billrquimby Report post Posted June 21, 2011 Jean and I were among Greer residents lucky enough to return to our cabin today. Except for a light dusting of ash outside, a bit of ash that creeped inside through our back doors, and some good things the firefighters did outside, our cabin is exactly as we left it on June 2. God bless those heroic firefighters. We left at 2 a.m., and hadn't really thought much about what we should have done earlier. Today, we found they had pulled some lumber out from under a deck I'd just completed and stacked it away from the cabin. They also moved two small propane tanks and a battery from a storage shed and placed them in an open area, away from the cabin and trees. Then, while wetting things down with a hose, they also watered all of my wife's flowers, saving them also, for which she will be eternally grateful. The electricity in Greer had been off for more than a week, and all the meat we'd bought at sales at Safeway and Basha's in Round Valley the previous week had spoiled in our freezer and refrigerator and had to be thrown away. Nonetheless we consider ourselves lucky. Greer's main street looks as it always did. The Rendevous, Molly Butlers, the old Cattle Kates (now 373) restaurant, post office, and community center were untouched. However, the same can't be said about the east side of the valley. The fire burned over the ridge and came down East Fork, burning several small buildings at Montlure Church Camp, as well as several cabins in that area. John Kyl's cabin was spared, we're told. It bypassed the Butterfly Museum and the old Circle B (Tin Star) Market and the cabins there, as well as Northwoods and Crosby Acres, but cut a wide swath around the east side of the Greer lakes. Don't know how much is due to fire control and back burning, but virtually everything on the east side of 373 from the lakes to the junction with 260 was burned, as was everything east of the junction for several miles. All roads to Big Lake remain closed for now, but they are talking about opening Sunrise tomorrow. That area was not touched by the fire, nor was anything north of the McNary to Eagar highway. We still cannot drive anywhere on this side of the Apache forest, but when we can I suspect that everyone will be surprised to see how much was NOT burned inside the fire perimeter. That's true from what I could see driving from Eagar to Greer, at least. What really is amazing is how the firefighters were able to keep the loss of structures in Greer to fewer than two dozen. When you see it, I think you will agree that those guys are heroes and whatever they are paid simply isn't enough. More later when I know more. Bill Quimby Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
POJV Report post Posted June 21, 2011 Bill, Thank you for the update. Please take care. Phil Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tjhunt2 Report post Posted June 21, 2011 Thanks Bill for the update. Peg and I are so grateful that your cabin was spared. Yes, the fire fighters are not paid enough for what they have to go thru and putting their lives on the line. My hat's off to them and thank God they were able to save what they did. TJ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
.270 Report post Posted June 21, 2011 great news that you are back in your home. you are very fortunate to still have it standing and the fire fighters deserve much more than pay. pretty cool they even took time to water your flowers. good guys. musta been a woman on the crew. again, very happy to hear you are home. Lark. p.s. how did the greer lodge fare? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
azslim Report post Posted June 21, 2011 Lark, you would be surprised at how many women are on crews, Type 2, Hot Shots and Smoke Jumpers, some of them are pretty shiny too. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ScottAdams Report post Posted June 21, 2011 Great news Bill! So happy your cabin was spared and even your wife's flowers! Good news!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
luvcoues Report post Posted June 21, 2011 bill, glad to hear your cabin was spared. me and my wife spend a week in greer every summer suppose to go on the 23rd of july. if her asthma can handle it.do you know if the xdiamond made it ok? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CouesWhitetail Report post Posted June 21, 2011 Great news Bill, thanks for the update!! Congrats to those fire fiighters on a job well done!! Ps. I got the package u sent me, but I haven't had a chance to open it yet. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bonecollector Report post Posted June 21, 2011 Thank god for those firefighters and everyone else involved in all the wildland fires. Good to hear your back home in the mountains. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Outdoor Writer Report post Posted June 21, 2011 Super news, Bill. Glad all is well. luvcoues, There was a write-up in the Republic the other day about the X-Diamond. It made it through unscathed, according to Wink. She's a neat lady, BTW. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chef Report post Posted June 21, 2011 Great news Bill. I can't wait to hear updates on how the rest of the forest fared. From friends on the fire crews, apparently not well. Thanks for keeping us in the loop. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BRYCE CANYON Report post Posted June 21, 2011 Good to hear! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billrquimby Report post Posted June 22, 2011 Thanks, everyone, for your concern. After we unpacked and put everything away, I looked around the cabin at the things we should have taken with us when we were evacuated -- and couldn't -- and came close to crying. There are so many happy memories in this place, including all the years of pounding nails, pulling wire and running pipes. That's what being old does to you. It makes you sentimental. I now look around the place and wonder how I was able to do what I did with so little help. It takes a young man full of confidence to launch such a project with scant construction experience and little money. I used to tell people my wife and I would never finish it in our lifetimes, and it came very close to being prophetic. As it is now, it looks like it will be only a couple more years, God willing. Lark: Seems you didn't hear that the Greer Lodge burned to the ground while you were in Canada, a couple of weeks before the Wallow Fire broke out. Investigators have ruled it arson, but no suspects have been named yet. Bill Quimby A postscript on my update on the fire: Officials are worried about flooding after the rains start next month, especially in the Greer and South Fork areas. To reduce the risk, they're talking about having crews and resident volunteers install in key places sand bags and those straw-filled tubes they use to stop erosion. And finally, "our" elk herd again was grazing in the meadow across from the cabin before sundown last evening. I couldn't see all of them from where we are, but there were at least two dozen. Seeing those elk made everything seem normal again. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
.270 Report post Posted June 22, 2011 i was makin' a joke, Bill. i think that whole deal is real ironic. if they'da known the forest was gonna burn they coulda waited till now to torch it and nobody woulda been the wiseer. i read all about it while i was in nova scotia. glad you're home. Lark. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billrquimby Report post Posted June 22, 2011 i was makin' a joke, Bill. i think that whole deal is real ironic. if they'da known the forest was gonna burn they coulda waited till now to torch it and nobody woulda been the wiseer. i read all about it while i was in nova scotia. glad you're home. Lark. The amazing thing about the Greer Lodge fire is that the firefighters were able to save all the little cabins around it, and some were so close to the lodge that their outside walls were scorched. I hope they find the guy who torched it, and hang him from whatever body part gives him the most pain. If it hadn't been a calm night, winds could have caused the entire village to burn, killing dozens of people in their beds -- including my wife and I! Bill Quimby Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
