herriman fire {being prepared}

My community focuses a lot on emergency preparedness.  I have no excuse to not be prepared because they have walked me through every single step.  We have small weekly goals, monthly goals and challenges that make being prepared fun.  These people have done an amazing job and I attribute my families preparedness to their hard work.  However, as we learned with this fire, you don't really know what you need or what you will want to have prepared until you are faced with a particular circumstance.  I learned that our 72-hour kits that we have worked so hard to prepare and stock were unnecessary for this disaster.  We went to Tim's parents home where they have food, water and first aid supplies.  However, there were some things I was unprepared to take.  Here is what I learned:

1.  Our children have medications that they need daily, or in case of an emergency.  These were in multiple locations throughout the house and I felt frazzled trying to remember if I had everything they needed.  Therefore, I created a specific medication box for these mandatory items.

2.  I have a ton of memorabilia that was heavy and hard to transport.  Luckily, I had plenty of time to get all these items in my car, but in a real emergency I would have had to walk away from them.  I would have never had enough time.  Therefore, I decided that I needed {most} of my memorabilia in containers that are easily transportable.

3.  I love my snack box.  It was such an awesome thing to be able to grab.  I wasn't sure how long we'd be sitting in the car waiting to leave town, but I was happy to be able to grab these quick snacks just in case.  My kids had been worried and stressed out.  It was nice to be able to offer them a snack in the car.

4.  And you know if you're going to have a snack, you need something to drink.  I was so grateful that it was soccer season and that I kept bottled water stocked in the fridge.  I didn't have time to fill 5 water bottles before we left.

5.  I am so happy that my older kids pick out their own clothes.  They were able to pack their backpacks with clothes, pajamas and everything they needed.  I didn't have time to check their stuff, but was pleasantly surprised to open their backpacks at Grandma's and see that they had everything they needed.  {Of course, I was the one who remembered to grab their toothbrushes}.


That's all.  I was once again reminded that being organized is such a blessing.  If you're interested in a checklist of things we took, here it is.  Computers, Legal Documents File, Memorabilia Containers, Medications Container.  Done.  Seriously, that's all...besides our family and cars.  Experiences like this make you realize that there is very little "stuff" in our life that we actually need!

herriman fire {showing gratitude}

Over the next few days there was still a lot of activity going on in our neighborhood.  The fire was still not contained and firefighters continued to work hard.  I felt helpless sitting in my home listening to helicopters overhead and reading the newspaper.

I wanted to do something to help, but wasn't sure what I could do with three small children at home.  For lack of not knowing what to do, but feeling compelled to do something, we spent our time driving around the neighborhood spectating.

I drove up to a lookout point with 5 kids {mine and 2 friends} in my van.  I piled all the kids out of the car and we stood looking over the valley surveying the damage.  I heard some voices and turned around to see this:

Oops...maybe I should be sitting at home instead of getting in the way of the firefighters trying to do their jobs.  I quickly got the kids back in the car and we headed home.

It was a great learning opportunity for my children.  They were able to see firsthand how these firefighters, police officers and national guardsmen serve our community.  As we drove past where they were stationed, my boys yelled out the window, "Can we get your autograph?"

One police officer motioned for us to stop and she gave the boys a sticker badge.  They were in heaven.  Parker took it to school for show-and-tell.

Later that night, I found Parker making an autograph book, "Mom, can I get the policeman's autographs?"  They were his heroes. 

While I sat around feeling helpless my amazing friends were coming up with plans.  They coordinated an awesome thank you project for the firefighters.  We all signed a poster and many Moms made home baked goods to deliver.

With an autograph book, cookies and cards, we headed to the command center to greet the men and women who were saving our community.  These firefighters had worked all night long.  They were tired.  They needed a shower.  They were selfless.  They took time to show our young kids their fire trucks and equipment.  The happily gave Parker their autographs.  It was obvious why these individuals chose this profession.  They had a passion for what they were doing.  They spent much of their precious sleep time talking to us.  We thanked them, but again they seemed to help us more than we helped them!

herriman fire {my story part III}

Cooper woke up around 7:30 am as he always does.  We went upstairs, I poured him his morning milk and hesitantly turned on the news afraid of what I would find.  News coverage was slow so I quickly moved to the online paper.  I was astonished to see these pictures and read the news from the Salt Lake Tribune:

"Nearly 5,000 residents were evacuated, and ultimately three homes were destroyed and another damaged, Unified Fire Authority spokesman Michael Bohling said. There were no serious injuries reported."

I was stunned.  My heart was aching for the three families that lost their homes, but I couldn't help but feel gratitude for the thousands of homes that were saved.  5,000 people evacuated and ONLY three homes lost.  It was a miracle; a blessing from our Heavenly Father.  I know that many prayers were answered.  My testimony and faith that Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers was strengthened, especially after seeing these pictures: 

While online, I learned that school had been canceled.  As the children woke up one by one, I told them the good news, "Our homes were saved and there is no school today!" 

We all stood around the small television in the kitchen and watched the morning press conference.  All the officials kept repeating that it was truly a miracle combined with a lot of work from our heroic firefighters.  From the above pictures, you can see that there was only a bulldozer standing between the fire and these homes.  It was obvious a miracle had occurred in our small community. 

We spent the rest of the day celebrating the good news and praying that the weather would cooperate so the firefighters could contain the fire.  At this point it was only about 20% contained.  We were in touch with family and friends, but mostly we spent the day relaxing at Tim's parents home and enjoying each others company.  I was able to sneak in a nap while the rest celebrated at In & Out.

Around 3:00 pm we had lots of tired children and many tears.  That's when we decided to end the party at the Grandparents house and head home.  As we drove into town, the blackened hillside greeted us along with many police, fire and national guardsmen.  One street above us was still on mandatory evacuation.  We saw friends and neighbors in the street talking about the events of the past night. 

I loved the sense of community I felt as we saw our neighbors unpacking their vehicles and moving back in.  We watched neighbors deliver cookies to the guardsman and police officers keeping post.  We heard helicopters constantly flying overhead dropping water and surveying damage.  We saw fire trucks driving through our streets.  I had an overwhelming sense of gratitude for my home as I pulled into the garage. 

When we pulled away from our home the previous night, I knew that our community would not be the same and it most certainly was not.  We are now closer together as neighbors and friends.  We have a greater appreciation for the beautiful mountains that surround our home.  We have a deeper appreciation for the service men and women who protect our community.  We have an incredible appreciation for our neighborhood and homes!

Tim rushed the boys off to soccer practice and I made dinner for our family and prepared FHE.  It felt like any other Monday night, but it was not.  Things felt different because they were different in our home and our community.

As we knelt in prayer together as a family, it felt almost surreal that 24 hours ago we were pleading with Heavenly Father for safety, protection and peace.  Our boys were scared.  Tim and I were nervous.  We knelt tonight and thanked Heavenly Father for the blessings and events the past day had brought to our family and home.  While there were many traces of the fire still in our community, inside our home the effects of the fire were unrecognizable {unless you noticed the suitcases I had yet to unpack...more on that to come!}   

herriman fire {my story part II}

We arrived at Tim's parents home around 10:30 pm.  Tim's Mom, being the amazing hostess she is, had already prepared beds for us and laid out food for breakfast in the morning.  The kids woke up when we arrived and were happy to be at Grandma's with some of their best friends.  Payton, Chase, Parker and Kyle ran downstairs to immediately begin playing video games.

Payton told Chase, "My Grandparents are rich.  That's why their TV is so big."

Obviously, the boys had forgotten how worried they were just moments earlier.  As soon as they were safe in their grandparents home with the fire a good distance away they felt peace again and were acting like their normal rowdy selves.

Jaimy and I began unloading our lives from our vans while Tim's parents monitored the news and the wild toddlers, Cooper and Allie.

"This is crazy."  I believe were the only words I could think to say all night long.  I too felt so much peace at the Jones's home.  I knew we would be okay.  As we unpacked our things, we also were trying to piece together the events of the night.

"It's amazing how fast this all happened."  Jaimy said.  "We were sitting at the Blackridge Reservoir casually watching the helicopters get water and then we were packing up and leaving just an hour later."

We reviewed the events of the night over and over trying to process all that had happened.  We kept in touch with our husband's to learn that the fire was rapidly coming down the mountain closest to our homes.  They were enjoying a street party with all our friends and neighbors.

I thought of my friends whose homes were much closer to danger than mine.  I sent a few texts to friends and made some phone calls.  Everyone was safe with their families.  All was well.

Kent and Ann both had to work early the next morning.  It was close to midnight and we knew the kids needed to get to bed.  We worked out sleeping arrangements, but before getting the kids tucked in, we knelt together in prayer to thank our Heavenly Father for our blessings and to ask for continued safety and protection.  Again, we felt peace.  Payton and Chase went to sleep without a problem.  They laid in the same bed and told silly jokes until they couldn't keep their eyes open anymore.

Parker couldn't sleep.  I put him to bed in my room and then tried to sneak out to take a shower.  I reeked of smoke.  He followed behind me and said, "Mommy, do you think Daddy is dead?"

My child actually believed that his Daddy might have died in the fire.  I was reminded that my sweet 5-year-old did not understand the situation and that I needed to do much more explaining.  I reassured him that Daddy, and everyone else in Herriman, would be safe.  I asked him if he'd like to say another prayer,  "That's what I've been doing all night Mommy.  I've been praying that Daddy wouldn't die."

I was again reminded that my sweet 5-year-old did not understand the situation, but he most certainly understood faith and prayer.  He knew that he could prayer to Heavenly Father anytime and anywhere.  I never saw him kneeling to pray or folding his arms, but he was praying.  He knew that Heavenly Father would listen to him.  He had enough faith to trust that Heavenly Father could keep his Daddy safe when he really believed he was in danger of dying.

I laid in bed with Parker on one side, Cooper on the other side and Payton upstairs fast asleep.  As I held my babies, I silently thanked Heavenly Father over and over again for my blessings.

I received a call from Tim, "We're on our way.  An officer came by and told us they would be evacuating our homes within the hour."

I became worried, "Is our home in danger?"

Tim immediately responded, "No.  Our homes will be fine."  I didn't understand, how he could be so sure.  "The fire has come down the mountain, but I really think our home will be fine.  We'll see you soon."

I believed him.  I had faith that Tim knew what he was talking about.  I had faith that Heavenly Father would bless us.  I believed that many, many homes would be destroyed that night, but I felt that ours would be safe.  I began praying for my friends and neighbors home.  I again thanked Heavenly Father for my blessings.

Parker and Cooper finally fell asleep and I slipped out of bed to greet Tim and Doug as they arrived.  Jaimy was up with Allie who refused to fall asleep in this foreign place.  The five of us, including Allie, stayed up talking about the events of the night until after 2:00 am.  It felt like a fun sleepover with some of our friends.  However, I think deep down we were scared to go to sleep not knowing what the outcome would be in the morning.

I was finally able to shower and get the smoke smell out of my hair.  I crawled into bed with Tim around 2:30 am.  As I snuggled up to him, I again felt compelled to thank Heavenly Father for my blessings.

herriman fire {my story part I)

On Sunday afternoon Parker came bouncing into my office as I was busy planning the coming week.  The room was bright orange.  I thought the sun was doing some pretty amazing things to the lighting in my office.

Parker exclaimed, "I wrote the letters like you told me to.  Can we go deliver them?" 

I had to oblige.  I was the one who told him earlier to go do some Sunday activity while I was busy in my office.  He was obedient and promptly wrote letters to a few of his friends.

As a family, we decided to hop on our bikes for a ride around the neighborhood to deliver the letters.  As we got outside, we immediately noticed the orange sun, the smell in the air and the smoke coming from the other side of the mountain by our home. 

We shrugged our shoulders and knew there must be a fire somewhere over there.  Tim had grumbled earlier in the day, "It's a perfect day for a wildfire."

"What does that mean?"  I asked.

"It means it's windy and hot.  Like I said, perfect day for a wildfire."  Tim repeated again.

As we rode our bikes around the neighborhood I reminded Tim about his intuitive comment.  We stopped to deliver the first letter and asked the Hoskin's if they'd seen the smoke?  They had been downstairs and never noticed.  We said our goodbye's and carried on our way.

At the next house, we delivered the letter to the boys jumping on the tramp and asked the Carley's, "Have you seen the smoke?"  They hadn't really noticed it either.  Doug joked about going to a hotel with a swimming pool.  I joked about the e-mail I got saying that CERT teams were on standby.  "How exciting for all the Emergency Preparedness people our city has!"  I said in jest, never believing there was a real threat to our community.  We laughed it off and then carried on our way.

We went home and ate the homemade pigs in a blanket that I prepared for dinner.  It was Tim's choice.  We normally go to one of our parent's homes for Sunday dinner, but we didn't have anywhere to be this Sunday.  We sat around the table as a family {enjoying our feast} and talked about school, soccer and how delicious the food was!

We cleaned up dinner and Tim got a phone call from the Bishop telling him to come pick up his keys he left in the clerk's office. 

"Let's get my keys and then go see the fire."  Tim started piling all the boys in the car.

At this point, we could hear helicopters overhead and the smoke was covering the entire southwest valley.  We pulled down to the bottom of our street and all the neighbors were standing around watching the fire.  Our kids jumped out of the van and we all began commenting on this big event.

"It's crazy how much smoke there is."
"Are those flames I see?"
"When do you grab your 72-hour kit and go?"
"Should we be worried?"

These were the comments the women were making.  The men were saying:

"No.  It's not even close."
"My Mom has food and bandaids at her house.  You don't need your 72-hour kit."
 "There is nothing to worry about until we see fire come over the ridge."

Suddenly, everyone gasped as we watched fire come up over the ridge.  Nobody could really say anything.  I think all of our stomachs sunk and we realized that the fire was much closer then we thought it was.  I felt a tug on my leg.

"Mommy, I'm scared."  Payton said as he grabbed onto me.

Parker piped in, "Me too."  We consoled our children and told them it would be okay.  I ran home to get my camera to take pictures then returned to my family all while saying a million silent prayers in my heart.  I began getting texts and calls from friends in the neighborhood.  Our neighbor, the City Councilman, pulled up and told us he had just been to an emergency meeting and they would be evacuating South of Emmeline, which was one street above our home.  He told us to get ready and wait to hear about our evacuation.  It would only be a matter of time. 

Just then, we heard sirens blaring and a police officer on a megaphone, "This is a mandatory evacuation.  You must evacuate your homes."

"Mommy, let's go now.  Where are we going?  What are we going to do?  What should I take?  I'm scared."  Payton was extremely worried about all the commotion.

Parker was worried as well.  My sister and her husband pulled up just as we were starting to load up our van.  She helped us keep the kids calm.  Tim took post in the driveway with all the men in the neighborhood.  They were all philosophizing as to whether our houses were actually in danger and sharing rumors about what was going on at "The Cove," one of the nearby neighborhoods that was first evacuated.

Tim's Dad and Todd Bruse came to check out the fire.  My phone began ringing and beeping all at the same time.  Text after text read, "Is the fire close to your house?" or "Have you been evacuated?" or "Is everything okay?"

I responded, "This is crazy.  What should I pack?"

Some thought I was joking.  Others didn't even think to call (Mom...She claims she was getting updates from my sister who was there.)

I packed my computer first.  The boys grabbed some pajamas, clothes and their precious bears.  I also grabbed Parker and Cooper's medications.   As I loaded up the van, I watched the fire skipping down the mountain.  It was spreading so unbelievably fast!  I was getting anxious.  The boys were beyond anxious and ready to get out of there.

Payton kept asking, "Where are we going?"

I kept repeating, "It doesn't matter.  We have a million places we could go.  Don't worry about that."

His comments reminded me that our friends may not have a million places to go.  I sent Jaimy a text and told her they could come with us, wherever we were going.

I continued piling my scrapbooks into the car and the homemade rolls I had just made for dinner.  I casually walked around my house surveying every single room.  I had to make sure this was all I needed.  This could be the last time I walked through here.

Family, check.
Memorabilia, check.
Medicine, check.
Clothes, check.

That's really all we need, right?  I silently concurred to myself that I had it all.

We finally got the boys loaded up and Tim decided he would stay until they made him leave.  We wanted to take both cars anyway.  He told me he'd talk to his Mom and she was planning on us. 

Before we went our separate ways, we knelt together in prayer as a family.  We asked Heavenly Father to bless us with comfort, peace and safety.  I felt the spirit testify that everything would be okay no matter what happened.

We kissed goodbye and left Tim to guard our home.  We drove by our neighbors, the Carleys, who had no family nearby, and Jaimy was grateful to see us.  "Did Tim tell you I called?  Thanks for thinking of us."

I ran across the street to see Susie, my lifelong friend.  She had her entire family loading a trailer up with their belongings.  I knew she would be having a hard time.  She's sentimental like that.  We hugged and talked about how crazy this was.  Her kids were already gone and she would be staying the night.  We took a picture and then said, "good luck."

The Carley's followed us out of Herriman.  Jaimy called me on my cell phone,

"Are you sure it's okay if we stay with you?"

"Yes.  Of course!"  As we lined up in traffic I couldn't believe my eyes.  It was the first time I'd seen the fire from a real distance, I asked Jaimy,  "Are you looking at this fire?  It's crazy"

She turned to see the fire behind us and almost rear-ended me.  Traffic was bumper to bumper for almost 2 miles trying to get out of Herriman.  As we made our way out, it was absolutely surreal.  Straight out of a movie.  Parker and Cooper immediately fell asleep.  Payton was sitting nervously in the back seat clutching his bear.

My friend and neighbor, Lisa, called me.  "So, are you leaving?"

We had talked earlier in the night about whether we would actually leave or not.  "Yes.  We are packed up and on our way out."

"So are we.   This is crazy!"  She paused to listen to a report on the radio.  I quickly turned my radio on.  We both sat and listened to the breaking news reports while silent on our cell phones, with the exception of the occasional gasp.  We heard them say that cell lines were jammed up and to only make necessary phone calls.  Oops.  We quickly said our goodbye's and hung up.

Our entire mountain was on fire.  It was an incredible sight.  We drove away believing that we may not return to our homes.  We knew our neighborhood would never be the same again.