Evacuated! #knollsfire

Someone started a fire in a dry field a few miles from our home that turned into a wild fire. The wind was blowing the fire towards our homes at 40-60 miles per hour.  We were asked to evacuate.  

Some of our kids were very scared.  We knelt down and prayed that our homes would be protected, that the winds would cease and that the rain would come early (rain was expected the next day.)  I'm sure this was a similar scene in many homes of our friends and neighbors.  We each quickly packed a bag and left our home.

Karen and Grant took us in, fed us dinner and let us hunker down until we were able to go home around midnight.

Just when it seemed that many homes would be lost, the wind shifted direction.  It did not cease as we had prayed, but even better, it started to blow the fire away from our homes.  A few hours later the rain came.  It was truly MIRACULOUS! So grateful to our Father in Heaven for protecting our community!

The first responders were also AMAZING!  We feel a lot of love and gratitude for the fire fighters, police officers and everyone who responded to the Knolls Fire.  While we were fleeing from our homes, they rushed into danger on our behalf.  They truly are heroes.

After we returned home, we learned that one neighbor played a huge roll in protecting the homes in our particular area.  He saw a tractor in the field and went to work. With a wall of fire threatening the neighborhood, he plowed a 5 acre wide fire break that saved many homes and allowed the fire fighters to focus their efforts to protect the homes higher on Lake Mountain.  What an incredible example!  

The smoke was thick around our home.
We couldn't even see the lake just across the street.

We went across the lake where we could
see how massive the fire really was. 12,000
acres burned, 1300 homes evacuated.
Karen and Grant were kind enough to feed us
dinner and take us in. Thank you! We were able
to return home around midnight.

You can see how close the fire came to the homes.
It was as if a wall of angels blocked the flames
from destroying hundreds of homes.

This shows the 5 acre fire break that was
plowed by our neighborhood hero.