Fire has Eureka residents on edge

While firefighters work around the clock defending homes from the still-growing Gibralter Ridge Fire east of Eureka, the evacuated residents of those homes wait in motels and temporary shelters for some kind of news.

One homeowner had never seen a wildfire in her life when firefighters came to her door in the middle of the night Aug. 7 to inform her of a mandatory evacuation order.

Massachusetts native Carol Dibbern said she had no idea of the danger she was in until her daughter-in-law Jib called from town, saying, “Ma, there’s fire all around our house.”

From Eureka she could see smoke plumes billowing from the foothills near Dibbern’s home.

While still on the phone Dibbern went into her backyard, but saw nothing. The towering trees bordering her property hid the smoke and flames as they spread down the slope toward her.

She got into her car and drove a few miles up Foothills Road. From the top, she caught her first glimpse of the blaze.

“Trees were just bursting into flames,” she said. “The fire was coming through the trees.”

By the time she returned to her home, the smoke and glow from the fire were visible from her yard.

She and her husband began discussing what to do when they heard a knock at the door.

A firefighter had come to inform them of a pre-evacuation order for their area.

“I didn’t even know what that meant,” Dibbern said.

The man at the door informed Dibbern and her husband that they had the option of leaving or staying, but he strongly encouraged them to leave.

As soon as she closed the door, the couple began packing.

She said in their hurried, panicked state, they began grabbing clothes and important files. She grabbed her husband’s hearing aid and back-up batteries.

“We were not at all experienced in these things,” she said.

Not 20 minutes after their first visit, Dibbern said she was changing into a pair of jeans when the firefighter returned saying a firm evacuation order had been issued — leaving was no longer optional, they had to get out now.

“In that moment, your mind just kind of goes blank,” she said.

Dibbern, her husband and her daughter-in-law grabbed their three dogs, threw their bags into a pickup and left the home they had moved to just a year before.

With local motels packed with other evacuees, the trio arrived at the American Red Cross shelter that had been set up at the First Church of God in Eureka before sunrise.

There they were greeted by a few of their neighbors and several volunteers ready to help.

Once out of danger, Dibbern said she began to think more clearly about what she hadn’t brought.

“It was awful. And you start thinking about what all you left behind,” she said.

Towels, blankets, pillows, clothing items, toiletries and more.

Thankfully, Dibbern said, the Red Cross volunteers knew what they needed and provided it all.

The family was provided three beds in the church’s civic center building. They were shown where they could shower and were given space to set up a makeshift office.

One volunteer from the emergency animal shelter nearby came to pick up their dogs and offered to feed, water and exercise them for the duration of their stay at the shelter.

“This place is phenomenal,” Dibbern said, wiping tears from her eyes.

She and her neighbors were not only fed, but given hot, home-cooked meals three times a day.

Dibbern laughed and said both she and her husband had actually gained weight since arriving at the shelter.

Still, Dibbern said, feelings of worry and even shame continued to creep into her mind.

“It’s embarrassing,” she said. “I feel so bad with all these people working for us.”

Dibbern and her family were allowed to return to their home on Sherman Creek Road to retrieve their vehicles and other items they were forced to leave.

Dibbern noted that, in the chaos of the evacuation, she had left a window open in their house, and when she returned, the smell of smoke had completely filled her home.

Thursday night, firefighters were still working to put out hot spots, small fires created by traveling embers, right behind Dibbern’s house.

“So yeah, we’re worried,” she said. “It’s still going on.”

One of Dibbern’s neighbors, Star Howard, did not share her concern.

Howard said he was watching the blaze from a lawn chair in his yard when a firefighter informed him it was time to evacuate.

An experienced logger, Howard cuts firewood for a living and said he had a premonition that the forest would burn.

He described the fire he watched as a “raging inferno” worse than any of the fires he’d seen in previous years.

When the evacuation order came, Howard said he grabbed his chainsaw and his guns first before throwing photo albums and important papers into a backpack. He said he then raided his dresser, emptying his drawers into two large duffel bags.

He sat at a table inside the Red Cross shelter, half dozing in his chair, unconcerned about his home, which he said sat in the middle of an open field of short, green grass at the very bottom of the hill.

First Church of God Pastor Justin Michels said their team has fed up to 20 people in a day and hosted up to 12 people overnight, with room for more. At least 26 volunteers have signed up to donate their time, services and goods to help the people who have been forced from their homes.

Several of the volunteers have offered to board animals and move livestock, with others offering to buy supplies at the request of the victims.

Michels said that, while many of the people are still worried about their homes and property, most have shown “a huge appreciative spirit.”

Dibbern said she learned from the experience that it is best to be prepared. Though she and her husband plan to move back to North Carolina where they originally planned to retire, she said she has loved her time in Montana with her son and daughter-in-law despite the fire.

Once she is allowed to return to her house, she said she plans to sell it, but will do so with a heavy heart.

A Type 2 Incident Team of more than 300 firefighters continues to fight the Gibralter Ridge Fire, which had grown to over 1,800 acres as of Saturday.

Windy conditions combined with multiple lightning strikes over the weekend have pushed the blaze closer to Eureka.

As of Friday night, no structures had been lost as a result of the fire.

Sherman Creek, Griffith Creek, Therriault Pass Road and Stevens Creek areas are still under evacuation orders. Other areas, including Glen Lake and Sinclair Creek are under pre-evacuation.

A red flag warning was expected to begin around 4 p.m. Saturday. Hailey Graf, public information officer for the fire, encouraged residents in and near the Eureka area to remain alert in case of further evacuation orders.

For more information on the Gibralter Ridge Fire and other fires, visit https://inciweb.nwcg.gov.

Reporter Mary Cloud Taylor can be reached at 758-4459 or mtaylor@dailyinterlake.com.