Had to Evacuate Lake Mittry

Wednesday December 24, 2014

Late on Tuesday afternoon, I happened to look out my window to the north and saw a large amount of smoke off in the distance, but it was in the Lake Mittry bounds.
I knew it was probably a wild fire, because of the location and size of it.  Before going to bed I took another look and it didn’t appear to have changed much and I could see red lights of fire vehicles, so with the thought, “I hope it doesn’t affect me” I went to bed.

Well, it did affect me!  At about 1:30 am on Christmas Eve I awoke to a siren and red lights at my front door.  Opened it, and fireman Thompson was there to greet me.  He said they had lost control of the fire and could not stop it.  He said that I should pack up and leave immediately.  As I was talking to him I could see particles falling all around.

Never packed up and hooked up the jeep in the dark before, but in about an hour I was ready to move out.  Thank goodness, I’m in a motorhome and this wasn’t my house.

As I was leaving the area I had to drive just east of the fire, so of course I stopped several time to grab a few photos.

Had to ask the fireman to move his truck so I could get through.  By this time the fire was at the roadway.

Finally got out, but didn’t know where to go for the rest of the night.  My plans to get a good night’s sleep and a big breakfast before my mountain hike in the morning was a bust.

Drove up towards the Imperial Dam, because I had heard there were RV parks over there and it was only about 5 miles from my camp.  Turned left onto highway 24 and went about three miles to Senator Wash Road.  On my previous drives by this road I saw a sign saying it was fee only camping up this road so I had never bothered to drive up there.

In the black of night, at about 3:30 am, I was slowly driving up this unknown road till I saw some lights on a pole and an entrance to an RV park.  Pulled in and climbed in bed for the rest of the morning.  I figured I could see what was what in the morning, because there was no one up at this hour on Christmas Eve.

Several people have asked how it happened, and I must say I have heard nothing about how it started.  Checked the internet and the only article I found was in the Yuma Sun.  It just said it was a brush fire consuming about 400 acres of wetland.  Origin unknown.  From other articles I found on the internet regarding Mittry Lake, I guess it is a fire prone area.

I am going to leave my mountain hiking adventure until tomorrow.  I am so sore, I will not be doing much to write about for a few days as I recuperate.

See you later.