March 8, 2012 I just found this blog in my Drafts folder unpublished from last Fall when Bastrop TX experienced a massive wildfire. I thought it was still worth publishing even much after the fact. One thing it might do is help people who live in a piney area understand how important creating a defendable space is and that you should always be prepared.
October 2011
We were only evacuated, we did not loose our home, for that I am forever thankful. We were south of Bastrop visiting friends when we got a call from one of my Clients in a panic who said there was a fire on her street and she needed help evacuating. Of course we raced back towards Bastrop with every intention of being there for her in any way we could but as we got closer she called and said she had already gotten helped and was out. Another thing to be thankful for. But our own panic was growing as the huge smoke plume and the wind direction made it painfully clear that the fire storm was headed in the direction of our ranch.
By the time we got home we had about seven minutes to grab a few things ( four cats and three dogs ) before the police and fire vehicles came down our street with their sirens on and bull horns telling us to evacuate IMMEDIATELY! There is no way to describe the feelings I had with words but disbelief, fear, shock were all present! The picture below shows what we saw. Remember that this fire was still in it's infancy when I took this photo with my cell phone.
I had no problem leaving all my worldly possessions behind, never even thought about jewelry or documents or pictures, etc., it was all about the animals on our ranch which also included chickens, turkey, donkeys, and horses, lots of horses! With only a few minutes all we could do was spray paint a big R on each horse and then move them from their stalls out to our 26 acre back pasture that had access to the river. 
With the drought so severe there is little to no grass on the pasture, and there were no trees on our property or the neighboring property, so the horses would probably be safe back there. They could step over, around, through any approaching grass fire, and could always go in to the river. 
This was agonizing to do since many of the horses had not been in a herd together so we knew there might be some tussles to establish pecking order but a few cuts and scrapes out in the pasture away from the structures that might burn was the safest and best choice we could have made.
We staged up on the highway and watched in awe as the massive fire storm marched it's way through the pines up by the highway towards the ridge line and the pasture lands below along the river. Our property was not in the direct line of fire as the winds were blowing at the time this picture was taken but it was damn close. At one point I just lost it and stood watching with tears streaming down our faces knowing the tragic losses that the fire was costing our friends and neighbors and worrying about the fate of our ranch.
During that evening we got confirmation that the horses in the pasture were okay and we found a place to sleep for the night. The next day we had confirmation that our ranch was in tact and the horses were okay again. But for the next ten days as the fire was only 20-30 percent contained we lived in limbo.
It is four weeks to the day since the fire here in Bastrop. The losses are staggering. I am just now getting back in to a normal routine... and we were one of the fortunate ones. I can't imagine what it is like for those who lost everything! Bastrop is a strong community and it is healing already. Here is a photo that I took two days ago that shows some of the devastation along the highway and our smiling water tower in back ground in the burnt trees and the new grasses that have been planted.
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