Bob Minenna, took this picture of the fire crew from Konocti Conservation Camp fighting yet another fire here in Lower Lake, California this week, out on Bryant Road. With the Lake County Fire Protection District, and all other emergency resources that helped extinguish the flames, our community is safe once again!
BUT WHAT I WANTED TO SAY…….. is that while this fire was headed out Bryant Road, my good friends that live out on that very road, were out of town and driving home with the hopes that the fire would not reach their house! This has become quite common here in Lake County now. Much more so then I remember as a kid growing up here. People are worried that if they leave, they won’t have a house when they return!
I suspect it’s just being gun shy after these past few years of fire seasons. It is also due to the growing population in our county. More people equals more opportunity for fires to start. But we cannot live in fear and worry about what might happen! That’s not living at all. Still, those of us that are still shell-shocked have a hard time letting go.
When I was 3, and my dad moved my mother and me to Lake County, it was 1971. Back then, the population in the county was approximately 19,825 residents. Flash forward to the most resent census I could find, and in 2015 the population shows 64,591 residents. Quite a jump!
Back in the 70’s
I didn’t worry as much about things like this. I was much too busy walking barefoot in the creek and catching pollywogs and tree frogs, or picking blackberries. I loved the freedom of no technology, playing outside until dark and running around from neighbor to neighbor, with us kids on our bikes. It was the best childhood!
Not that we didn’t have fires! Hell yes we did! But they seemed fewer and farther in between, at least the big ones were. Still, nothing compares to The Valley Fire or even The Clayton Fire, in my lifetime. And we are still healing.
Today, in the residential neighborhood behind our own IGA Store, Foods Etc. there was a fire. It looks and sounds, (listening to the scanner), like it took two residents and some wild land. The neighboring medical clinic had to be evacuated, but I’m not sure how complete that procedure went before the firefighters contained and extinguished the flames. Thank God for the brave fire personnel we have and skilled dispatchers! However, someone out there still lost their home. I pray for them tonight.
As for my friends that live out Bryant Road, it was their property that the fire ran right up to. The creek in their yard had been the stopping point and they told me it burned right up to the back of their boat! However, they had a good defensible space in their yard and lost nothing. Thank God! Sometimes things work out, and they made it home safe and sound.
To my fellow Lake County residents, be safe! Make good choices on when and where you run your equipment. Don’t use weed-eaters or mow your yard past 10:00am and ALWAYS keep a fire extinguisher or charged hose near by. And if you have neighbors that are being not so smart, you can either remind them, or report them.
And yes………. take that vacation, and don’t be afraid to leave your house! Enjoy your life without fear. Nobody knows what tomorrow will bring. But if you are truly worried, pack a “get out bag,” and leave it by your door, and give a key to your house to a friend that can grab it for you. That might alleviate some of the stress. In the meanwhile, enjoy your summer!
*Picture of firefighters/ Bob Minenna/Record Bee
*Pictures of child in creek and vacation beach/ Google images
