Wildfire destroyed her home, but not her life.

• Author: Settles, Dominique
• Position: Voices - Short Story

When I saw the blinking strip across the bottom of our TV screen--"Douglas County is in fire warning and must evacuate"--I was more irritated than worried.

It was June 2002, and Colorado was in the midst of what became the largest wildfire in the state's history. It burned from early June to mid-July, destroying 138,000 acres and 600 buildings. It cost $39 million to put out and repair the damage it caused. But we didn't know that when the first calls to evacuate came.

The threat of the fire became more real when the county sheriffs warned us that we had only two hours to get out. We couldn't see the fire because it wasn't close enough yet and the mountain in our backyard stood in our sight as if it were a great protective wall. But smoke spilled over it, heading toward our subdivision.

We had 16 pets--five horses, two dogs, five cats, two rabbits, and two chinchillas--that we had to gather up and bring with us to safety. Taking care of theme-especially figuring out how we would get our horses out, since we didn't have our own trailer--consumed most of the two hours. We just had time to take our computer, some important papers, and photos.

My sisters and I went to stay with our dad, who lived right by the high school, while my mom and stepdad stayed with a friend nearby. During that time, we got some news about how the fire was spreading, but not much detail. About two weeks after our evacuation, my mom, my older sister, Gabrielle, and I went to visit the college Gabrielle would be attending in the fall. That's where I was when I heard...