Stock Family Trip : Navigating our way out of California's infernos

Sunday, August 5, 2018

Navigating our way out of California's infernos

After leaving the redwoods with a better idea of what part of the country we'd like to focus on, we decided to drive hard, to the southwest. At the time we were leaving northern California, there were terrible and out of control wildfires stretching for more than 500 miles; from central Oregon deep into northern California. This posed a real problem for us leaving the coast and driving inland. Our rig length is so long that we could easily be trapped in the mountain passes if the winds suddenly changed direction. With the guidance of a local we were able to find a passage that had multiple escape routes, just in case.
Fires were everywhere and the smoke was often as thick as fog. We drove with our windows closed and with our recirculating air conditioning on, for the entire ride. Then, out of nowhere I felt tremendous heat blaring through the driver's side window. Since Sierra was sitting just behind me I shouted, "Sierra do you feel the heat?" She blurted, "Yes!" The fires on the hillside were within 70 feet of our vehicle and the heat was so intense that we were uncomfortably hot inside of our air conditioned truck. Thankfully, we were driving at 50 mph so we were able to avoid catastrophe.
The fires were so intense that windstorms were created, sucking debris into the flames from miles away. The inferno also created many huge fire tornadoes which lifted embers and other small accelerants high in the atmosphere, spreading the fire's fury, even further. We made it out of the mountains many hours later, thanks to the assistance of the many police and firefighters aiding the public along the way. Sadly, many people lost everything in the hardest hit communities and their tolls have yet to be tallied.