Bridger’s Memories of 9-8-2020, The Alameda Fire
I was home with my mom and my dad and my little brother, Colter. We went to Discovery Corner around 8:00. Inside, we could see the smoke outside. I was worried. My mom drove over with her car and she said, “I am here to pick you up because Rachel and Sam are up at the house.” Their nanny evacuated Ashland and drove to TES. Then Rachel and Sam’s family evacuated from TES to our house. I was glad that our friends were safe.
My mom told us there was a fire in Ashland and that we had to evacuate. Smoke and flames filled the air. The Greenway bike path was on fire! There was a lot of traffic on Colver road. My mom went back to pick up another kid from the Discovery Corner. She drove the kid to her mom’s car. They were trying to evacuate their older parents. Mom came back home. We were looking down to see what was burning. We could see smoke. My mom looked on her phone and saw that Puck’s Donuts was on fire.
We ate dinner and packed up our camper. Then we decided to leave when it was dark because my dad didn’t want to get woken up in the middle of the night. We went to Grants Pass and slept at a friend’s house and went back home the next day. We were thankful when our house was still there. We went to school after September 30th. We went to school and got my Chromebook. My teacher gave me a box full of supplies. The next week Discovery Corner had to move to Medford. My dad’s work was nearby. We stayed there for three months of online school. Then we moved back to Phoenix. Big trucks hauling away debris and big trucks hauling in gravel. The Alameda Fire destroyed nine miles of buildings and homes. Many people lost their houses. Some people died.
A lot of people went away but many people are going to come back. It was even harder because of Covid-19. Everything was sort of normal. “There was flames everywhere! There were flames everywhere! There was smoke everywhere! There was smoke everywhere!” I was afraid after a couple of months that another fire would start, but thank God, there hasn’t been any since.
Houses are going up in Talent and in Phoenix and people are allowed to come and look to see what happened at their homes.
My teacher took pictures of the smoke at 11:15 on the 8th of September, 2020. Today is May 24, 2021 and houses are going up everywhere. I’m saying, “houses are going up everywhere!” I can’t believe how many have gone up in less than a year. People who still do not have houses, and barely any people have moved in [to the new ones].
That day was super sad and horrible. I am thankful for the firefighters for protecting the cities. I will never forget people crying.
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