brush fire

i'd like to share a post from a friend that really hit home to me. growing up in southern california brush fires were a common occurrence and you had to be ready. thank you ken for sharing your touching story.

Last night was a very difficult night. In the middle of January, we
had a severe brush fire near my home. Just before 5 pm last night, a
good friend called and said he needed help evacuating his family and
horses. As I hurried to help him, I could see the flames a few miles
away. Smoke was thick in the air and ash was falling like snow. It
didn't help that the wind was blowing at 40 miles per hour either.

As we tried to get the terrified horses into the trailers - they can
be really stubborn -Bryan told me about his fire evacuation plan he
had prepared a few months earlier. He said one night he felt
impressed to figure out what had to be done if they had to quickly
leave the ranch. As he spoke, I had a sudden calmness come over me
and the scripture in D&C came into my mind, "...if ye are prepared, ye
shall not fear." Things went smoothly except for one horse - flashing
lights, fire and smoke terrified the poor thing. We finally
blindfolded her and were able to get her into the trailer. While we
were busy with the animals, his wife gathered the necessary things
around the house. In 20 minutes, we had 4 horses loaded up, important
articles from the house and 3 kids all loaded up and moving away from
the fires.

This morning as I was driving my kids to seminary, we looked at the
fire - still burning, but not near as bad - and talked about what had
happened. My son talked about being prepared for such an event but
also said we need to be more prepared for the Spiritual fires that
come our way every day - pretty deep for an 18 year old.

That made me consider all the "fires" that come our way every day.
Lately, I have put myself in situations where I could easily be
burned. I have always been fascinated with fire and am drawn to it
like a moth to a light. The problem is that sometimes you get too
close and get hurt. I see that in my struggle - and yes, SGA for me
is a struggle. I like to get close to the fires. I am fascinated by
fire. And sometimes I get burned.

But last night made me realize that I need to have an evacuation plan
in place. When the fires come, I need to find a way to quickly move
away. Maybe I need to call a friend - like Bryan called me - to help
evacuate. But whatever it is, I need to be more prepared. And then
maybe all of this won't seem quite so scary.

Ken

ps - Here are some pictures - http://kfeitz.4t.com/fire.html - I hope.