Boom! Lights went out and sirens wailed. 

That’s what people remembered on that beautiful fall afternoon.

I went to turn on the light switch, because I thought the light bulb burnt out, but nothing happened. Then, my husband came downstairs, “Did the power go out?” 

“I think so,” I replied. “I also heard tons of sirens. What is going on?”

“Mom, did the power just go out?” My 10 year old daughter, Theo screamed from her room. 

“Yes, but everything is fine. It should be back on soon.” I implied, yet I wasn’t really sure when it would come back on and why it went out in the first place. But, I felt grateful it was still light out and it wasn’t winter. 

Then, I started getting texts from friends, “Is your power out?” “Did you hear the sirens?”

We were supposed to all get together that night at my friend, Tona’s house. I still hadn’t made the cornbread and was also hoping to paint Theo’s bathroom. I had BIG plans. I looked at the Idaho Power website and saw that most of Ketchum’s power was out, except Main Street and Warm Springs. “Oh good,” I thought, “The grocery store is still open. I can grab some other sides for the dinner party and some spackle for Theo’s bathroom wall.”

My car was in the driveway already, so I didn’t need to open the garage door, which was lucky. I jumped into my car and headed up to town. The intersection traffic light was green, so I was making my move, when “WHOOSH” a fire engine went flying up Main Street, cutting me off and almost T-boning me. Before I had a chance to realize what was happening, another fire truck went flying by me. I had no idea that my trip to the store almost cost me my life. 

By the time I got up to the store, they had also lost power, as did all the other stores around it. It was a ghost town. 

At home, the power was still out. I still had no oven and no back up plan for my cornbread. So, I made the wet and the dry ingredients separately and decided to take my ingredients raw to the party and hope that my friend had power. 

Luckily, she did. When I got there, people were talking about the wildfire out Lake Creek. 

Where did it start? 

How did it start? 

How many acres was it now? 

The sound of DC-10 air tankers was overhead. The sky was beginning to darken and the smell of rain was imminent. I had flashbacks of the last time there was a wildfire in our town. 

Just then, the sky broke in two as thunder clapped and lightning struck. The storm was spreading all around us. We felt cozy inside, but also afraid of what the night was going to bring. 

I left the party just as another bolt of lightning struck south of us. When I was heading north to go home, two more fire engines drove by in the opposite direction. Another fire had started in Quigley Canyon. I desperately wanted to get back to my family. 

When I got home, my husband and daughter were nestled in bed reading a book. There was a faint glow of light coming from the bedside table. The power was back on. I cuddled up with them, listening to the rain that eventually put out the fires. Home never felt so comforting and safe.