RED FLAG WARNING

RED FLAG WARNING

 

Jameson Portnoy, an old West Virginia red neck, and his buddy Jocelyn ‘Little John’ Staudenmaier lived in a remote cabin that they built together deep in the woods of Northern California.

Both were Vietnam vets, severely affected by PTSD after their time in the war. They met at a VA Hospital and, upon their release, built their cabin to avoid any human contact.

The only contact with the outside world was a battery-driven portable radio.

One day, the radio aired a “Red Flag Warning”, which meant that exceptionally hot temperatures, very low humidity and strong winds were expected to combine, significantly increasing the risk of forest fire.

Like everything else in their lives, they ignored the warning.

 

Unfortunately for them, they should have heeded it. A huge fire broke out on the side of a mountain near them. It was fast moving. As soon as they spotted it, they quickly fled.

The fire almost overtook them. They were able to take refuge by diving into a small lake as the fire blazed around them. They found it hard to breath as the fire consumed most of the oxygen in the air.

They were incredibly lucky to survive.

When the fire quickly passed, they made their way back to salvage anything they could from the ashes of the consuming fire.

Nothing survived.

Jameson stated with relief, “That was a close one! We’re damn lucky to be alive!’

Jocelyn yelled, “Bull, we were smart, not lucky”.

He then casually lit up a Camel and, just as casually, flipped the lit match into the embers of what used to be their cabin.

“Red flag be damned”, he said, offering one of his Camels to Jameson.

Jameson lit up and tossed his match into the same pile of embers as his buddy.