The
Colorado High Park Fire and Us
Dear Friends, Family, Fans, and
all of you who reached out to
us,
As many of you know by now, the
High Park Fire in Colorado has
burned more than 43,000 acres
since it started on Saturday. It
is truly a "wild" fire, with
strong winds and drought
conditions making it
uncontrollable. Today for the
first time, our brave
firefighters, together with an
incredible teamwork of support
from across the country and
beyond, were able to make a
start at containment, achieving
10%. Vast evacuations continue,
over 100 structures have been
lost or damaged, and one person
has perished. Please pray for
rain, no winds, safety of all
involved, especially our
exhausted hero firefighters, and
success over this catastrophe.
The fire was caused by a
lighting strike from an intense
storm last Thursday night. After
smoldering unknown, early
Saturday morning a smoke plume
was reported within a mile west
of our house, which is located
in a beautiful area known as
Paradise Park, next to national
forest land. By 10:00 AM, we
received a call from a concerned
neighbor who had heard of the
report, and shortly thereafter
we could indeed see a small
smoke cloud too close for
comfort. I began to pack, hoping
it would only be a drill, as
firefighter planes and
helicopters quickly arrived and
began the assault. The wind was
already of concern. Mike kept
watch as the smoke intensified
and at times filled our valley.
Not much more than an hour
later, we received an urgent
automated reverse 911 call to
evacuate immediately. We
scrambled to grab the cat and
select those items from house
and studio which we deemed most
valuable and/or which could not
be replaced, and which we would
most need to continue to carry
on our lives and business should
we never return. I threw
an armload of clothes into a
small suitcase, and we pealed
out of there in our car and van
with a towering black and orange
smoke cloud over our shoulders.
Through the graciousness of our
friends, Mary, Lonna and Rex,
Susan and David, and Cyndee and
Robert, we boarded our cat,
stashed our stuff, and are
sheltered comfortably. We are
safe, and we were able to take
the most important things with
us.
Today, we received official good
news, and bad news, and good
news, through the eyewitness
account of our neighbor who is
one of the hundreds of volunteer
firefighters on the front lines,
and verified even further by
aerial photographs from a local
news channel.
It has been confirmed our house
and outbuildings have been lost,
despite the personal and valiant
efforts of our neighbor Jim
Terrell, his fellow
firefighters, and a firefighting
team from Idaho. The Good News -
our studio, a separate building
where Mike and I lived
comfortably the first year we
were married, and where all of
our production takes place, and
containing many valuable
research books and materials,
our sewing machines and heavy
equipment, and all of Mike's
beautiful artwork, is untouched
as of this time, along with our
garage and some large farm
equipment. Praise God! More good
news - all 15 horses which had
to be abandoned when we and our
neighbors had to evacuate so
rapidly, including six which
were on our own property, were
today evacuated by the Humane
Society, and are safely reunited
with their owners.
While we will mourn the loss of
our home and its contents, we
are blessed to still have a
place to which to return. Other
neighbors have lost everything.
Please pray the fire
does not return to our valley
(there were still HotShot teams
in there fighting fires today),
for continued protection
of all of the firefighters, and
for favorable weather
conditions.
When this is all over, and if
the property status remains the
same, we and our neighbors plan
to return to Paradise Park,
clean up, adapt, rebuild, add
on, and carry on. As Mike says,
we are mountain people, and we
are grateful everyone got out
alive. Houses are just houses,
after all, and can be rebuilt,
and the memories will still be
cherished. God is good, and
miracles have happened.
Mike and I wish to thank every
one of you who have called,
texted, emailed, and prayed for
us during this stressful time.
You have offered love, help,
pillows, food, shelter,
trailors, makeup, soap, offers
to help clean up if needed,
offers to help design and
rebuild, hugs, comfort, your
phones, your internet, and more
than I can say. We have been
touched by the outpouring of
support from literally across
the world.
We do not expect to be allowed
to return home for some time
yet, as this is still an active
and dangerous fire. Once it is
controlled, we have been told it
may be 6-8 weeks, or more,
before power can be restored to
the area. We are in good hands,
and so many of you have offered
us lodging, we know we will be
well cared for. And yes, we have
insurance! : ) And
most importantly, we have each
other, and all of you.
We appreciate the love and
support more than you know.
Thank you for your continued
prayers. Mike knew the one
person who perished, and we have
too many friends and neighbors
who are still awaiting news on
if their homes remain.
We apologize for not being able
to personally return every call
and email, but we have been
running constantly since
evacuating. Be assured we have
listened to, read, and
appreciate every one of your
messages, and will keep in
touch.
Thank you, friends. So much love
from you all. God bless every
one of you.
Most sincerely,
Sharon & Mike Guli
Guli Productions/Michael J. Guli
Designs/River Crossing Inc.
PS: If you wish to view footage
of the fire, we suggest you
visit
www.9news.com. |
