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Firestorm at Storer Creek

In July 2014 the Carlton Complex fire burned through the Methow Valley in north-central Washington State. It blackened 400 square miles, destroyed 312 homes and was the largest fire in state history. On the second day of the fire – seven days after returning home from the birth of our son – our property burned over.

Storer Creek Stories (2014)

WEDNESDAY, JULY 16
7:00 PM – It was another exceptionally hot day. We had been watching smoke from the fires in Carlton all afternoon, hoping the winds would continue to blow to the east. At 3 pm things began to get a little smokey by our house and we considered taking Finn up valley for a little river time. By 5 pm, the main valley had begun to close in and we thought it would be wise to retreat with our infant to the west side until the fires blew clear. We started packing.
11:00 PM — As soon as we headed towards the pass, Chip and Diane started packing our stuff. They loaded most of our valuables into two pickup trucks. At 11 pm they were given a Level 3 mandatory evacuation notice by the sherif and left our house.
Dane and Nick watch a plane make a small drop along our northern property line.
Most of our neighborhood gathered here to watch the show. Both Chris and Becky (pictured here) lost their homes.
What was our barn and our house.
We had a perimeter of dry grass on all sides of the house.
Firewood stack.
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