I'll never forget the time when the Coco's Fire started in San Marcos a couple of months ago. I was sitting on my couch, watching the news about all the other fires that were going on, not really giving it a second thought. I glance out our back yard screen door because I catch a glimpse of something gray and large on the mountain where the fire was. All of the sudden, little blobs of orange and yellow light catch my eye on the hillside. I ran up to the door and watched as the fire was growing and growing. That night, I went to my dad's house, still seeing the black smoke fume into the orange glow that was taking over the night sky. I remember worrying about my friends that lived back there and their animals that they owned. Thinking about all of the homes being destroyed and the poor fire fighters fighting something that can barely be controlled for days. That night, I sat on my dad's porch, facing the hillside, watching it idly burn. In the moment I didn't think about this, but later on I realized, I only live about 2-3 miles away from that hill and I'm sitting on my porch watching houses torch. But in the moment, I just stood there, standing Idly by...
Dana Carr
