A No-Fire Dance
"Oh, I want to do a no-fire dance," said Lynette Kaplan as she stood in her driveway watching fire dozers head off her street.
She and her husband returned from the San Bernardino City Council debates around 11 p.m., eagerly slipping into nightgowns without realizing fire was only hours away.
It was about 1 a.m. when the couple was awakened by the sounds of danger.
"I was laying in bed and heard the siren go on and jumped out of bed," Kaplan said.
She has been perched on a wall in her front yard ever since, keeping a keen eye on where sparks are flying. The house behind hers burned, she said.
Kaplan refused to leave her home, which was rebuilt after the 2003 Old Fire, when police officers started evacuating her neighbors.
"We feel more confident than we did last time. We know more about fire now," she said, adjusting the mask on her face.
The Kaplans are diligent about keeping brush and trees away from their home. They would have liked to turn on the sprinklers just in case, but power and water have been off for the majority of the day.
She breathed a sigh of relief as she watched several fire engines and dozers head down Meyers Road.
"Relief. I'm so thankful we were here this time," Kaplan said.