Date: Sat, Nov 22, 2003
Name: Tom, Kathy and Nicolette Smerdel
City: Crestline
IP Address: 198.81.26.167
Comments: What a THANKSgiving this year will be. THANKS for the fact that we had a home to come back to. THANKS for the fact that we'll be able to enjoy the holiday this year in that home, surrounded by family and friends, and memories. Watching on television from afar, night after night after returning from our "normal work" down the hill (and day after day AT work), we went through many of the same emotions we're sure you did. Despair, depression, sorrow, joy, amazement. I'm sure that our emotions were a fraction of yours, with no sleep for
hours on end, and the sheer massiveness of the fire. We at least got to sleep in a warm bed and watch from afar. We all knew that someday it would come, but when it does, you're still not prepared, emotionally or otherwise. Most of us at least got a chance to evacuate ourselves and what was of value to us...you did not. You simply dropped whatever you were doing that Saturday morning and went to work. Words are not enough. Tuesday and Wednesday were awful days. We were resigned to "what would be" and sure that our home would be lost one of those evenings. Wednesday and
Thursday....the FOG we all know so well came as well. Never a more beloved sight, even though we normally curse it. The firefighters from out of the area probably didn't know what to make of it. To those of you who live up here, and to the residents who watched from afar....it was like Mother Nature coming and "hugging" the fire-ravaged mountains. Seeing the trucks trying to negotiate the roads, the snow...one had to smile, just a bit, knowing at that point that most of us would be performing the fine art of fog/snow navigation in the near future. That was when our hearts
began to soar. Ten days in a motel room with two adults, a 2-year-old and a parrot didn't seem so bad. In fact, it probably brought us closer - along with the many other evacuees we encountered in Banning and Palm Springs. We hope that, somehow, all the firefighters who came from other regions and states, are getting these messages. The massive resources needed to fight this fire, coming up here and not knowing the terrain or roads, did an OUTSTANDING job. To the local firefighters....many of you are residents as well. Some of you lost your own homes. "Thanks" seems like
such an inadequate word. We know how close Crestline came to being "written off." We know that our local firefighters, those of you who know the mountains, were instrumental in saving Crestline and other communities. The winds may have changed in our favor, but only our local firefighters knew how to take advantage of it, how the backfires would act in given conditions, how to negotiate the roads. Every morning we go down the hill to work and we see the signs at the park...and give a silent prayer of thanks. Happy Thanksgiving to all of you...this year more than any
other.