I remember as a child watching the fire trucks race up our street to the home just caddy corner behind ours. Everyone was outside and walking quickly down the road to the home of a single mom and her four children. I stood at the curb with my mom close by watching dark black smoke billowing out the front door and the window of their home. It was not long before the firefighters came dragging a mattress out the front door with a large black charred hole in the middle. As I recall, the second to the youngest child, Ray had been playing with a matchbook. His Mom was at work and he had been left; along with an older brother and younger sister with the eldest, a girl named Mary. I think back about how frightening it all was for me just a bystander, but even now how horrific it must have been for Mary, Ray, Billy and Ann. I remember the hushed whispers of those adults around wondering how someone could go off to work and leave four children at home with a ten year old in charge. "It was just plan luck that they were not all killed", said Mrs. Thomas, our elderly neighbor on the other side.
That was really my first experience with fire and I think the smells and stinch it left hanging in the air made a huge impact on me. This past weekend I was headed to Tallahassee to see Philip. I knew like most that the wildfires in South Georgia, had crossed State lines and was now creeping southward into Florida. I had only gone around 60 miles down I 10 when the sky grew dark and thick with smoke. It continued to look more and more ominious as I headed west. The sky took on a red tint and the smell of smoke was almost unbearable. Visibility dropped to near zero and the north south corridor of highway 441 was already closed. I called Philip with the feeling of uneasiness hoping I could stand the next 100 miles in these conditions. He confirmed what I already feared that the smoke and hazed stretched all the way to Tallahassee.
I was so relieved to finally make it to Philips in late afternoon. I hoped that we would have a clearer day on Saturday. It was not to be. We did however, face the weather and finally stroll the paths of McClay Gardens. It was hot and hazy, but the cool paths lead through tall trees, long grassy paths and beautiful pools. I loved it. As the drew grew hot, the haze enveloped Tallahassee making our enjoyment of the outdoors more difficult. We did go to the downtown marketplace and wander through the booths set up by local farmers and artisans. It was a pleasant day and I was unconcerned even though we heard that I 10 was closed to traffic.
Sunday Morning dawned fresh form an evening thunderstorm and we went to breakfast in honor of Mother's Day. We were not back long when my Dad called saying I might want to call the highway patrol before hitting the road. I did and surprisingly enough was able to speak to a patrolman, who was able to tell me I would have to detour at Liveoak to Highway 90 until I reached Sanderson. I left immediately and was unsure of how long the drive might be. I was not gone long when I ran into thick smoke not even 10 miles out of Tallahassee. I was extremely relieved to find I was able to continue down I 10 all they way into Jacksonville. I heard that I had made it through in only the brief window they had the interstate open.
Even as I go to post the fires still burn and more have cropped up along I 95 near Hilliard and Calahan. This is a time of uneasiness, it also brings back some of the same feelings I had as a small child standing in my neighborhood watching firefighters battle the blaze in my neighbors home. A feeling of fear and uncertianty. For those in the path of the fires, I am sure it is horrific.
