Leaving Quigley’s abruptly was not planned, but there in lies something we have all heard before; things or life can change quickly. That’s exactly what happened when fire came to Quigley’s Station.
Friday July 29th started out like any other hot hot day in Klamath River. We had already been well into 100 degree weather, and this was our 2nd or 3rd day of 114 degrees. But today was going to be different.
Around 2ish or so we were told about a fire that had started not too far off. The person sharing this info was going to go home (which was towards the fire) but it didn’t seem supper concerning at that time. There appeared to be more white smoke than black.
Sequence of events
An hour passed when someone said to drive down the road and check out the helicopters scooping up water. That there was a turnout in the road with a good viewing spot. Well that sounded fun and exciting, so off we went. And it was exciting. We had never been that close to helicopters dipping down into the water before. We watched along with other people until we had enough.
When we left, the fire still seemed manageable. So we continued on with our “normal” afternoon schedule, which was going to the river. We were hanging out and taking it easy when an officer came to tell us about the “voluntary evacuation” going on.
Wow, ok, this fire could be piking up a notch, is what I thought. But still at this point the fire didn’t seem that alarming.
Living in this dry area of California, one kind of knows that a fire is enviable. Although we never thought the fire would effect us. Nor the new friends we had made over the almost 3 months of being camp host at Quigley’s.
Dinner time rolled around, and we actually kind of forgot about the fire. That is until one of the guys in the campground hollered over to us and said “Hey, did you just see that big cloud of smoke going up?” And we hadn’t. We were just eating and the bus was between us and the fire, blocking us from seeing it.
So of course we ran around the bus to get a good look at this cloud. We all started talking about how it was a lot. of. smoke! Okay, it’s time to start taking this situation more seriously, was the general consensus now.
Kick ‘in it into high gear
Fast forward what seemed to be about 45 minutes ,and a group of people had just gotten back from talking with firefighters. They had just been on the same road we had previously gone on to watch the helicopters. The reported news was that the fire was about 10 miles away and the firefighters said it was fine.
It turned out it wasn’t okay. Winds started picking up, pushing the fire in our direction. It was crawling up and over the closest ridge to us! It was time to pack fast and get out!
Hard to believe the situation was what it was. Thankful that all of our stuff could easily be packed and worried for the ones that were having to leave everything or almost everything behind.
It was now sometime after 10pm and we were driving out leaving Quigley’s and the fire behind us. We spent that night at the rest stop on Highway 96, but not able to get much sleep at all. The area was busy with fire fighters and trucks.
We found out that a friends property was burned. She and her husband lost everything except their shop. She was the same person who originally told us about the fire. While the whole event was and still is unsettling, its worse when you find out something bad has happened to someone you know.
At the time of writing this, the McKinney fire is still burning. The post office and community hall we had used, burned. Thankfully, so thankfully, our friend Rodger and his dad’s place along with Quigley’s Station have been spared.
Time will tell how it all ends, and until then we are constantly thinking and worrying for everyone involved and hope they are safe!