Eric Mack On-Line

After a week away, due to the fire, it's good to be home. On Sunday, the evacuation restrictions were lifted for the mountain communities. Kathy and I made trips back and forth to shuttle belongings, supplies, children and Lassie. Like everyone in our small mountain community, we are thankful and grateful for the dedicated work of the firefighters in battling this historic blaze.


Throughout  all of this, we were inconvenienced but never uncomfortable. Our needs were amply provided for through many generous people and we are thankful for the many additional offers to assist from family, friends, clients and bloggers. Many people lifted our family in prayer; again, we are thankful to the Lord for His care and protection.



One thing I got to do, while staying with our host, was to go back and sing with my church choir. With family commitments, school, and ministry, I've not had the opportunity do this in many years and I told myself that, given the opportunity, I would. It was a great time to fellowship as we sang songs of praise and worship. Our choir director and pastor each told me that people had been praying that the fire would pass by our mountain community. I told him that I was praying for snow! I mean, if I'm going pray to God, the creator, why not think BIG?

Sunday, we were treated to a delightful rain that doused the fire, purged the smoke from the air, and restored the beauty of the mountains. The Sierra mountains even had snow at the higher elevations. I doubt that I had anything to do with this, but the girls and I were thrilled to wake up to the fresh air and lovely damp pine scent in the mountains. God is good.

This was a good, though unplanned, opportunity to test my systems and emergency preparedness plans. All in all things went well and my plans were validated. Lotus Notes came through, replicating my data between off-site locations and my laptop (via my Treo) without missing a beat.


The 250 square mile Day fire was declared contained last night. While parts of the fire may continue to burn for weeks to come, the skies are clearer and most of the firefighters are being assigned elsewhere.

I'm getting back to business and Kathy's trying to get school set up again - we lost the better part of 10 days during the Day fire. Gradually, we will unpack, regroup, and determine the best way to get back on track with school, work, and family life.

Side note: Yesterday, I went to the library in Santa Clarita to draft and send this blog entry. The power went out for an hour... due to...  a brush fire.  How does the saying go? "When all you've got is lemons, make lemonade"?

Next time I travel, I will bring marshmallows, chocolate, and Graham crackers to toast.

Day Fire Updates, Photos, Maps, and Status Reports

Photo credits: Unknown. Posted by thankful people at the Frazier Park emergency notification center.