The first numbers which were released by the authorities last week involving the fires were that about 70 "structures" had been burned. It sure seemed like a lot more than that to me.
I went into the local hardware store on Monday after the fires and four of the six people who work in there were homeless, including Wes, the owner. Richard, Susan, and Charles all had lost their homes. The American Red Cross did a survey last Monday and raised their estimate to 209 families homeless.
Being late August, school is getting ready to start and the count of homeless at school was five teachers and 76 students. It really is getting to the point that you hate to ask someone if they lost their home because the answer is probably going to be yes.
I had to go by the local tag office yesterday and, sure enough, one of the women who works there, Rhonda, had lost her home. She and her husband are living in an RV until they can get started again.
Last night about 9:15 p.m., I was returning from a trip to my land which is about fifteen miles away. At the intersection of Highways 48 and 51, I spotted a dog with no tail running around the intersection. I recognized the dog as the one that our friend, Amy, had been trying to catch for over a week. I pulled the Jeep over, got out, and tried to coax the dog up to me but she would have no part of it.
While I was trying to lure the dog up, a Nissan pickup pulled up with a young couple in it and asked if I needed help. I explained what I was doing and the woman got out and tried to get the dog to come to her. I idly asked the young man if he had lost anything and he said, Yes, he had lost everything, including his carpentry tools which he made a living with.
I was really struck that these people had lost everything they own but pulled over to see if they could help me! Perhaps there is some hope for the human race after all. By the way, the latest numbers I have heard from the wildfires are over 400 homes lost. It truly is an unforgettable tragedy!
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