Yesterday around 3 pm, a wildfire near me jumped a coulee (a term used for the valleys around here) and began approaching a number of farms, small towns and my city. Compounding this problem were the very dry conditions lately, warm weather, and 100+ km/h winds that fanned the flames and drove them onward. I noticed the smoke around then, and it got progressively worse to the point that it literally blocked out the sun. My area was put on evacuation alert at about 6 pm, which is around when I found out how bad the situation really was: there wasn't just one fire anymore, but six.

I was following the Twitter feeds for both the local news and the city for any hint both about the fires themselves and whether or not we were really evacuated all night (I was already packed and ready to go at a moment's notice; I don't think grass burns as hot as wood, but dry grass catches and burns in the blink of an eye, so I didn't want to waste a moment if we had to leave). Around 8 or so, the updates started slowing down, and the city announced that the fire threatening my area and another threatening the nearby Blood reserve had been contained. The winds had slowed down, but I know how quickly a grass fire can go from "contained" to "out of control" so I kept watching until 2 am. The only other updates were about the roads re-opening and the area about 2 km west of me being evacuated as a precaution.

There haven't been any updates since midnight, and since it's now 7:45 am I guess the situation is under control. If something like this happens to you, keep calm, keep in touch with your loved ones as much as possible (they can help you keep calm), stay informed, and be prepared to leave at a moment's notice. I don't have much that I would consider "important" so it only took me about five minutes to round up everything I need, but once I get a bit more settled somewhere I will be putting together a survival kit with all the necessities so that it will take only a minute to round up all the important things that I can't risk getting destroyed or stolen. You should do this, too, since no area on Earth is 100% risk-free.