Nick Lannan's Blog

I am incredibly proud to say I am a resident of beautiful Flagstaff.  Our mountains will never be the same again and that is devastating to those of us who treasure the opportunity to live here.  The real story here, though, is the people who have come together.  Complete strangers showed up with empty horse trailers to help get animals out quickly.  Volunteers moved nearly 200 animals out of two separate shelters to a new location at the fairgrounds in less than an hour.  Restaurants offered free meals to evacuees and the road crews who had once set the electronic signs to say ROAD CLOSED changed them to say WELCOME HOME as the evacuees returned yesterday.  When you see the fire in person, there are not words to describe how unbelieveable it is that homes were not lost.  Our firefighters are beyond amazing.  Signs are going up around town to thank the firefighters and hot shot crews.  Kids are covering the ground with chalk ‘thank you’s’ and making cards for them.  What can be accomplished when people have a common goal is incredible. [...]