Arizona Fire - Report from family...

I just got done talking with my cousin - she and her family live in Eagar Arizona where the Wallow fire is headed currently. They were told to evacuate their home last night but opted to stay. They had to sign a release form and if they do leave the property they will not be allowed back again.

So far she said they feel very safe. They have two sprinklers going on the roof of their home - they have irrigation water that they are pumping to them. They have also been keeping everything around them watered down, as well. There is good defensible space and not a lot of ready fuel to ignite. They are having ashes and burned pine needles dropping in but no embers.

She and a large group of other women from her church have been busy baking cookies to be taken to the fire command centers and handed out to the fire fighters. Since they can't leave the property, her son takes the cookies on their ATV to the property line where he meets the son of one of her friends who also arrives via ATV to take the cookies to his Mom and from there they somehow make it into town. Even though many of these women are in homes threatened by the fire, they are busy baking! The first day they delivered 3000 cookies! Currently they are baking and delivering 2000 cookies each day.

Others who live farther out in the mountains have needed places to bring their animals where they might be safer. My cousin now has a herd of goats in one of her pastures and an elderly mare, too. The poor horse did not want to load into a trailer - she was injured years back and has great fear and stubbornness. So my cousin's husband rode and walked her all the way to their place - over eight miles - it took him three hours. The horse was so tired and her unshod hooves were very tender but she is doing okay. Just one of the many stories that are being lived by all those folks in the path of this terrible fire.

As for my cousin, she says they will stay as long as they can. They have gas and diesel tanks that they want to keep protected, too. And I am not worried about them - they are resourceful and savvy. They won't take chances and they won't endanger the lives of others. They just want the opportunity to protect their home and outbuildings.

The last thing she said was that the winds were picking up again. Their wind powered turbine had just flipped around - something that happens only when the wind reaches 35 miles per hour. Let's hope that the winds die back down soon and that everyone including the courageous firefighters remain safe!