It was just shy of 3:15 AM on Saturday morning when I heard the car alarm though the open window. The Villa is usually a very quiet place so any strange noises get your attention. A short time later I was startled by someone banging hard on my front door. No yelling or screaming just a hard solid banging. As a good Texan would do, I got my gun and prepared to meet some strange intruder. What I saw out the window took my breath away. A wall of flames rising high above the narrow row of buildings in front of me. Then I heard my neighbor calming shouting that the mountain was on fire. My first thought, "NO SHIT".
What happened next was a strange series of thought processes that I will never forget. After I managed to get some clothes on and realized that I had a minute or two before the Villa was gone, I started looking around for things to save. What do you save? You can't even come close to getting it all. So what do you take? I hopped around on one foot then another and couldn't decide on anything. There were all kinds of things of value. I just couldn't figure out what to get. I picked up a guitar (which I don't really play), and the vacuum cleaner. Now don't get me wrong....it's a good vacuum cleaner but as a few of you might know about me....I don't like to vacuum. In fact I would have burned the vacuum myself if given half a chance , but was it really the most important object I owned? The crazy thing is that I put it down and picked it up several times over the next 3 minutes. In the end I left the vacuum and took the guitar, some masks, an empty camera case, and my dirty clothes. You know, all the most important things in ones life. That was all that I was allowed to get as the police forced everyone to evacuate. Flames were more than 30 feet in the air just a few yards from the Villa. It was time to say goodbye.
Most of the early morning I was sitting with the crowd and watching the fire. More and more mutual aid fire support came in from surrounding cities and slowly the progress of the fire was slowed. Somehow the Villa had a chance. It all hinged on one large building across the street from the Villa. No wind, wet weather and some good fire work managed to keep the other building from going and in the end the Villa was saved. Not everyone would be so lucky.
A few more thoughts on this later. These are a few pictures from my porch
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