We had a wonderful vacation in Colorado in spite of the fire that threatened to take half our beloved city! Unfortunately, we arrived in Colorado Springs that dreadful Tuesday when all hell (and I kind of mean that in the literal sense) broke loose!
The day before our departure date my mom called with concerns about the amount of smoke; questioning whether or not we should even come to Colorado. We followed the news closely and determined that the fire seemed to be getting under control. I checked the news on Tuesday morning and it was 5% contained, they were hopeful they would make even more progress as the day moved on, so we boarded our plane and prayed for rain.
By the time we flew in to Denver my parents were on pre-evacuation notice. My dad and I drove down to Colorado Springs and on the way you could see the plume of smoke coming from the mountain just a few miles beyond Colorado Springs. Now, I grew up in Colorado and there are wildfires nearly every summer. 10 years ago dear friends almost lost their house in one of the Colorado wildfires and my dad's secretary lost everything she owned in that fire. But, they lived in remote areas. . . . . .you just never think of the fire coming in to a city like Colorado Springs. It seems impossible.
I asked my dad on the way down to Colorado Springs what exactly "pre-evacuation" notice meant. He bleakly explained that they needed to be ready to leave in a moments notice. So we both decided it was probably best to leave my suitcases in the car until the notice had been lifted, which I eagerly expected might happen in a few hours. By the time we reached C Springs the smoke was really bad and the temps were unusually high. It didn't look terribly bad as the kids surveyed the area:
within about a half hour of our arrival I started to get a little nervous.. . . . .
My mom and dad had been packing up precious memories and important files since the morning. They never dreamed they would actually have to flee, but took the necessary precautions. As my mom and I sat on the bench in their front yard looking at the smoke we both started to feel a sense of urgency when we saw ash flying through the air. At that point my mom asked my dad to take a car load of important items down to his office about 5 miles away. When we went back inside we saw a reporter on the news reporting from the "barn" about 100 yards from my parents house. I joked that we were on TV and my dad left to take a load down to his office.
20 minutes later I looked back at the news to see the same reporter nervously reporting from the same barn with flames behind her. All of a sudden I yell upstairs and start buckling Calvin in to his carseat. Micah has about a thousand questions and I told him we would talk later but right now it's really important that he just listen and do what I say. My heart was pounding so hard.
In the midst of it all I see my cell phone ringing with my dad's number. I think to myself thank God! Dad is coming to help us! But, I'm wrong. Dad was stuck at the bottom of the hill and they aren't going to let him back in. I frantically shove all my kids in the car with pictures piled on top of them (no time for seat belts!). I grab the dog and sit her awkwardly on my lap and my mom nervously searches for the keys. She can't find the keys. My dad took her car because it was full of all their valuables and she can't find the keys to his car. I think for a moment of how we could possibly get out of this situation without a car. I start devising a plan in my mind to book it down the hill with Calvin on my back and Livie and Micah running beside. Finally my mom finds the key to dad's car and we start down the hill.
The tears begin to come as we pull out of the driveway and I stutter through them...... Mom, we're going to lose this house! She calmly says that's ok. . . . .I have you guys. That's all that matters. And we drive off.
I snapped these photos as we were driving off. The fire was literally barreling down the mountain behind us.
As we drove down the hill my dad calls and I frantically tell him not to attempt coming up. When we get to the bottom of the hill there are hundreds of cars waiting to get up the mountain to rescue family members and pets. Thankfully, we were able to spot my dad pulled off at the side of the road and shuffle things around/get the kids safely buckled in!
The view from the bottom of the hill (if you look closely you can see the fire blazing)
It was probably one of the most terrifying events of my life. I've been through terrifying experiences, but this one seemed particularly harrowing because my three children were involved.
I didn't realize how attached I was to my parents house in Colorado Springs. As we drove away I felt a deep sadness over the loss of their home. We moved there shortly after Breanna died, but it was a process we started when she was still with us and the house represents a new leaf and a time of healing and restoration in our family. My kids have also grown up spending time in this home and we have made many memories there over the past 13 years. It was harder than I thought it might be to drive away.
We listened to reports of the fire in agony over the next few days while we stayed in my best friend's sister's house (thanks Luke and Callie).
Every report showed my parents house surrounded in flames and we couldn't quite tell if it had been lost or saved. Chris was listening to reports from Boston as we waited for news.
Finally after 2 days we received a text from one of my brother's good friend's who used to be a fire fighter. He said he thought they were able to save my parents house and he turned out to be correct! The roller coaster of emotions was quite the ride!
My parents are deeply grateful to be among the houses that were saved! Our hearts are grieving for many friend's that have lost their homes and everything they own. More than 350 homes were lost in the neighborhood directly next to my parents. What tragedy and triumph the city of Colorado Springs has endured over the past few weeks!
We spent a few days in Copper Mountain after the fire, but we were all anxious to get back home and survey the damage. Driving through the neighborhood was quite the experience. Giant signs with the words THANK YOU were on every corner. Some of the homes in my parents neighborhood came within feet of burning to the ground. The mountain directly behind my parents house is completely charred and only skeletons of trees remain.
Driving through the neighborhood where homes were lost was like driving through a war zone. These families (even the ones whose homes were saved!) have a very long road to walk. Their lives will look very different for many months to come.
May God be gracious and merciful in his way and his time.
Here are a few pictures I took of my parents neighborhood when we returned:
You can see trees completely charred in the background
There are various spots throughout the mountain where the fire spread, but it didn't burn the whole mountain.
You can't really tell from this photo, but the mountains are completely black in the background.
This is 2 streets up from my parents house
The mountain behind my parents house is charred. . . only little tree skeletons remain.
This photo was taken from my parents front yard. The burnt area is only about 75 yards from their house.
We still can't begin to comprehend the devastation, but we know that God is faithful and he is good.
