Those in path of Qury Fire share experiences

Tom and Linda Wilson were sitting at their Deer Meadow Road home the afternoon of March 12, when suddenly the power went out.
“Not again,” Tom muttered to himself.
Tom went to his back deck to see if he could spot a reason for the power outage. When he stepped outside, he smelled smoke.
He went back inside and told his wife he smelled smoke. The two went back outside onto the deck, and this time, the two could see a plume of smoke rising from behind the slope that is behind their home.
Less than two minutes later the flames, pushed by the wind, were crawling toward their home.
“I said, ‘this is bad,’” he said. “With the wind...the fire was coming right at us.”
The two turned back into the house, and got ready to evacuate. The two had contemplated such a day, and as such, already had go bags out in the garage that contained clothing and other essential items in case they had to stay somewhere else for a while. They also contained important documents. With those in hand, they jumped in the car and headed away from their home. As they left they saw the first fire equipment arriving.
June Johnston was also home when the Qury Fire and Deer Fire began. She was in her kitchen when her dog began “barking her brains out.”
She went to see what the issue was, and from her front room window saw a large smoke cloud.
She called 911 to report the fire, with dispatch saying it already knew and help was already on the way.
Unlike the Wilsons, however, Johnston made the decision not to evacuate. This, she said, despite a warning from someone (likely Custer County Search and Rescue) she should leave.
Johnston, who for years was both a firefighter and fire dispatcher for the U.S. Forest Service, said she told the person at her door “this is not my first rodeo.”
“I understand what happens when people’s homes burn,” she said. “I’ve been around places where their homes were on fire.”
Johnston said she has spent years making her property, which includes 40 acres of land, firewise. Her property is thinned, she mows around her buildings, and her wood shed is far from her home. She said it’s imperative people do what they can to assist firefighters should the day come a fire breaks out near their home.
“They are going to be out there and they are going to try to save your house come hell or high water,” she said. “I do not want them to die because I did not do my part. It’s a partnership. I as a landowner need to be aware of what they are doing to put their life on the line and do my part so they can do their part.”
Because of her mitigation practices, Johnston said she was confident in her home, as it is highly defensible, and said she was told so by one personnel on one of the fire engines that was near her home throughout much of the fire.
For the most part the fire stayed on the north side of Hazelrodt Cutoff in the area near her home. In fact, if you look at the map of the fire, Johnston is located in the small horseshoe-like area that did not burn.
“If I really had thought I was going to burn up I would have left,” she said. “I never felt threatened at all.”
In fact, she said, her biggest issue was not knowing exactly what was going on because of the proximity of her home to the fire. She could see the far end of Custer Mountain and a large glow to her south, but never saw flames save for when she walked to the far end of her pasture.
Kelly Kennedy also had to evacuate Hot Shot Drive off Lower French Creek Road, and was one of many in the area who had some sort of animals to worry about—two horses and a mule.
She wasn’t home when the fires erupted, but her husband had to get out of the area so fast there wasn’t enough time to safely get the animals out. He made the split-second decision to open the gates and set them free in a pasture the fire had not reached. Fire was ripping up their lower pasture from the neighbor’s property below.
The Kennedys went to the Rocket Hotel for the night, and ended up staying with friends.
Firefighters saved their home, and on Saturday after the fire a member of Custer County Search and Rescue saw the Kennedys’ horses and mule wandering down Lower French Creek Road.
They were ushered into land nearby, and eventually the Kennedys were able to retrieve them and put them in a neighbor’s pasture, with none of the animals injured.
“They were all fine,” Kelly said. “Everyone was super helpful, keeping an eye out, giving me tips. It could have gone the other way, but I’m really glad it didn’t.” 
After they evacuated the Wilsons were the first people to arrive at the temporary shelter at the Custer Armory. They were eventually able to get a room at the Rocket Motel, where they stayed Thursday afternoon through Monday. The first night’s stay was paid for through the Custer Ministerial Alliance.
The Wilsons did sign up for the rapid tag program and were able to get back to their house under escort and get some items for their stay at the hotel. While they were away, a neighbor across the road on Zebroski Lane was keeping them abreast of what was happening, including sending pictures. The neighbor, unfortunately, had to tell them their garage had burned. He sent pictures, and the Wilsons could see their house was fine but the garage was gone.
“The firefighters (had to make) a decision—sacrifice the garage and save the house, or save the garage, sacrifice the house. Obviously they chose the house,” Tom said. “I don’t have enough words in my vocabulary to tell them how much we appreciated that. It was straight forward decision-making on their part. As my wife said about all that stuff in our garage—there is more at the store.”
Among the items in the garage was Tom’s car, a 2017 Kia with only 54,000 miles on it, a riding lawn mower, and a freezer full of bison meat.
Unfortunately there were some other items that are not replaceable, including old photographs, old camera gear and an antique 16mm movie projector that was his father’s.
“I can’t turn back the clock to that time and buy it again,” he said.
Much of what was lost was insured, and Tom has begun the process of working with the insurance company. He had nothing but praise for firefighters, as well as the way the community responded with restaurants offering free meals, hotels offering free rooms, etc., and the outpouring of support for firefighters.
“They exceeded our expectations on every level,” he said. “The community is made up of so many people who care.”
Johnston also heaped praise on firefighters and the response in general, saying her only issue was the way information as disseminated. Johnston is “not a Facebook person,” and said once the power went out she had no way to access the internet, anyway.
“My suggestion was when you put out notice to evacuate, put out a phone number for information,” she said.
As for the Wilsons, Tom said the risk of fire is something that is part and parcel of living in the forest. He said he and his wife accept that, will rebuild their garage as best they can and “live out the rest of our life at Deer Meadow Road.”
He did offer one qualifier on rebuilding the garage.
“I think we are going to build a metal one,” he said.