the smoke would still be bad. I was halfway through getting food when he called and said the all clear had been given and people could come back into town. It was 10:30 or so by that time, and my aunt was already in bed by the time I got back to the motel room, so they are still there for the night. I came back into town to check on the houses and the cats.
The fire did get into the edge of town, about 1/4 of a mile from my mothers house, which is close enough. My cousin Cheryl's house burned to the ground, but their barn and livestock came out okay. A friend of mines parents also lost their home. All in all... well, let's just say it could have been worse.
The smell of smoke is still thick, and fire trucks, water tanks, and emergency personnel from as far away as Denton are still in town just in case. It's certainly not what I had planned for a Sunday afternoon.
A fire started roughly 15 miles west of here and was moving our way. There is a little town called Ringgold about 10 miles west of here that was essentially burned to the ground. We could clearly see and smell the smoke from my mother's house.
After loading up my mother and my aunt, who is in a wheelchair, we went to friends house in the country about ten miles east of town and waited to see what happened from there. About 7pm, an area near the lake was evacuated, and it was only 8 miles from where we were. Thank God for cell phones, I called ahead to Gainesville, Texas, about 35 miles east of home and reserved a motel room so my mother and aunt would have a bed for the night. I can pile up anywhere.
I went to Wal Mart to make sure they had food, figuring that we wouldn't be able to get back into town until the next day. My cousin was helping to fight the fire, and from the reports he was giving me the fire might miss town, but the smoke would still be bad. I was halfway through getting food when he called and said the all clear had been given and people could come back into town. It was 10:30 or so by that time, and my aunt was already in bed by the time I got back to the motel room, so they are still there for the night. I came back into town to check on the houses and the cats.
The fire did get into the edge of town, about 1/4 of a mile from my mothers house, which is close enough. My cousin Cheryl's house burned to the ground, but their barn and livestock came out okay. A friend of mines parents also lost their home. All in all... well, let's just say it could have been worse.
The smell of smoke is still thick, and fire trucks, water tanks, and emergency personnel from as far away as Denton are still in town just in case. It's certainly not what I had planned for a Sunday afternoon.
