Real-life Fire Drill

A relaxing afternoon turned frantic for us when a grass fire spread into the surrounding trees near the Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area near Kettle Falls, Washington on Wed., Sept. 13. We're visiting friends here for a couple of weeks. A nightmare scene started to unfold, prompting a real-life fire drill.

A roadside grass fire spreads quickly near the Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area near Kettle Falls, Washington. Our hosts live on the other side of the fire, less than 2 miles from the blaze. Photo courtesy Kettle Falls fire spotter.

Dry conditions help fuel massive fires in the region.

We arrived in Kettle Falls, Washington on Mon., Sept. 11. Our friends' property sits on several acres between the southern edge of Kettle Falls, Washington and the Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area in the northeastern edge of the state. We dodged wildfires on our way in, so the threat of a blaze has been on our mind. The whole region is tinderbox dry.

Denise chatted outside with Nora Callahan, who's lived in the region for the past 35 years. I watched Nora's brother, Gary, grout some tile work for a wood burning stove in his stained glass studio. When I went to check to see what the ladies were doing, I smelled what I thought was a barbecue.

Our camp at the Callahan property, complete with full hookups.

That's when I noticed a wide plume of smoke rising directly over us, haze spreading across the treeline. Denise noticed the smell, too, but the conversation was so engrossing, she paid it little attention. When Nora saw the scene, apprehension gripped her. The wind was blowing the smoke in our direction. I rushed to tell Gary.

Just two years ago, this was the wildfire situation in the Kettle Falls area: "When fire chief called for help, and no one was left." Folks around here know not to mess around during wildfire threats.

Fire engine sirens wailed in the distance. The low thwump-thwump-thwump of a helicopter began to drone. Gary sped off toward the fire to find out what was happening.

Fire drill begins

The first thing I did was to tell Denise to help Nora gather anything she needed from the house. Nora had already started to fill a backpack with essential items. Later she revealed she also added one precious memento, a black and white photo of her daughter.

Vehicles at the ready for evacuation.

I ran to the RV and unhooked the utilities and removed the windshield privacy screen. Everything that was outside of the RV would stay -- hookups, chairs, table, solar lights. I dashed inside with Kimbo. It smelled smokey inside Loretta. I shut all the windows and vents, then stowed the trash cans, laundry bag, and dishes. As I pulled the RV away from the site to hookup the tow dolly, Denise came to see what help I needed. She drove our toad vehicle, a Nissan NV200, up the hill and I followed. We staged the running vehicles near the driveway, just in case we needed to rush out. In all, about 10 minutes elapsed from the time we noticed the smoke until the time we were ready to roll. 

Gary returned. The fast-spreading fire started about 2 miles north of  us and roads where blocked. There's only one way out of the property, right in the direction of the fire. The only other way out would be by boat across Lake Roosevelt.

A helicopter carries a load of water in an orange bucket.

I grabbed a few empty cardboard boxes from the garage and met Nora inside to see what items she might want to take with her. She had photo albums and important papers ready to go. A day later, she made a mental list of things she would have regretted leaving behind, including quilts her mother made, prestigious awards for her work in prisoner rights advocacy, and a painting that depicts a SWAT team raiding a family home. Gary loaded a few items into his truck.

Then we waited.

We positioned a pickup truck and our van near the house, so they'd be easy to load. We'd convoy with Gary in the lead, followed by Denise in the van, and me and Kimbo in the RV taking up the rear. If we needed to evacuate and stay away for a while, we'd be able to stay in Loretta as long as needed. As the minutes ticked by, I realized I had not filled up our fresh water tanks since leaving Yellowstone.

Soon the smoke began to clear. We could hear ground crews cutting timber and the roar of a tractor cutting brush from the earth. The helicopter refueled, then continued to drop more buckets of water. The tension eased, and we set up camp again. It was a close call.

Lessons learned

Overall, I'm pleased with  how quickly we broke down camp, but these are the things I would have changed:

1. Know your own way out -- If our hosts were away from the property, we would have had a difficult time getting out on our own. We drove in a few days earlier, but hadn't driven off the property since. It's easy to get turned around in a rural area with limited road sign and winding roads.
2. Keep water on hand -- We have bottled water on hand, but our fresh water tank was all but empty. I should have added at least a third of a tank when we arrived, but I overlooked that on arrival. 
3. Leave keys in the ignition -- Twice I scrambled to look for keys to the RV or van. Rather than keep them in pockets, I'll keep them at the ready in each vehicle. This will make it easier for anyone in the party to move a vehicle if it's in the way or needed elsewhere.