Eagle Wildfire

I left Scott & Amanda's to head up to my parents home on Wednesday morning. As we were driving up state highway 55, Jacob pointed out some smoke on the ridge. When I looked over, I could tell there was a big fire, although it looked like it had just started. We drove up the Emmett highway leading to my parents house, and stopped at the pull-off area to watch for a minute. The fire really had just started, we saw the first policemen going zooming by fast, but I could tell it was moving quickly. I had my camera with me and got a couple shots- you can even see the flames start to come over the hill, but I didn't want to stay too long. I knew there would be firemen and officers coming in, so we drove up to my parents house & just watched the smoke and airplanes from there.

(Fire not too long after it started)

(Zoom in on this one-you can see the flames start to come over the ridge)

It was crazy! The pictures really don't even do justice to how big the smoke clouds really were. It was actually pretty scary! I knew my parents house was fine, because the fire was a ways away across the highway and the wind was blowing it the opposite direction but I was a little concerned about my Uncle Kenny, Aunt Mari and their family (where we played a couple weeks previously) because it looked like the fire was going that way. As we came to find out later, it was very close to their home- just across the street. In fact, the helicopters were pulling water from their ponds. Kenny took some absolutely amazing photos!

(The view from my parents back yard.

You can imagine how bad it must have looked up close)

Kenny's Photo: Helicopter taking water from their pond

Isnt' this one amazing?! Kenny took it right near their home.

Everything ended up being okay, not great, there were 4 homes that went up in the fire, but it really could have been a huge disaster had everyone not responded and moved as quickly as they had. Mom and Lacey couldn't even get home the normal way because all the roads were blocked off. I was glad I had come when I did, I really did go past just minutes after the fire started. The fire burned a huge area across the entire area, and the hills were left completely black. It wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been though thanks to the firemen and especially pilots who flew the airplanes- they saved many homes! It was such a crazy thing and it really makes you grateful for people who do these jobs!