Rain deficit, wind, and low humidity: recipe for a scare
Apr 24th, 2009 by Cathy Jo Nelson
Wednesday around noon we were told at school a brush fire had grown to a forest fire in our area. Low humidity, a 4 inch rain deficit, and sustained 20+mph winds with gusts up to 30mph helped grow a full fledged raging forest fire, the perfect ingredients to grow flames. When I went to bed Wednesday PM, I could no longer see smoke, and news reports indicated the fire would die down for the most part during the cool night hours, so I thought it was losing steam and that firefighters were successfully controlling it. But to be safe, I had packed 2 suitcases, my laptop, and pet crate at hand to make a quick exit should I be called to evacuate.
A similar view from my wndow - not the actual one.
Orange Glow
Imagine my shock and surprise to awaken at 1AM Thursday morning with the realization the power was off, and when I walked into my living room, a distinct glow of orange was illuminating the blind-drawn window. I raised the blinds to see a sky filled with brightly colored orange smoke. Opening a window, surprisinly I could not smell it, so apparently the wind was going away from me, which explained no call for evacuating. I slept fitfully in the living room until 5, getting up and making my first real outside assessment. (I had been too afraid to venture outside at 1 AM.) The sky seemed clear and the sun was coming up, so I went to school like it was another normal day. I even felt a little silly having packed up the night before, telling myself how typical for me to kneejerk with such a response the previous night. I had given thought that night to taking the cat in his crate to school to tuck away in my office. Of course optimism in the news reports made me set aside that thought.
The day was clear and nice…or so it seemed.
At school I read reports available online, but worried little. The fire was heading north (and in my mind based on what I had seen the night before) that meant far away from my school and even my residence–no threat, no need to concern myself. During the day however the fire swirled and swelled, and next thing I know I’m getting reports that the schools near my home are being dismissed due to the proximity of the fire. The drive that normally takes fifteen to twenty minutes depending on normal traffic took well over an hour. Turning into the complex, the view looked like this.
Surprise–You are in danger afterall.
Entering the neighborhood
After talking with my husband, we decided I would go to a hotel in the area closer to my school, and then begin the drive to Rock Hill, meeting him halfway to take one of my cats that was with me (no pets in the hotel.) ( I only had one of the two I own-the other stayed with my husband for a vet appointment this week.) I probably should have just taken myself on to Rock Hill and skipped school today, but I had some in the mix projects going on with a teacher and kids relying on me. So I stayed. I did leave right after school though for the upstate. I am now safely tucked away in Rock Hill with family. I return Sunday PM to see how my residence held up, and to prepare for another week of school. No news is good news right? Anyway, I’ll be following the information as it becomes available on WMBF, which has been very dependable over these last few days as I watched this unfold. Never in my wildest imagination did I realize when someone whispered to me Wednesday about a small brushfire to the east of our school’s area that it would grow to the monster it has become.
We desperately need rain. Enough said.
Thanks for sharing your story! We hear about these things in California, and it almost sounds like fiction because it’s so far removed from us. It’s a whole new reality when it happens in our own state. Glad you are okay, and I hope your home and school are as well.
I’m just glad that you are safe! Hope your residence is okay too.
At least you had the good sense to prepare. Although we are surrounded by vineyards here, there is still a bit of forest nearby and we do have some brush not yet cleared. It’s usually cleared by June. The early heat wave scared me though. Last summer I took all the best of the photo albums to another location that’s in more of a neighborhood — just in case. I should probably take copies of my computer programs there, too. Files are backed up, but not programs.
I’m glad you are safe, and I do pray your home will stay safe, as well.
Stay safe and make sure you take care of those cats! Hope your area gets rain. I’ll stop complaining about how I can’t mow today since it’s been sprinkling…
Doug
You know what really gets me?!? The idiot who supposedly started it!! Why does South Carolina allow the burning of yard debris? Do you think they’ll create a new law banning this practice? I’ll put my money on NO.
@Freida, Pat, and Barbara – Thanks for commenting. Even though I did not do a lot of networking over the course of the last few days (other than an occasional twitter) I was floored by the number of friends from all over the place asking about my welfare or expressing concern, well wishes, thoughts, and prayers.
@Mark–I do vaguely remember as a child my family burning trash. But I alo remember when the county changed law so that it was not allowed too. I remember (even as a child growing up) my Mom’s insistence on recycling. So it was surprising to learn this all began because of a resident burning trash in their yard. While it was a normal thing of times gone by years ago, I did not know people still did that. I guess that is SC for ya. We have such a diverse population, and a good many of them are poor and living in communities where they have to deal with their on refuse, and in some areas it is still perfectly legal to bur garbage, as shocking as that is. I too was floored to face the reality that this fire is a result of such an activity. I don’t know a single person who burns trash in their yard. It’s saddening to realize some still do. It speaks volumes about our socioeconomic level as a whole in our state. Oh, and thanks for the tweet DMs asking about our safety and trying to find out what was going on. Glad still to be in your network, even form afar.
@Doug, thanks for the kind thoughts too. I guess your celebrated curmudgeon-ess is showing, cuz when you comment lately, you wind up in the spam folder. I just found this, even though you commented this morning. Anyway, hoping the rain does come our way.
Glad you can spend the weekend far away from the danger. We’ll pray they are able to get the fire out soon! Stay safe! Carl
Cathy,
I’ve been tracking your situation on Twitter. I’m thankful that you’re spending the weekend with your family, safely away from immediate danger. I know that some of your children have lost their homes; hopefully, the worst of the destruction is past.
Trying to talk husband into keeping cats here just in case of flare ups this week. It has been said the burning could be just under the surface and with our coastal breezes that are constant, flare ups are a distinct possibility. Thanks for the kind thoughts/prayers. It was a roller coaster couple of days there for sure. Hoping most is all calm when i return. Now we need our very absent April showers to come back and bring our greenery back.
Glad to know you’re doing okay and haven’t suffered any losses. It is sad to hear of the thousands of acres and close to a hundred homes destroyed. Heard on the news last night only 80% containment. I hope they get it all contained before you have to return. Take care and stay safe.
Heather
Hi Cathy,
It seems like things are finally dying down and the fire is 80-85% contained. I fervently hope so! The year I worked at Waccamaw ES in Conway (just down the road from your school) Hurricane Floyd came to visit. It stalled over the area with tremendous amounts of rain and devastating flooding. A lot of my students were out of their damaged homes for weeks to months and some lost their homes completely as the Waccamaw River rose to cover a lot of property. I had recently moved back to SC from Virginia and asked my former school if they would “adopt” us for Christmas to guarantee that all of our students would have books and gifts for the holidays. While in Virginia, I had led our school to send books to Sullivan’s Island ES after Hurricane Hugo, an elementary school in Florida after Hurricane David, and several schools in W. VA. after river floods. My former school sent boxes of wonderful books and toys and we were able to be welcome resource to the needs of my new school community. Just this morning in church, it was announced that we (our church) were sending bags and bags of clothing, and other items to the fire victims as we just had our huge annual rummage sale. Disaster will cause communities to work together and I hope that your school and home community has the help that is needed. If you have any students that need our help – please post what is needed – on SCASL, too.
Paula