This thread is for me, it's not for any reason except that I need to process the things happening around me. It's long. It's about my experiences with the Glass Fire this week.
If you read, thank you. If not, I don't mind.

I am an able-bodied, have a reliable car, full time job with some WFH, no debt (as of very recently), and a modest amount of money in savings. My family is currently very secure and they live 2-3 hours away. My parents are young and healthy. Keep this perspective in mind.

I guess it started on Sunday. It was hazy most of the day, and by mid-afternoon there was some ash fall. By the evening, ash the size of pepper flakes fell consistently during our outdoor get-together with the neighbors. I knew about the fire already but wasn't that concerned.

I had an early day scheduled for Monday. I went to bed early and tried to meditate my fire-worries away. I saw a tweet from one of the scanner accounts about the fire moving towards Howarth Park, a few minutes from my neighborhood. This was around 9pm.

At the same time, the text alerts started rolling in and evacuation orders went out. We were kind of at the edge of the evac orders. I started packing and so did the rest of my house. My friends, who live a few minutes away, sent a picture of the fire as seen from their house.

Something to note: I was awoken in the early morning because of the Tubbs fire in 2017. I saw the flames from my kitchen. I evaced when it was still dark, the traffic lights were out, there were accidents and gridlocked traffic. I saw the fire as I drove down the highway.

As soon as I saw my friend's photo, I made the decision to leave. Around 11pm, my household (5 ppl, 2 dogs) left with our belongings and valuables. My roommate's family lives 30min away and offered to shelter us. Their home was rebuilt after being destroyed in Tubbs.

We were worried about COVID exposure. We considered camping in the yard but the air quality was horrible. They had enough space for us to stay separated from the family, but as soon as we got there, the adjacent town was evacuated. I could feel a hot breeze, like from a campfire.

I had no idea what to do. From my past experience, I knew that things could change fast and I didn't want to have to leave in the middle of the night. It wasn't clear how safe that location was. Not too long after we got there, the road we'd taken was closed due to fire danger.

I booked two hotel rooms for my household in Petaluma and we left. The whole time I was driving that night, my phone was vibrating non-stop with warnings and updates. I was worried about my home and what I would do about work the next day.

I arrived at the hotel at 12am and it was packed. A line stretched down the parking lot. We waited for 2 hours to be checked in with other evacuees. I emailed my work about not coming in. My priority was finding a safe place to spend the night.

Of course, once we checked in, my dog had no chill. She would bark at each person walking by, didn't want to sleep. I only got a few hours of rest. In the morning, my roomie updated our office and we regrouped. Our neighborhood was still on the edge of the warnings.

After the stress and lack of sleep, I could barely think. We decided to regroup at home bc there weren't any evac orders. I got fast food on the way back for me and my stressed dog.

When I got home, our house reeked of smoke. I got a headache within a few minutes.

There were burnt leaves and sticks in our yard. There was a blanket of ash on everything. At that moment, I decided to leave the county. Me, my partner, my roomie, and the dogs went to my parents' house. The fire risk seemed greater than the covid risk.

My other roomie and his partner went to his family's house, where we were originally going to stay. I also figured that we could get some fresh air by seeing my parents. The people in their household are working from home and following the guidelines, so it seemed ok.

So on Monday afternoon, I drove the few hours to my parents' house. The next day, my neighborhood was put on evac warning. Our work was supportive of us leaving, but we don't have the funds to cover missed hours. I used a combo of comp and vacation, and then attempted to wfh.

Between the stress and distractions, my productivity was in the pit. It was hard to stay away from the news coverage. I had to nap a lot and repack my things bc I was in such a rush to leave. I couldn't find my medications at first. Luckily, there was plenty of space and food.

I saw my abuelitos for a bit from a distance, while wearing my mask. It was very painful not to hug them or have dinner with them. My abuelita's brother recently passed and she's grieving. She's traveling to Mexico this week to see her remaining siblings. I am so worried for her.

My partner and roomie had to assess the risk of returning home in order to get hours, because they couldn't WFH. The evac warning was lifted on Wednesday, I think. The two of them returned home to work on Thursday. But the air quality in Sonoma County was hazardous.

With the evacuations lifting in our area, I decided to come home, despite the red flag warning. My roomies said the house wasn't too smoky. My roomie got an air purifier: having any extra $ during disaster makes a huge difference.

There's a red flag warning until tonight, which is scary. But my things are packed and my car is partially loaded. I have options if things change for the worse which not everyone can say.

Today, when I got to work, with my cloth mask and n95, I saw a new hard hat on my desk, likely for working in the burn areas. I am so exhausted. I had a meltdown in the car on the way to my field site. I don't know how much more I can take. There are so many risks right now.

And this isn't over, either. The Glass Fire is still burning through Napa County. The pandemic isn't going away. The streams are either completely dry, burnt, or both. If we don't get floods this year, it'll be more drought. Next fire season, we'll be living it again.