- Name
- Miguel Tejada-Flores
A few brief words here, both to send my greetings to all - and also to seriously urge anyone who is remotely near any potential wildfire around the world, to take the threat very seriously. I am well and safe - as are my family and close friends. And, by what is truly a random act of kindness from the fates - or the mercy of the universe - my old farmhouse, 118 years old this year, is still standing - and survived unscathed.
I live in Southern Oregon, in the town of Talent, population approx 7,500 - just north of Ashland, a larger city - and south of Phoenix (approximately the same size as Talent) and still further south of the city of Medford, maybe 15 minutes to the north, on the freeway.
On Tuesday, a devastating wildfire broke out on the northern edges of Ashland - and was then fueled by brutally fast winds, of more than 25mph (would that be around 40kph?). The fire raced north and hit Talent, devastating and burning almost half of the city, within hours. Did I mention that, in these times of global warming, we have been having a long an unseasonably hot summer, with tempoeratures hovering near 100 degrees Fahrenheit for weeks on end? Which means, simply, that timber or grasslands or forested areas are horribly, unseasonably dry - and extremely flammable. The winds drove the fire through Talent and then unpredictable gusts made the path of the fire head into the central part of the town, heading towards downtown. My old farmhouse, just on the western outskirts of the town, was spared - but large portions of the downtown area, both residential and commercial, literally burned to the ground within hours. What is left looks horribly like the photos we have all seen, of the aftermath or Hiroshima or Dresden after the bombings. Yes, it's really that bad. We were all forced to evacuate with very very little notice - itself a rather frightening experience. The fire moved quickly north and did even more damage to the neighboring town of Phoenix - later in the evening of the same day, it reached the outskirts of the much larger city of Medford and threatened even more destruction. Firefighters labored heroically but in the evening I believe the winds died down which helped slow what might have otherwise been an even more unthinkable tragedy.
And, no, I took no photographs: I've been tuned in to both survival - and to helping family members and friends who, unfortunately, were not as lucky as I, and lost, literally, all their possessions, within minutes, when their nice apartments and houses burned to the ground. Fortunately there have been almost no fatalities, in itself a miracle.
But currently much of the rest of the Pacific Coast states - both Oregon, and California to the south, and Washington to the north, are threatened with potentially equally devastating wildfires. So the word of serious caution is - if you or anyone you know or care about, is near a potential fire or evacuation zone, it is really a good idea to try to make a realistic escape plan - and also to try to figure out, if you find yourself in the position where, literally, you have only an hour - or possibly only 30 minutes - or less - to try to gather a handful of things that may be important to you - not to mention family members or, as so many have, beloved pets --- it can make an immense (and possibly life-saving) difference .... to try to plan out what you think you might need to take with you... if the unthinkable happens.
I didn't do that. And in the hour we had before we had to flee our house in the heart of an exceedingly dangerous evacuation zone, it was stressful and challenging....to try to figure out what the 'essentials' might be. In my case, it was computers, musical instruments, a handful of books, some clothing, and my passport. But in the ferocious rush I forgot or left behind other things which, in retrospect, I could have survived without - but which, had I had the forethought to think about it beforehand, I would definitely have taken.
In my case, living in a wonderful small Oregon town for decades, neither I nor almost any of my friends or neighbors, every truly imagined or took seriously the notion that our small towns and cities could suddenly be wiped off the map within hours, and even minutes. It truly didn't seem possible. Having survived the experience, I realize it is. And part of me is kicking myself for not whipping out one or more of my cameras to document some of what was going down, literally, around me, as the world seemed to be coming to an end. But I had other things - and people - on my mind.
I'm attaching a photo of my old farmhouse which I took two days after the fire. When I left I was convinced I would never see it again; finding intact was and has been an intense and emotional experience. I still can't go back to it since the town has no electricity and no water and, in fact, is still a 'danger zone', due to multiple downed electric wires, and flaming natural gas jets, inside the areas where houses or buildings once stood, which threaten to either start new fires or, worse, explode and create new apocalypses. So, neither I - nor my surviving friends and neighbors in the small town of Talent, Oregon, are out of the woods yet --- but I am cautiously optimistic.
Here is my home of the last two decades which, honestly, I thought I would never see again.
And please, please please, for anyone at all close to anything of a similar potentially dangerous nature - take it seriously.
I live in Southern Oregon, in the town of Talent, population approx 7,500 - just north of Ashland, a larger city - and south of Phoenix (approximately the same size as Talent) and still further south of the city of Medford, maybe 15 minutes to the north, on the freeway.
On Tuesday, a devastating wildfire broke out on the northern edges of Ashland - and was then fueled by brutally fast winds, of more than 25mph (would that be around 40kph?). The fire raced north and hit Talent, devastating and burning almost half of the city, within hours. Did I mention that, in these times of global warming, we have been having a long an unseasonably hot summer, with tempoeratures hovering near 100 degrees Fahrenheit for weeks on end? Which means, simply, that timber or grasslands or forested areas are horribly, unseasonably dry - and extremely flammable. The winds drove the fire through Talent and then unpredictable gusts made the path of the fire head into the central part of the town, heading towards downtown. My old farmhouse, just on the western outskirts of the town, was spared - but large portions of the downtown area, both residential and commercial, literally burned to the ground within hours. What is left looks horribly like the photos we have all seen, of the aftermath or Hiroshima or Dresden after the bombings. Yes, it's really that bad. We were all forced to evacuate with very very little notice - itself a rather frightening experience. The fire moved quickly north and did even more damage to the neighboring town of Phoenix - later in the evening of the same day, it reached the outskirts of the much larger city of Medford and threatened even more destruction. Firefighters labored heroically but in the evening I believe the winds died down which helped slow what might have otherwise been an even more unthinkable tragedy.
And, no, I took no photographs: I've been tuned in to both survival - and to helping family members and friends who, unfortunately, were not as lucky as I, and lost, literally, all their possessions, within minutes, when their nice apartments and houses burned to the ground. Fortunately there have been almost no fatalities, in itself a miracle.
But currently much of the rest of the Pacific Coast states - both Oregon, and California to the south, and Washington to the north, are threatened with potentially equally devastating wildfires. So the word of serious caution is - if you or anyone you know or care about, is near a potential fire or evacuation zone, it is really a good idea to try to make a realistic escape plan - and also to try to figure out, if you find yourself in the position where, literally, you have only an hour - or possibly only 30 minutes - or less - to try to gather a handful of things that may be important to you - not to mention family members or, as so many have, beloved pets --- it can make an immense (and possibly life-saving) difference .... to try to plan out what you think you might need to take with you... if the unthinkable happens.
I didn't do that. And in the hour we had before we had to flee our house in the heart of an exceedingly dangerous evacuation zone, it was stressful and challenging....to try to figure out what the 'essentials' might be. In my case, it was computers, musical instruments, a handful of books, some clothing, and my passport. But in the ferocious rush I forgot or left behind other things which, in retrospect, I could have survived without - but which, had I had the forethought to think about it beforehand, I would definitely have taken.
In my case, living in a wonderful small Oregon town for decades, neither I nor almost any of my friends or neighbors, every truly imagined or took seriously the notion that our small towns and cities could suddenly be wiped off the map within hours, and even minutes. It truly didn't seem possible. Having survived the experience, I realize it is. And part of me is kicking myself for not whipping out one or more of my cameras to document some of what was going down, literally, around me, as the world seemed to be coming to an end. But I had other things - and people - on my mind.
I'm attaching a photo of my old farmhouse which I took two days after the fire. When I left I was convinced I would never see it again; finding intact was and has been an intense and emotional experience. I still can't go back to it since the town has no electricity and no water and, in fact, is still a 'danger zone', due to multiple downed electric wires, and flaming natural gas jets, inside the areas where houses or buildings once stood, which threaten to either start new fires or, worse, explode and create new apocalypses. So, neither I - nor my surviving friends and neighbors in the small town of Talent, Oregon, are out of the woods yet --- but I am cautiously optimistic.
Here is my home of the last two decades which, honestly, I thought I would never see again.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
And please, please please, for anyone at all close to anything of a similar potentially dangerous nature - take it seriously.