Sunday, 11. January 2009, 18:13:23
This is the english part of my previous post. Sorry if it haves mistakes.
Yesterday I wrote a fast post, tired after fighting the fire. We had no energy, for what I had to write from the mobile, until the time allowed it to me, and before find affected my health.
Today the facts are very different. The helicopters continued launching water on the hill during the whole morning, until some moments ago . Now they have returned to their bases.
The sun shines to full, and the sky appears blue in its biggest part.
I would like to tell some details of the things that happened yesterday, in few words.
The fire on the hill of the bull (Cerro del toro), place where we live, began on the hillside, opposed to the city, at 3 in the morning. That is one of the factors that make believe that the fire was intentional.
To half tomorrow, the fire was reaching the top of the hill (they are 350 mts of height), and in few hours it began to come down toward the city, firstly toward the neighborhood where my sister lives. It was very quick, since the wind was very strong, the intense heat, and it has not rained in months.
While my father search my sister and his daughters (to some 10 blocks of where we are), the wind changed, and it began to bring the fire toward our houses, the neighborhood where we live, called El Toro (The Bull). In few minutes we begin to see the flames next to the houses. For our street, the one that allowed the main access to the fire focuses, didn't stop to pass firemen's trucks, police, intendency, the army, ambulances and trucks with heavy machinery to combat the fire. At the same time, the helicopters loaded water continually in the beach (7 blocks of our house) and they flew the lowest thing possible, cooling the woods.
As soon as my mother arrived from work, I could leave my daughter and my nieces, and I went to help.
First pulled up pieces of fallen trees that were still green, to hit the fire. A machine opened us a fire wall (like a road) and we entered in a field to shutdown a new focus that came closer to our houses. With the help of the machine we shutdown it in minutes. Then we went to where the fire was really strong, and there the history was very different. The heat was so intense that I could not come closer to the fire enough time. I came closer, hit the base of the fire and to the 5 seconds I had to run. The smoke was very dense, it made us difficult to breath, because we junst had humid cloths in the face. In one of those I began to feel heat in my feet, and it was my right footwear that was lighting up fire, but I could shutdown it on time. To our surroundings the firemen, the police and the whole people of the place worked in an admirable way. In some points we were hundred of people making people's chains, with recipients of water shutdowning focuses. In other cases we attend firemen with the hoses so that these they didn't burn while we came closer to the difficult points. On our heads the helicopters were flying very low launching water. The firemen say that allows to cool the field of the fire, but the dangerous thing is that the heat in the height where these fly, it can reach high temperatures, appraisable in thousands of grades. I don't doubt it, because below, with the fire to several meters felt as the skin became tight and heat.
The national emergency committee, became present to evaluate the procedures. They increased the attendance in materials and they coordinated that all the ambulances of the city were near each affected place, to transfer people to the hospitals and medical centers. Trucks with cistern were sent to provide water constantly. People in vans, trucks and until motos (I used one) took water in barrels so that the work was not interrupted.
While this fire was not neither near of being controlled, another fire began at noon in the Hill of the Donkeys (Cerro de los Burros), between Green Beach (Playa Verde) and Beautiful Beach (Playa Hermosa). The fire there was, in some ways, worse, because it advanced quicker, destroying 9 houses, and provoking the death of a person, although there are sources that comment that there are more victims. It was people that, like us, was helping to extinguish the fire. But the smoke betrays, it disorients, and if you stay more than the account in the place, you lose the sense quickly. I was attentive to those symptoms, and when the pain in the chest and the head was very strong, or when I could not see well, I left the place.
Therefore, I was helping up to 7 pm. I was very tired, with smoke in the eyes and in the lungs, with a strong pain in the chest and about to collapse. The ugliest thing had happened, for what I preferred to go with my family. At night I felt bad, with nausea and a very strong headache. It felt in each breath the smoke inside of mine. I believe that I had a little bit of fear of being intoxicated... because it felt very bad, and I know was a lot of people affected by this. But I have been drinking Coca Cola and milk a lot, and today I am alive
, I escaped from this and many as you will have to tolerate me.
The last report, some hours ago, indicates that the fire is controlled and in these moments the firemen are in the liquidating stage (I don't know the term in english) of the fire. That will possibly take between 24 and 48 hours, although there is no smoke at view. Last night the army made guard in our neighborhoods for any emergency arose. And today forces found to the responsible for the second fire who is already detained. Apparently it was a man that made fire to roast outside of their house, he left it firing and left to make purchases. To the turn... it was already uncontrollable.
Forgive me if I made it long. It was a difficult and complex experience and I want to use this place to liberate all the tension that I still have inside. I hope it doesn't bother you this way. Anyway I am well, just a little tired, and trying to fix the nerves.
Best Wishes!
PS: There is a video of this, in the local radio site:
www.radiorbc.com
. At night is really nice for us.
WIDGETIZE