Living in Alaska: Moving-in and Fires

Smoke rises over the trees in our backyard.

Thursday, June 4th was a happy day. Mike and I moved into our house in beautiful North Pole, Alaska. The movers arrived bright and early with smiling faces and great attitudes. They were ready to conquer our furniture and boxes. Each moving guy was incredibly friendly and always had a positive attitude. It was great to see people who enjoy their work. Personally, I think if I were lifting and heaving heavy pieces of furniture and boxes, I would not be smiling. I would be looking for the closest bottle of ibuprofen. Maybe they had a secret stash hidden somewhere in their truck.

After about three hours, the movers had everything unloaded, put in the right rooms, and all the furniture set up. It was a beautiful moment. Mike and I sat back and looked at our “stuff” and the mountain of boxes that surrounded us. Suddenly, I felt overwhelmed. I began to strategize. I would tackle the kitchen first. I quickly realized that I had NOT purged enough of my kitchen items in Alabama. I had WAY more “stuff” than I had cabinet space for. Thank God we had a crawl space in which I could store the things that I did not need!

About 1:00 p.m., Mike mentioned that we needed to return the rental truck back to U-Haul. (We had rented a small truck to clear out the storage unit where we had stored a few small things we brought with us). Since I had not showered that day (I know that way too much information, but it is important to the story), I put on a hat and headed out the door. We happily returned the truck, grabbed a quick bite of lunch through a drive-thru and headed home.

On the drive home, we noticed a rather large plume of smoke in the general direction of North Pole. I began to panic. It seemed to be coming from the direction of our new home. Since I was driving, I felt that unquenchable need to drive like a crazed maniac to get to our home to ensure that our beautiful cats were safe and sound. Mike assured me that the fire was not anywhere near our house. It was many, many, many miles away. I did not believe him for an instant.

The more Mike assured me that everything was a-okay, the more I panicked. My driving became faster and more erratic. I began to exceed the speed limit. I came upon a truck that was driving painfully slow. I thought to myself, “Why is the man driving at a snail’s pace? Doesn’t he see the smoke? Doesn’t he know that peoples' homes could be in danger?” I peered around to see if I could pass. Nope, couldn’t do that. Other thoughts began to swirl around in my mind, “Okay, remain calm. No need to be in such a panic. This man doesn’t deserve the right to have a driver’s license! He shouldn’t be allowed on the road! Move over!” All the while, Mike is speaking in a very calm voice, telling me that everything is okay. I tuned him out and went back to my thoughts, “Blah, blah, blah.”

Finally, we came to an intersection and the slow driver went in the opposite direction. “Thank you, Jesus! Now I can drive even faster!” I thought to myself. The closer we got, the more intense the smoke was and the closer it did seem to our house. Mike began to get a little concerned. I could see a hint of alarm on his face. Not that I looked at it too long, I had to keep my eyes on the road. I whipped around corners and curbs (without hitting any, I might add). When we got to our street, I could see the area of smoke getting even larger. However, our home was safe. “Thank you, Jesus!” I said to myself, again.

Mike and I stopped at the fire station around the corner from our house. Mike asked someone about the fire. She said that it was about a mile away and every fire fighter in the North Pole and Fairbanks region was there. They even had called in the Coast Guard.

When we arrived at our house, we went inside and decided to get back to unpacking while keeping an eye on the fire. If it seemed to get too close, we would leave. I grabbed my camera and started taking pictures. As I was out back, I saw fire fighting airplanes swooping over our house. One after another, they came to douse the flames of the raging inferno. (Do you sense the drama unfolding? I did!) The smoke was getting thick, so I went back inside. As I was unpacking a box, the electricity went out. Mike called for me. He said, “Let’s pack up the cats. Get some clothes together, your toiletries. I will get our laptops and important papers. We are going to Fairbanks.”

At this point, I was thinking, “Oh, my. I haven’t taken a shower or washed my hair. I wonder if I have time to do my hair? I wonder how bad I really smell? I don’t smell myself, but will other people smell me?” Apparently, I did not have time to clean up. Mike was loading the car and we were on our way to Fairbanks in a matter of 10 minutes. As we were driving, one by one the fire fighting airplanes were flying over the highway and into North Pole. I called as many people as possible to pray for the safety of the fire fighters and the homes that were in danger.

By about 7:00 p.m. Mike and I decided to return to our house. The amount of smoke had been greatly reduced. When we arrived home, our electricity had been restored and everything was just fine. Initially, we had heard that many homes had been burned. However, they were false reports. The Daily News Miner, our local newspaper, stated that no homes had been damaged. The fire fighters on the ground and in the sky had saved peoples' homes. I was so incredibly happy to hear this.

Late in the evening, God sent a beautiful layer of clouds with a slow steady rain. It rained on and off all day Friday and Saturday morning. Our prayers were answered! After a very stressful afternoon, Mike and I were very thankful for being in our house, not having anything damaged, and a ready for a good night’s sleep!

This picture was taken from our backyard.