Around 5:45pm last night the "Tea Fire" broke out in the canyons between Santa Barbara and Montecito. Patrick could see the flames and smoke from his office, so he called me and told me not to panic, but to pack a bag. I got Suzallo (our cat) in his carrier by the front door, and put our fire safe box with papers in the car, and then kind of wandered the house trying to figure out exactly what the "necessities" are when you have to just grab them and go.
From the street in front of the house you could see the glow and smoke from the fire just over the hill, the neighbors were all outside talking and making sure everyone was getting organized and getting ready to leave. It was scary, but I felt reassured that everyone was looking out for each other.
Patrick came home from work (after what felt like ages!), and we had time to pack some larger bags (with two weeks left before my due date I was torn between my maternity clothes and my regular ones!!). We grabbed baby stuff and personal stuff and headed out to Goleta to stay with Linda and Maynard. Our neighborhood was officially put under mandatory evacuation a few hours later. We're safe, we have everything we need if we have a baby before we can get home...or if the worst happens and we lose our home.
As scary as it was, the fire looked spectacular crawling across the hills in the dark. I'll try to post some pictures soon...and promise to keep everyone updated on what is going on.
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