NI man living in USA has emergency bags packed as massive fires edge closer to his home

David Whan, originally from Magheralin near Lurgan and lives in Oregon with his wife Angie, says the Roseburg area where he lives is currently on a Level One alert.

David, who manages a non-emergency medical transportation company, said: “It’s awful. Towns burned to the ground. The smoke is terrible. Like the thickest fog you can imagine back at home.

“If you go outside for more than five minutes you smell like you’ve been at a bonfire or campfire for hours.

“There’s a darkness all day long. Then there’s the ash. It’s covering everything. One of the fires closest to me burned 72,000 acres in less than 12 hours. It’s 12 miles away from us. There’s another one also 12 miles away.

“We are on a level one warning. That means pack things up and start preparing to get out. It’s Level One get ready. Level Two get set and Level Three get out!

“So I am watching the news constantly. We have clothes and things already packed. Pet carriers ready for the cats etc. I filled my tank with petrol. If it goes to level two we will be leaving. I am not going to wait for a level three. Not a chance!

“Where we would go though is a different thing. No matter where you go there are fires. North South East and West of us. The border into and out off California was closed for a few days. It’s definitely the worst I’ve seen in my nearly 18 years here by far. Pretty frightening to say the least.

“I’ve never been in a situation like this before in my life. When they said we were on a level one, yeah that was frightening for sure. It’s a whole new experience for me. One that I could do without having to go through again.

“It’s because you can’t see the fire. You don’t know exactly where it is to your location. You know it’s massive. And when they say you are on a level one. Then you know for sure it’s coming in your direction.”

Asked what may have caused the fires he said: “They don’t know yet. Usually it’s lightning. But we haven’t had any. There was an East wind blowing gusts of 30 to 40 mph. That was classed as an phenomenon as they only happen here once in a generation. Along with the heat and humidity, we haven’t had rain for months. Everything is a tinder box. It can be something as simple as a spark from machinery or somebody’s brakes coming apart and a small piece starts the grass on fire, that then spreads to the forests. It might be something like a bottle thrown from a vehicle. The sun hitting the glass them sets the ground on fire. Or it can be arson. They will investigate the fire at the source where it started and they are really good at working out quickly what the cause was.

“It’s been in the high 30s up into the low 40s for weeks.

“The amount of wild animals that will be lost here is horrendous. Deer. Mountain Lions. Bears. Racoons. Squirrels. Chipmunk. The list goes on and on,” said David.

He explained that Angie’s brother had to evacuate and still doesn’t know if he has a home to return to or when it will be safe to return.

“We know numerous people that have been evacuated and don’t know the status of their homes yet. Most leave with the clothes on their backs and a few personal items. In most cases, everything is left behind. So a lifetime of personal items can be lost in a heartbeat.

“Most people don’t have to time to pick and choose what you are taking. I know one man that had to leave six dogs and ten cats behind. He had no way to transport them and the fire was approaching fast.

“The Sheriffs were right at his house telling him to leave immediately. So he had too. He left the animals outside and hoped they would be able to make an escape from the fire. I highly doubt they did. These fires move so fast. He had to drive away all while looking at his animals all standing there looking at him. And not a thing he could do. He said he was heartbroken. His wife died a few years ago. So he was alone and the animals were his life.

“It’s just awful They are not sure about the death count yet. They will go back and check the missing persons lists etc and then check the properties when it’s safe to do so.

“As for now they just concentrate on telling people when they need to get out. And fight the fires. The firefighters are working up to 16 hour shifts.”

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