Washoe Fire

On Thursday, I was at home trying to recover from being sick all week. I had a 103 degree temperature, and I had not been able to keep any food or liquid down. I was sleeping into the afternoon when I was awoken by a call from my mom. I have a specific ringtone for when she calls, so I answered it expecting it to be something about making sure I get enough sleep to get better. Instead, she was crying and freaking out. She was saying, "There was a fire...I didn't have time...I didn't get the cats out..." I tried to calm her down and tried to get all of the facts so I would know what to do. She told me she was about to get in the shower when the neighbor started banging on the door yelling, "Get the hell out of there!" over and over. She ran outside and could barely see anything through the smoke. She saw one neighbor's house on fire, then another neighbor's barn almost completely burned down, and then saw flames coming from the back of her house. She ran back in to try to save her cats, but a fireman grabbed her and told her the smoke would kill her. She was forced to drive away, not knowing what would happen.

I tried to console her, and told her she did what she had to. She lives alone, so the cats are all she has to come home to at nights. I felt bad, but I said that the cats weren't important, and that I would not ever want her risking her life for some cats. I told her that if the house burned, it would still be alright - it is just a house; just stuff that can be replaced. In the back of my mind, though, I was thinking of all the precious things like photos, paintings, videos, and other things of sentimental value that would not be replaceable.

After I finished talking with her, I tried to call around to the fire and police stations in Reno and Carson City that might have information. After a few transfers, I talked to somebody who knew the neighborhood. He told me that my mom's house had burned down. I started trying to figure out a way to get out to Washoe Valley to help with clean up, and just to be there with my mom. It was the worst feeling in the world to be 600 miles away, very sick, and thus not in any shape to drive, and having no way to help. Amazingly, some very good friends were incredibly generous, and helped me pay for an expensive, last-minute plane ticket.

As I was packing, I got a call from my mom saying that a neighbor thought he saw her house still standing. He said it looked like only the back wall had caught fire, and that the firefighters had stopped the fire from spreading to the rest of the house. I was happy to hear this news, but I was also still preparing for the worst in case it wasn't true.

By the time I got to Reno, thousands of people had been evacuated and 20+ houses had burned down. From the plane, I could see massive clouds of smoke, large black areas where fields had burned, and fires still burning on the hill. My mom picked me up from the airport, and her car absolutely wreaked of smoke. The fire was only 50% contained, but snow was on the way and crews were working around the clock. Highway 395 was closed, so there was no way to get close to our house to see anything. So we waited.

At about 10 PM Friday night, Highway 395 was re-opened. However, the police were not letting anybody into the residential neighborhoods of Washoe Valley yet. At 8 AM Saturday morning, the fire was finally 100% contained and residents were being allowed to return to their neighborhoods. We immediately drove down, hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst. Miraculously, our house was still standing. The neighbor's house 25 feet away was completely destroyed. The back wall of our house had been partially cut away with a saw to separate the burning part from the house, but the wall was still structurally sound. It was the wall that housed the breaker box, so a lot of the wiring was burned, but it was not nearly as bad as we thought. The inside didn't look very damaged, and the cats were still alive. The smoke was still so strong that I couldn't breathe very well and my eyes stung, so we didn't stay inside long. My mom took the cats and went back to my aunt's house where she is staying for now. We will obviously need to wash down everything inside, and possibly replace sheets, curtains, clothes, and other things damaged by the smoke, but that is no big deal. The wiring for the house will need to be fixed, and the back wall will need to be repaired, but overall it was not very bad.

I was very saddened to find out that the elderly lady living next door had died from smoke inhalation. There was an older couple living there, and her mother had a studio attached to the house. She was 93, and was home alone at the time of the fire. I don't know if she even knew about the fire, or if she died in her sleep. In all, the Washoe fire burned 29 homes, and caused millions of dollars in damage. It is a rural area outside Reno, so several animals died and farm lands were destroyed. An elderly man turned himself in as the one who started the fire. He disposed of fireplace ashes improperly and it got out of control with the high winds. It is all very sad, especially coming just 2 months after another fire close by that destroyed many homes. I am amazed and grateful, though, that my mom was not injured at all and that her house was not nearly as damaged as we thought. I think she had angels watching over her. I thank God for the many miracles that happened, and for the heroic firefighters who saved many people.