Although I had plans to come off the hill around 1pm, I got sidetracked to say the least did not get down until after 7pm. I was actually walking towards our house from the vineyards around 12:15pm to shower up and start heading down the hill when the new BC, Greg Andre (who is from Boise and as it turns out knows a friend of mine from middle school in Reno who fights wildfires - small world) showed up and asked for Smokey and the Bandit to take him on a tour of the Valley to get a lay of the land. We of course obliged and spent the next 2 hours or so driving him around to every single property/house on the dirt road, starting with Bill's place. At that time, everything was looking very good - all still black, clean, and cold, with the exception of a little smoker that flared up deep in the Canyon out towards Stagecoach and which was nowhere near any structures. Crews were immediately on it and continued monitoring it all day.
When we were finishing up with the Chopping/Shepp/Manfree/Perri section of the tour, I got a call on the walkie talkie that a certain Bert and Ernie showed up at our house to check in on us. I let the Bandit finish up the tour with Greg and went back to visit with Bert and Ernie. Apparently they were off today, got bored in Napa, and decided to come and pay us a visit to make sure we were doing ok. Man, I simply cannot say enough about those guys - we owe them a HUGE thank you, along with so many others. We definitely need to put our thinking caps on and figure out how to thank them. I bet we can start with some of that purple grape juice stuff...
After Bert and Ernie left, some additional tasks came up around the house that needed tending to, which delayed my departure until about 4pm. At that time, the Valley was very clear with no visible smoke anywhere that I could see. The winds were also extremely calm.
Amber needed a ride down the hill, so we headed out and started rolling the camera with both video and pictures. We made it as far as Evil Knievel's before we ran into the dirt bike daredevil himself on the road, whereupon we pulled over and visited for a good 30-45 minutes. After we got back on the move and started down the hill, we soon had to pull over to let 8 more engines by that were making their way up for the night shift. Knowing that I am leaving and will not be returning to SCR until next weekend at the earliest, this sight certainly gave me a lot of comfort. Similarly, in my conversations with Greg, he explained that trucks and crews will continue to monitor the area for at least several more days to ensure that any smokers are put out. There is still a good amount of vegetation in the Canyon and on top that is "prime for a re-burn" (in Greg's words), which is why they want to make sure they are closely monitoring everything. Thank goodness for that!
As Amber and I continued making our way down the hill, we were reminded of how devastating the losses from this fire are and I want to reiterate my sincerest sympathies and condolences to all of those who lost their homes. I am so, so, so sorry, but am simultaneously so, so, so glad you are still here to receive my condolences. If there is one thing I learned this week through this process and certainly from the fireman, it is that there are only a few things that really matter in all of this, with our lives and our loved ones at the very top of the list. We can and will rebuild and we should be thankful we all made it out with our lives.
I will upload the videos in the next few days once the craziness of being out of the office for a week slows down. In the meantime, I am going to focus on what really matters....(see attached).
It was an incredible honor to work with Evil Knievel, the Bandit, Doug Christian, Amber Manfree, Richie MacCabe, Paul Keyzers (sp??), the Mayor of Soda Canyon, and countless other brave and generous souls. I am humbled by the strength and determination of our wonderful community and I look forward to getting together with all of you soon.
Sincerest regards,
Smokey (and Dean :)
copyright © sodacanyonroad.org