Small miracles prevent big July 4 disaster
The Fourth of July memorializes the independence our country won from England. It was hard fought and achieved by the unifying thought that our colonists deserved to be a country. This happened only because our soldiers found and embraced a common goal. Regardless of their background or political beliefs, they joined together to advance their cause.
This Fourth of July should have been a proud remembrance of the endurance of our country. It should have brought us all together in communication of that satisfaction. I’m certain there was some of that shared feeling.
In the Cougar Gulch area, that expected harmony was shattered but again recovered to avoid catastrophe through some small miracles.
The cascade of events began at the onset of darkness with an explosion at my neighbor’s house followed by a cascade of multicolored burning embers. There were more and debris fell on my roof and front yard.
We live in the forest, a hot dry forest that hasn’t seen rain for weeks. I drove up to my neighbor’s house and suggested that aerial fireworks were a prescription for forest fires, which wouldn’t be easily extinguished. He replied that everyone else was doing it and he had watered the area for three days.
I told him that debris was falling on my roof and I was certain he hadn’t watered my roof and forest adjoining his property. He said I was on private property and I should leave immediately. I did.
While driving home I met two other neighbors who were trying to find out who was shooting off illegal fireworks. I told them where to find the gentleman and hoped they could convince him to stop before our forest and community were engulfed in flames.
After calling the sheriff and reporting the problem I drove back to find the two neighbors to see if they had made any headway. They had been kicked off the property with the admonition that “nobody can tell me what I can do on my own property.” The common goal of living in a community in harmony with justice and freedom for all had been lost in this Independence Day transaction.
No sheriff's deputy arrived and I couldn’t sleep. No more aerial explosions occurred, but the previous explosions had distributed enough ignition sources to make me worry. After checking the hillside for smoke or fire at about 1:30 in the morning on the 5th, I went back to lay on the bed.
Miracle No. 1: Another close neighbor couldn’t sleep and left to get a burrito in town at 1:30 a.m. She looked at the hillside for signs of fire and didn’t find any.
Burrito in hand and mostly eaten, she drove home to see an ominous glow on the hillside that she assumed was our house on fire. She drove the additional several miles in a hurry, calling 911 and forgetting about the burrito.
At 2:15 she pounded on our door and we gave 911 better directions and fire status. I left to wake up the fellow who had started the fire and an 86-year-old woman living nearby.
Miracle No. 2: There was no wind and four fire agencies weren’t on other fires and responded incredibly quickly.
Miracle No. 3: Hoses were laid and control was established by professional firefighters working together toward a common goal. The fire didn’t get into the crowns and jump from tree to tree and sparks from the blaze didn’t ignite other fires.
All of the events on the plus side of recovery joined to make potential devastation into a 2-acre forest fire that was mopped up by noon on the morning of July 5.
While a conflagration on the Fourth of July can bring a sense of unity to an Independence Day celebration, if the conflagration is fueled by your house, most of the splendor is lost. We live in a community. Individual freedoms can’t be exercised to the detriment of justice for all.
Special thanks to:
Idaho Department of Lands
Northern Lakes Fire Department
Coeur d’Alene Fire Department
Kootenai County Fire and Rescue
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Doug Albertson is a four-decade Coeur d'Alene resident.
