Camp after evacuation on 9/8/24

Beginning last Thursday (9/5), over 70 campers had arrived and were enjoying Art Camp 4 Grown-ups; painting, printing, drawing and having a great time. By Friday, we became aware of changing air quality, soot and ash particles in the air, and alert messages blaring on our cell phones. We knew something bad was happening. But we were holding good thoughts as updates on the Line Fire started coming in. Rain was forecasted but unfortunately, it didn’t fall in the active burn area.

By Saturday, evacuation warnings for camp’s area were being issued. And we still tried to remain positive. On Sunday, it was clear that the fire was heading our way, camp was covered with soot and ash, the air quality was poor and it was decided that we needed to close camp now so that campers could get home safely.

Camp staff worked valiantly to make sure campers got packed up and on their way, then jumped into closing up camp, protecting buildings and structures as much as possible, hauling trash to the dumpsters and finally packing up their own possessions in order to evacuate. Some of the staff worked until 11 pm trying to button things up as well as possible.

Highway 38 is closed heading up to camp, Angelus Oaks and other surrounding communities have been evacuated. Janet was the last person to leave camp and here are a couple of photos of how it looked late yesterday afternoon.

One of the best information sources for updates on this fire is Cal Fire.

https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2024/9/5/line-fire

Photo taken September 9, 2024, at the bottom of the mountain looking toward Mill Creek

Photo Credit: Marty Farquhar

Please hold positive thoughts, send your positive energy out to support the firefighters and pray, in whatever way works for you, that our beloved mountaintop home survives this crisis.