Wildfire Oral History Project

Pammella and Tinsley Meadows

September 4, 2012 12:01 am by: Robb Jacobson

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Pammella and Tinsley Meadows of Bastrop, Texas recently spoke with KUT News about their experiences with the Central Texas wildfires.

T. Meadows: Well, I was – I had just got on our computer in the computer room and I noticed two volunteer fire trucks zoom by very quick and it caught my attention.  They were definitely en route somewhere real quick and so I thought I’d better get out there and look at it and I went out and that’s when I first noticed there was a huge fire.

KUT News: And where do you live in Bastrop?  Hold on, let me get this a little big closer.

T. Meadows: We live off Harmon Road, which is probably about three miles east of Bastrop on 71.

P. Meadows: Our – our road actually went to the park.

T. Meadows: Yeah, it – it did go into the State Park.  So, when I noticed it, it was – I went out, I noticed the fire and it – the wind was coming directly toward us.  So, I went back in to tell my wife to get out here and look at this and that’s when we ran out and our neighbor came over and that’s when we were, you know, didn’t know what to do.

P. Meadows: The fire truck went by at that point and said, “Get out.  Get out now,” and we were just like, “Oh, my gosh.”  So we grabbed the dog and we piled into the truck and then I was like, “We need the car.”  You know, so T. went and got the car.  I mean, that was it.  We didn’t have time to try to – to try to get our cat.  We didn’t have time to grab anything, just get in the vehicle and leave.  You could see it.  I mean, you had to go.

KUT News: What did you see?

P. Meadows: I couldn’t see the fire at that point.  All I saw was smoke, but I mean, it was just – you couldn’t see anything past it.

T. Meadows: You couldn’t see any flames.  You just see smoke, a lot – a lot of black smoke.

KUT News: How far could you see before the smoke or was it right there?

T. Meadows: It looked like it was probably a quarter of a mile away.

KUT News: Was it pluming or…?

T. Meadows: Yes.  Yes, it was, yeah.  We have – there’s a bunch of big trees so you can’t see a whole lot, but you knew it was there.

P. Meadows: It was coming through the trees.

T. Meadows: That’s what was scary is you didn’t know where it was and the volunteer fire department guys said we had about three minutes to get out of there, so leave now.

P. Meadows: And when we got to the end of the road, we were going to park one of the vehicles, go back and get T.’s motorcycle and they wouldn’t let us back in.

KUT News: So the police – the fire truck stopped to talk to you to tell you to get out?

T. Meadows: Yes, very quickly.

KUT News: And are you – you have neighbors just right around you or are they kind of in the woods?

T. Meadows: There – we have real big lots.  Like, we’re on seven acres out there and our neighbors were probably even more. So we have…

P. Meadows: We have neighbors directly across the street.

T. Meadows: Yeah, they had a lot of livestock.

P. Meadows: Yes, and their livestock, most of it made it.

T. Meadows: So, when we took off, I went back in to get the little car, which we almost left because we were panicking.  You really don’t know what to do in a time like that.  I got the little car and Chloe, our dog, got in the truck with Pam and they took off and went to the store and they wouldn’t let us…

P. Meadows: We went to the convenient store.  We didn’t know where else – I didn’t know where else to go and that’s where everybody was.  I mean, there were already hundreds of people there.

KUT News: Where is the convenient store?

P. Meadows: On the corner of…

T. Meadows: Loop 150 and 71.  It’s that Tiger Toe Exxon and when she did that, I went to the road directly behind our house just to see if I could see anything and they were telling people to get out down that road as well.  I stayed down there as long as I could until they told me I had to – I had to leave and you could tell there was – you couldn’t see the fire, but you could see the smoke and wind was coming directly where our…

P. Meadows: Was.

T. Meadows: Was.

KUT News: And were you looking – the smoke was in the direction of Bastrop State park?

T. Meadows: Yes, it was coming from the State Park, for sure, and heading towards 71.

KUT News: And they had – they told you how many minutes did you have?

P. Meadows: Three minutes.

KUT News: Three minutes?

T. Meadows: To get out of there.

KUT News: So you got – you got both vehicles out?

T. Meadows: We got both vehicles.  We…

KUT News: And your dog.

P. Meadows: And that’s it.

T. Meadows: Horace left – didn’t have time to get the motorcycle or the boat or anything.

P. Meadows: Or any pictures.

T. Meadows: Or really anything.

P. Meadows: Yeah.

T. Meadows: Because we really thought, at that point, we would be coming back.

P. Meadows: We thought we’d be back.

T. Meadows: You know, we didn’t think that would be the last time we would be there.

KUT News: Exactly.

T. Meadows: You know, until – until we sat at the store and looked at the big – the fire just get bigger and bigger and bigger.  Then I pretty much knew, but we had that hope.

P. Meadows: And we did – we had friends with us.  Friends had come – we even had friends at the movie theater that we called or text and said, you know, “We’ve been evacuated,” blah, blah, blah.  So they left the movies in Austin and came out to Bastrop.

T. Meadows: Mm-hm.

P. Meadows: And right after Victoria got there, she got a phone all from a contractor friend of hers in Bastrop and they – he told her our house was gone.  He had friends on the fire department.

KUT News: And so what time was that?

T. Meadows: Well…

P. Meadows: 6-ish maybe.

T. Meadows: When we first noticed it, it was all about around 2:00 probably or 1:30.

P. Meadows: When – when Scott called.

T. Meadows: Right so when Scott – yeah, it was…

P. Meadows: About 6:00.

T. Meadows: Probably about – yeah. I would think.

KUT News: How long did you stay at the Tiger Mart?

T. Meadows: Hours.

P. Meadows: We moved – we moved from there down to Ballards because it just got too crowded at Tiger Toe.  So we went to another convenient store down on Highway 95 and, of course, there were – there were a lot of people there also.

T. Meadows: It was – it was surreal.

P. Meadows: It was kind of a meeting point, though.  We had – we had another friend that lives in Bastrop and he was evacuated and so he met us – or he hadn’t been evacuated at that point, right?

T. Meadows: Not at that point.

P. Meadows: He just came down and met with us to be with us and so we had other friends that were just – met us down there and, gosh, we were there until…

T. Meadows: Ten – about 10, 11 at night.

P. Meadows: We didn’t know what to do.

T. Meadows: Just – we didn’t know what to do.  Yeah, just watching the planes and the helicopters and the smoke and, you know…

P. Meadows: Thinking someone would say something, you know, some police officer or something would come around and tell you what to do, where to go.  I mean, we were just…

T. Meadows: Because we had no idea what – if our house was there, if it wasn’t.

P. Meadows: We did.  Basically, Scott said…

T. Meadows: Well, yeah…

P. Meadows: Well, he said that the fireman was, you know, 99% sure that our house was gone and so we – but you have to hear it.

T. Meadows: You have to see it and I didn’t want to believe that, so…

P. Meadows: So we went and the spent the night with Kenny, a friend of ours, who lives up on South Shore Road and he actually lost everything but his home and stuff last year in the first fire in…

T. Meadows: Well, it was the holiday before.

P. Meadows: Memorial Day?

T. Meadows: No.

P. Meadows: It was your birthday weekend.  So anyway, he lost everything – you know, his property.  All of his forest burned up.  So we went there to stay and we had a heck of a time even trying to sleep, you know.  Am I getting the story right because it’s all – it’s all kind of…

T. Meadows: Yeah.

P. Meadows: Fuzzy, but, I mean, we couldn’t, you know, your – you could hear everything around, you could, you know, you could smell.  It was all in the air.  It was just…

T. Meadows: Unbelievable.

P. Meadows: So we – we went there and about, I guess, 11:00 or 12:00, we decided to try to get up to Tiger Toe to see if we could get down the highway to get home and when we got to Tiger Toe, there were fireman in there and I went in and I asked one if he could tell me if our house was affected and he asked me the address and when I told him, he said, “No, it’s gone.”

T. Meadows: Yeah, 150.

P. Meadows: It’s all gone.  So, I just hugged him and thanked him for what, you know, what they were doing, but at that point we were like, you know, okay.  And then, you know, when they started making the – the list of all the homes, to the very last day, our home was never listed…

T. Meadows: I still – I still don’t think it’s on the list.

P. Meadows: On that list as being destroyed.

T. Meadows: Because we would try to go get some items or something and our – they – our house wouldn’t be on the – on the list.

P. Meadows: Our address wasn’t on the list.

T. Meadows: And it was pretty much the hot spot where the fire, it came over and went back and came over and went back and it was right – our house was in that spot.  So, we were kind of surprised by that.

P. Meadows: It looks like a war zone, you know.

KUT News: The firefighter could look and see that your house was gone.  Was he looking just at the area knowing that your house be gone or at the Tiger Toe did he…

P. Meadows: I believe he was one of them that had been down there fighting.  You could tell that they had been – they were all, you know, black and exhausted and…

T. Meadows: He’s the one that told you because he talked to her in the store, but she told me that he said, “What was the address?” and she told him and he said, “Yeah, your house is gone and that it burned down in about three minutes.”

KUT News: You had three minutes to get out.

T. Meadows: Three minutes to get out.

KUT News: And your house burned down in about…

T. Meadows: That’s what he told P..

P. Meadows: That’s what he said.  Yeah, he said, “I think it went down,” – and see we had not only a huge house, a huge stone house, but we had a shop, a three-car garage, two barns.

T. Meadows: But it was metal roofs, rock house…

P. Meadows: All gone.

T. Meadows: But inside was all wood, so – and we had a lot of trees around us, so – and, of course…

P. Meadows: A lot – and there were a lot of dead trees because of the – the drought, you know, there was no way to keep up with all of that.  So, once they started, I guess it was just – but you could tell how hot that inferno was when it went through because there – it was just…

T. Meadows: Well…

P. Meadows: You couldn’t even tell there was even a refrigerator in the kitchen, where the kitchen used to be.  I mean, you would think there would be something left standing there.  There wasn’t, it was just gone, you know, everything went – it’s just…

T. Meadows: Well, they said the flame was like, you know, in some parts, 40 feet high and even higher than that and moving about 35 miles per hour.  So, I think any – anything that’s in its path is going to be destroyed.  No stopping that.

KUT News: So you stayed at…

P. Meadows: A friend’s house.

KUT News: A friend’s house in Bastrop…

P. Meadows: Uh-huh.

KUT News: That you knew wasn’t affected, obviously and they had…

P. Meadows: Well, the next day, he was actually evacuated.

KUT News: Wasn’t it the next day?

T. Meadows: I’m – I really – I really can’t remember.  I think so.

P. Meadows: When we got up the next morning, we looked out and you could still see all of the smoke and I – I kind of panicked.  I was like, “I’m not staying here.  I want out of here.  We need to get out of here.”  You could still hear all of the sirens and at that point, when I could see it in the daytime, it was like, “That looks way too close to – to use here.  We need to get out of here,” you know, and so we helped Kenny – he’s a musician and we helped him pack up his guitars and amps and some of, you know…

T. Meadows: He got just whatever he…

P. Meadows: Whatever he could…

T. Meadows: To try to get a jumpstart in case they came back around or whatnot, so he tried to – but I don’t – did he leave?  I think we left.

P. Meadows: We left.

T. Meadows: I think he stayed.

P. Meadows: And then he came – he finished loading up.

T. Meadows: Oh, that’s okay.

P. Meadows: And then they came down at met us at Ballard’s again, at the convenient store and parked his truck at the movie theater.

T. Meadows: Yeah, he was going to his girlfriend’s.

P. Meadows: And he was going into – yeah, his – his girlfriend’s in Austin.

KUT News: So what did you do that second day?

T. Meadows: We would…

KUT News: The next day?

P. Meadows: We sat there.

T. Meadows: Again.

P. Meadows: We did and one of our very best friends in the world, Mary Kay, came out and T.’s mom and sister and they sat there with us.  You know it was like…

T. Meadows: We just sat there and looked at the smoke and the planes and the helicopters and just were trying to…

P. Meadows: We were just like, “What are we gonna do?”  You know its…

T. Meadows: Just…

P. Meadows: What are we going to do?

KUT News: Were you – how were you finding out information the day of and then the next day at – at these two gathering places?  Was it – were you listening to radio or TV or Facebook or…

T. Meadows: We went – a lot of Facebook. You know, I posted a lot on Facebook and friends and stuff, because I have a lot of friends out there and so I would try to keep you with that and then at City Hall.

P. Meadows: Well, that’s when they were setting – wasn’t – it was late on the second day when we finally got…

T. Meadows: Over there.

P. Meadows: Any real information, you know, and there wasn’t really information because, like I said, they didn’t have us as burned.  They – there was nothing about our address on there.  So, that day we actually went into T.’s sister’s to spend the night.  It’s amazing because we – we got there and we got ready to go take showers and were like, “Well, we don’t have anything.”

T. Meadows: We were still in our…

P. Meadows: We don’t – he still had his swim trunks on, you know, so we were like, “We have to go shopping before we can even take a shower.”

T. Meadows: Yeah.

P. Meadows: Yeah, I mean, it just didn’t – it just didn’t soak in.  We – so we have to go shopping and buy underwear and socks and an outfit to put on and…

T. Meadows: Shoes.

P. Meadows: Shoes, yeah.  It was – so we stayed there that night and then we went back to Bastrop and that’s when they really started having a lot of information, you know.

T. Meadows: Mm-hm.  At City Hall they had a big map of the whole community and road closures and stuff like that.  So, we would check it quite a bit to see if we could get back up to our house.

P. Meadows: We got in touch with the people to put our cat on – on the missing list so that they could start watching for Clive and got the information for FEMA, which – and called my insurance company – our insurance company and they were wonderful.  They had us into a room…

T. Meadows: Very quick.

P. Meadows: Yeah, and had a check for us so that we would be able to live until things calmed down a little bit.  So, we moved into a motel.

KUT News: Where was that?

P. Meadows: In Round Rock.

T. Meadows: Which was quite a bit a ways.

P. Meadows: It’s – it’s closer to where T.’s mother lives and we knew she’d be want – she’d want to spend a lot of time with us and it’s close – close to where T. works and it’s about 15 minutes from where I work.  So, it was kind of a good central location for then, you know, because we needed to be near family.  So – but we couldn’t stay.

T. Meadows: No.

P. Meadows: We had to get back to Bastrop, but everyday they had more information, but we were never listed, so it was difficult to really get any kind of – any kind of help, you know, at first…

KUT News: Meaning FEMA, insurance – but your insurance did.

P. Meadows: Oh my insurance – yeah, well we’ve been insured with them for 20 years, so…

KUT News: They didn’t care about a list, did they?

P. Meadows: No, they just – he was, “Whatever you need, P., we’re here.”

T. Meadows: Well they did.  They – they met us or they – she went out later, didn’t she, to the – no.  No, they sure didn’t.

KUT News: P., do you mind taking off these bracelets?  I’m hearing them clink and then – that’s okay.  Thank you.

T. Meadows: I’m thinking about the – for the bike.

KUT News: So – okay, so you stayed with your sister the second night.

P. Meadows: We stayed there for a few nights.

KUT News: In Austin?

P. Meadows: In Westlake.

KUT News: In Westlake for a couple nights and then that’s when the insurance check came for you.

P. Meadows: Well we went down to meet with – with Chad, our agent, and he basically – all he did was – or no, we met with the insurance company people, but Chad was there and so basically he told them to get us a check, you know, for living expenses.  I mean, we weren’t there – Mary Kay took us.  She actually ran us around for days because we – we were just not thinking clearly.  So, Mary Kay took us down and we were only there maybe 10 minutes, 15 minutes and we had talked to them, given them all the information and Chad handed us a check and we were – and he told us where our hotel room was and that it was good for a week and then we’d know more within the week.  So, we were able to move in there and we went back to Bastrop everyday, spent the days thinking, “We’re going to be here when they open our road,” you know, because they – the neighbors across the street from us, their livestock, some of their livestock made it, so they were allowed to get in after, I think, the third or fourth day.

T. Meadows: Mm-hm.  I think it was the third day.

P. Meadows: So they were being able to get in and they called us one night, about the sixth night into this, and said, “P., Clive is alive.  We saw your cat.”  And we were like, “No way,” and she’s like, “I’m looking at him right now,” and so she took her cell phone over and put it in the driveway and I started talking to Clive and he went up to the phone and his ears puffed up and his tail started wagging and they – he actually allowed them to pick him up.  He wouldn’t let them cross the road with him, but at that point, you know, that was the first contact he’d had in almost a week.

T. Meadows: So he knew – he knew that voice and once he heard…

P. Meadows: He knew we – he knew we were coming back.  So, he waited for us, you know, the day that – well, the very following day, the neighbor that called and let me talk to Clive, snuck us in when she was going to feed her animals.

T. Meadows: Because she could get in.

KUT News: To feed the animals.

P. Meadows: Yeah.

T. Meadows: To feed the animals so she told the officer that we’re to help – we were there to help her.

P. Meadows: Mm-hm, but Clive was nowhere around and – we only had a short amount of time.  You know, get in, feed the animals and you get back out.  So, that was the first time we saw our – what used to be our home.

T. Meadows: Yeah, that was the first time we were able to get back in there to see the house.

P. Meadows: So, Clive wasn’t there and we had to leave and then two days later is when they actually let us into the property.  So, we spent the day there and the man that we were getting the house from, his daughter directly behind us lost everything also.  So, the whole family was there and they left, but we – we – we continued to – there was really – we were sifting through things.

T. Meadows: We were just looking.  There was…

P. Meadows: There wasn’t – yeah.

KUT News: So when you got back in with your neighbor, what did you see?

T. Meadows: The first time?  Just – just nothing.

P. Meadows: It looked like a bomb blew up.

T. Meadows: There was just nothing there.

P. Meadows: It was…

T. Meadows: Just a lot of tin and the walls had fallen in and just, you know, just total – just nothing.  Our trees were gone.  Just – just – it was hard to see.

P. Meadows: Everything around us was just horrific.  I couldn’t believe it was the same road, you know.  You know how pretty those roads are that go back to the park and there were no – it was just incredible and it was just crazy how our big stone home was gone and the house – wooden frame house next door to us was gone, but the mobile home behind the house was barely touched.  It’s amazing how it jumped.  It was just…

T. Meadows: Mm-hm.

P. Meadows: It was – and then the homes across the street gone except – except for the one directly across the street from us, which…

T. Meadows: And it did that all throughout Bastrop, though.  One house burned and another house okay, so it was really weird how it – it – I think it was just – if the firefighters were able to get there before the flame got there, they were able – they had a better chance to save it.

P. Meadows: The house that we’re – we’re renting right now in Tahitian Village, the house next door to it burned to the ground and it burned down the privacy fence in the house that we’re at, but it never touched the house.

T. Meadows: That’s how close it had gotten.

P. Meadows: So it just – it just – it was amazing because you’d – you’d look and everything would be gone and there’s a house standing and then on the other side, everything is gone.

T. Meadows: Well, that’s like we have – we had some outdoor furniture, some wrought iron and teak chairs and we had one that was – the rest of them were all on the terrace and then we had one that was probably about 15 feet away.  We had a little pond out there and we had a chair out there by a table and the table that was right in front of the chair melted, a plant that was right on the tree..

P. Meadows: Melted.

T. Meadows: Basically on top of the chair melted, but we – we still have the chair.

P. Meadows: The chair is totally…

T. Meadows: The chair did not burn down.

P. Meadows: Has two little spots on it, but that teakwood chair in the midst of all of that made it.  Now, the other five didn’t.

T. Meadows: There was nothing left except…

P. Meadows: Just the frame.

KUT News: So you could understand how maybe the firefighter were dousing some house, but then – then there were – but also, the fire just decided…

P. Meadows: Yeah.

T. Meadows: Exactly.

KUT News: What it wanted to do.

T. Meadows: Exactly because it was – it was – just from the heat alone, it’s hard to explain why the wood just didn’t catch on fire and burn.  It was just really weird – really weird.

KUT News: And because of the wind – apparently a fire creates its own wind, too.

T. Meadows: Right.  Right.

KUT News: It was windy plus that.  It creates its own wind, from what I’m learning, that maybe it was going to fast it – it did leave things.  I don’t – I don’t know.

T. Meadows: It’s – it’s just really weird.

P. Meadows: We had a lot of – we had a lot of stainless steel tables and furniture, a big long stainless steel bench outside the bay window.  I mean, we had all this stainless steel out there.  It made it through the fire, but the iron chairs – I mean, so it’s just like I don’t understand, you know, how some things were – of course, they’re burned, the tables and bench and everything have burned spots on them, but we were able to salvage those out of the backyard.

KUT News: So you were in the motel in Round Rock for a week?

P. Meadows: Yes, in the first one.

KUT News: And then where’d you go?

P. Meadows: We moved to another one…

T. Meadows: That was still in Round Rock.

P. Meadows: Yeah, it was still in Round Rock.  It was right up the road and we were there for a month?

T. Meadows: Just about a month.

P. Meadows: Yeah.

T. Meadows: But the first hotel that we went to that FEMA covered, we had to move because during Katrina, they supported FEMA and – but they found out that FEMA would not cover any more of the…

P. Meadows: The fire victims.

T. Meadows: For some strange…

P. Meadows: For some reason…

T. Meadows: Because we were already there, set up…

P. Meadows: And it was – it was comfortable.

T. Meadows: It was comfortable and – but then we had to leave because all of a sudden, they wouldn’t…

P. Meadows: And we were there for two weeks.  They extended it a week.

T. Meadows: Two weeks.

P. Meadows: Yeah we were there for two weeks, because when we got Clive, we got to bring him back there.

T. Meadows: Right.

P. Meadows: So we were there for two weeks and then they told us we had to leave.  So, we moved up to – I don’t remember what the hotel was.

T. Meadows: Further…

P. Meadows: Anyway, we were there for a month and they were very nice to us. They were very good to us, but living in that one room with a dog and a cat and a cat that’s not used to being in the house, it was just…

T. Meadows: It didn’t help.  I mean, it was hard.

P. Meadows: Yeah, we…

T. Meadows: It was hard.

P. Meadows: I spent most nights outside on the steps, you know, just out there thinking, talking to people.  That’s what kept us sane, you know, was everyone…

T. Meadows: All of our friends and family, mm-hm.

P. Meadows: Yeah.

KUT News: What did you do after that?

P. Meadows: Well, we were with – we were looking for a place to move into in Round Rock so that we would be closer to T.’s mother and we were driving around looking at places and we had found one and we were going to sign a lease on it and that evening we went back to the room and my friend – our friend, Lisa, called and she was like – no, her son called and he was like, “Mom and Chris are evicting the people that are in their house because it was horrible.” Anyway, so, “move in there, and you’ll be back in Bastrop where your friends are,” and we were just like, “Oh, my gosh.”  So we were like really that close to signing a lease and having to move to Round Rock and we got to go back home and it’s a beautiful home.  It’s a – you know, it’s – they – and then they rushed to get everything done for us.  You know, they – they went in and they put in all new carpet and had the whole thing painted and had Blackman Mooring come out and do the vents and – and, I mean, it was incredible, so it took them about a month because they had to have 30 days to evict the people that were in there and then…

T. Meadows: Clean.

P. Meadows: And then get everything all cleaned up and the way that Lisa knew that we would want it and so at that point, we moved out of the hotel and moved back…

KUT News: Because you needed – oh, so you stayed in the hotel until it was ready?

P. Meadows: No, we left the hotel.  The friend of ours that we stayed with…

T. Meadows: Prior.

P. Meadows: Prior, he – he kept – everyday, he was calling us.  “You guys just need to come out here and stay with me.  Get out of the hotel.  You just need to come here,” you know, “bring the animals and come on,” and we fought him until finally it was like, “Okay.”

T. Meadows: Like, “Are you sure you want – want two people and two animals?” because he has two dogs and he likes his privacy, but he really extended his hand…

P. Meadows: He said, “You guys would do – do this for me and this is what I want you to do.”  He said, “I will move out.”  He said, “I will move every – all of my stuff out of the upstairs and you guys take that over,” and so we moved down there and stayed for a month until the house was ready.

T. Meadows: Which was the right move.

P. Meadows: It was.

T. Meadows: Because…

KUT News: For – go ahead.

T. Meadows: Well, it just felt right being back in Bastrop.  That – because, you know, that was our community and we just felt at home, there, you know.

KUT News: And your animals, god, I bet they were so happy.

T. Meadows: Oh, they were.  They were extremely happy and they – they were incredibly good like they knew what has happened or something.  It was really weird because in the – in the hotel, they were on their best behavior.

P. Meadows: Yeah.

T. Meadows: I mean, they – they – it was like they knew something.

P. Meadows: Clive was actually – Chloe is our dog and she’s always good, but Clive being – he’s like a 20-pound cat – 18-pound cat.

T. Meadows: He’s an outside cat.

P. Meadows: And we had tried previously to let him live in the house and he would knock things over and get into trouble and – and so, we thought, “Oh, my goodness…”

T. Meadows: Doesn’t know what a litter box is.

P. Meadows: Never knew what a litter box was.  That was funny teaching him how to use the litter box, but he was perfect.

T. Meadows: A little messy in the litter box, but he was –

P. Meadows: He kind of overdid it.

T. Meadows: Yeah, he overpowered the – but he knew – he knew what to do and was – they were – they were incredible.  It was like they just knew.

P. Meadows: We’d walk in after work and they’d be laying together on the bed and they’d just both turn and look.  It’s like, “Yay.”

T. Meadows: Mm-hm, and that was for just about a month.  I mean, it was just really incredible.

P. Meadows: At the hotel and then when we got down to – back to Kenny’s in Bastrop, you know, it was – it was good.  Chloe was able to get outside and play then, you know, in the hotel, we just could take her out to go to the restroom and go back in.

T. Meadows: But the cat stayed in the whole time because our friend has two big German Shepherds, which – I don’t think they’re cat lovers or they are, but – so…

P. Meadows: So, he was stuck inside for a whole another month.

T. Meadows: Yeah.

P. Meadows: So we just had a heck of a time getting him out of the garage when we came – when we went to leave.  He didn’t want to go outside today.  He wanted to lay in the garage and just look outside.  He’s still, I think, a little unsettled.  You know, he’s real jumpy.

T. Meadows: Well, imagine what he went through.  You know he did have his – he was burned a little bit on his paws and he had some of his hair – hair singed.

P. Meadows: His whiskers, yeah.

T. Meadows: And had some hair that stuck out, but it was gone and he was real dirty, but he must have went through hell.

KUT News: Because ash was falling all over.

P. Meadows: Yea.

T. Meadows: I can only imagine.

P. Meadows: You know, we were there all day that day that they let us in looking for him and – and he never came.  We were calling for him and he never came.  We left the house to go check on a friend of ours whose ranch…

T. Meadows: He lost his whole ranch off of 21.

P. Meadows: Yeah, so we went to check on him and he – he wasn’t there, so we – you know, I said, “It’s 6:00.  It’s about the time we would be coming home from work.  Let’s go see if Clivey’s there.”  So, we went back to the house and we’re walking around and the neighbors that had lost everything were back there and they saw him under a piece of tin and he was just…

T. Meadows: Just sitting there.

P. Meadows: Sitting there under this piece of tin and so we started calling and we had to coax him out a little bit because there were other people there, but he came out and it was just – everybody cried.  You know, we were all just like, “Oh, my god, what he’s – what he’s been through.”

T. Meadows: Yeah, I picked him up and boy he started doing his paw thing on my arm and he was happy.

P. Meadows: Yeah.

T. Meadows: Oh yeah.  Yeah, he was – and I didn’t – and it felt good even though it hurt.  It was really – it was really just a good feeling.

P. Meadows: It was like family, the last member of the family we had to get, so it was good.

KUT News: He was under a piece of tin in your neighbor’s yard?

T. Meadows: No, at the house.

P. Meadows: At our house.

T. Meadows: It was part of the – part of the roof that was just crumpled over and he was just sitting there and he didn’t know who we were, if we were volunteer fire department guys that were trying to get him, you know, because people were trying to pick him up.

P. Meadows: They were – and they were feeding – the fire department was leaving food out.

T. Meadows: Mm-hm, food and water.

P. Meadows: For the animals so, I mean…

T. Meadows: Before the let anybody back there because they would see animals, you know, because people have a lot of house pets and so they would see animals and they were trying to take care of them.

KUT News: Wonderful.

P. Meadows: Well, we had, I think, five firefighters that lived on our road…

T. Meadows: Yeah and I think they all lost their house.

P. Meadows: That lost their homes, so, you know, they were out…

T. Meadows: They were incredible.

P. Meadows: Trying to save other people’s homes and lost theirs and, you know, in the big picture of things, you know, they’re really heroes.

T. Meadows: Oh, they’re absolutely heroes and it’s amazing that nobody – none of them got hurt because that’s some really rough terrain and you could – couldn’t ever really see it because it was so think with pine – all the trees, so beautiful, but now you can see all the way up in there and you can see how rough that terrain is.  So, it was really incredible that those guys – nobody got hurt except, you know, there were two fatalities.  Throughout the whole ordeal, that’s pretty amazing.

P. Meadows: And it’s amazing.

T. Meadows: That’s pretty amazing.

KUT News: So did your cat let you pick her up?

P. Meadows: Yes.  Yeah, right away and we had to cage him to get him back to the hotel which he – he screamed the whole way.

T. Meadows: He cried.

P. Meadows: Yeah.

T. Meadows: He cried.

P. Meadows: Really loud like a baby.  We were just like, “Clive, it’s going to be okay.”  He just did not want – he didn’t want to leave, you know.

T. Meadows: Well, he was just – he was probably in shock.

KUT News: That’s his home.

T. Meadows: Sure.

P. Meadows: Yeah.

T. Meadows: He didn’t – he didn’t want to leave and didn’t know what was going on, so…

P. Meadows: Yeah.

KUT News: So you’re still in Tahitian Village?

P. Meadows: Uh-huh.  We’re there.

KUT News: Are you planning on rebuilding?

T. Meadows: We – I think so.

P. Meadows: We were – we were actually getting – buying the house from the builder and at first he did not want to rebuild back there.  He said it’s – it’s – look at this devastation.  It is – it is so ugly, but since the fire he and his wife, you know, have talked about it and – and he lost several other houses…

T. Meadows: Five.

P. Meadows: In the fire and so they have decided to go ahead and rebuild.  So, we just have to get together with them and see what kind of…

T. Meadows: It’s just the – the land is just – it’s, you know…

P. Meadows: What we loved…

T. Meadows: The trees are still up, but they’re all dead and they’re just starting to fall, so it’s – it’s hard to imagine what it’s going to look like.  It’s going to be as bare as a desert.  So, do we want to live…

P. Meadows: Yeah.

T. Meadows: You know, we could plant some trees and stuff.

P. Meadows: We had beautiful big, huge oak trees in the front and, I mean – and on the side.  I mean, all of them right there, they were just…

T. Meadows: Gorgeous.

P. Meadows: Yeah and now it’s just – there’s nothing.

T. Meadows: So that was the main question is, “Do you really want to live there?”  You know, it’s a reminder everyday.

P. Meadows: I haven’t been able – after the first couple weeks – the first couple of weeks we went and I tried to sift through things and go through things and we had some very good friends of ours come over and they put on – because we wore HAZMAT suits and I think we were the only ones out there that did.  You’d see people out there digging in their shorts and – but we wore HAZMAT suits and masks and the came out and they dug right in there with us and started and they’ve actually gone back on their own and dug through the rubble and found things.  We had bronzes – bronze sculptures and…

T. Meadows: Just a couple, but…

P. Meadows: Yeah, just a couple, but that’s what – I didn’t think that they would – they would melt because they were bronze.  So, we found one and the base of it burnt, which we will have that repaired and – but the most amazing thing is we had a little teeny bear and one of our friends, Tina, went over there  and she found him.  His hands and arms and his face were burned off, but she took him to a friend of ours who owns a foundry in Smithfield and he repaired him for us and it was – when she brought that little teeny bear, we both started crying.  We were like out of everything, this little bear…

T. Meadows: A piece of our – of our – of us, you know.

P. Meadows: And then another friend, Karen, went and she had made us a – is it out of stainless, the moon?

T. Meadows: Yes.

P. Meadows: A stainless moon and it was hanging by the front door to welcome people when – whenever they came in and…

T. Meadows: A bird told her where it was.

P. Meadows: She – she was over there and she’s standing in the doorway or what used to be the doorway and she’s like, “I know it’s here.  I know.  I can feel it.  It’s right here,” and this bird just started squeal – you know, making all this noise trying to get her attention and she looked up at that bird, “What are you trying to tell me?”  The bird just kept going.  It kept going and it kept going and – and Karen looked down – turned away from the bird and looked down and there it was.  So, she wanted to turn around and tell the bird thank you and it was gone.  She was like, “It was just the weirdest thing.  He was telling me, ‘don’t give up.  It’s – it’s there.’”  So, and she – so she found that four us.  They have been awesome.  You know, they’ve gone back and they’ll find little things each time they go, you know, and they always have little presence for us, but a piece of pottery that had potpourri in it…

T. Meadows: Potpourri in it.

P. Meadows: The pot made it and it was on a wooden table that is gone.  The potpourri is gone out of the pot, but the pot.  It’s amazing.

KUT News: So you’re not going back and sifting through?

P. Meadows: I haven’t been back for a long time.  It just make me…

T. Meadows: I have.  I’ve been back over there.

P. Meadows: T. actually went over there and did some scrapping, you know, trying to pull some of the metal off and – and…

T. Meadows: Before we got – which we did.  People would go out and they would actually loot.

P. Meadows: Yeah, they stole all the copper and we don’t know what else they actually took, but it was obvious that someone had been there, but he was going back every weekend and working.

T. Meadows: Plus that was the only way to scrap because if you have to get all that metal off because it’s – it’s really dangerous because all the building materials and stuff like that, so I had to get a lot of that metal off so…

P. Meadows: Before we…

T. Meadows: I could get – knock those walls – finish knocking them over.

P. Meadows: Before we could even look. Yeah.

T. Meadows: Before you could really look and then you’ve got two feet, three feet of rock and – and building material that you’ve got to get before you can even get to the base of where things were.

KUT News: So, the – the stone walls imploded?  They went in?

P. Meadows: Yes.

T. Meadows: Oh, in and out.

P. Meadows: Yeah and you could just push on what was left and – and they fell.  And this is amazing, but the big rocks by the pond we thought they were fine because they…

T. Meadows: They’re big rocks.

P. Meadows: And you go to pick them up and they turn into ashes.

T. Meadows: Or just crack and break.

P. Meadows: Just – yeah.

T. Meadows: And those were right by where that chair was.

P. Meadows: It was amazing.

KUT News: What was your address or is your address where you lived?

T. Meadows: 150 Harmon.

KUT News: And you had acreage?

T. Meadows: Close…

P. Meadows: Seven acres.

T. Meadows: Yeah, right at – a little under seven.

P. Meadows: Yeah.

KUT News: And how long had you been there?

T. Meadows: Four – four or five.

P. Meadows: Five – five years.

KUT News: Was it a new house – new builder house?

P. Meadows: No.  The man that built the house, the builder, that was his family home.  He raised his family there.  So, it was really special because we know them, you know, and they – he built his wife a new home in Smithfield, right out – well, in Winchester and so she had a big beautiful new home for the two of them to enjoy together now that all of their, you know, kids are gone and they’re raising their grandchildren, you know, there now, but – so, his wife – the house sat empty for – for a couple of years…

T. Meadows: Two years.

P. Meadows: Because his wife would not let anybody be there.  She just refused.  “No, nobody’s living in my home.”  And we were buying a house from – from him in Bastrop, which we were vandalized there and so I called him and said, “We’re done.  We don’t want to live like this, so we’re done.”  You know and he, you know, thought about it and he called me at work and he said, “What would y’all think about the big house?” and he came and got me at work one day and we went and looked it at and then T. and I went over and it was – it was like, “Well, heck, yeah, for the same deal.  We have land and, you know, we don’t have to worry about all the neighbors and we don’t have to worry about someone throwing a bird bath through your car windows,” I mean, it was just like, “Yeah.”  So – and it was close to where I was working at the time.  It was within like two miles.  It was perfect and we loved it.  We worked on it all the time.  We won’t do that again, spend that much time on something.

KUT News: You don’t think?

P. Meadows: No.

T. Meadows: I think we will.

P. Meadows: I don’t want to do that.

T. Meadows: Yeah, we’ll have more fun, less time worrying about – because we saw how quick you can lose everything.

P. Meadows: Right.

T. Meadows: So, it’s like, you know, what’s important so it’s a constant reminder of what’s really important.

P. Meadows: It’s time to start getting out and doing some things instead of, “Oh, no, we have to paint this room today or…”

T. Meadows: We’re going to…

P. Meadows: “We’re going to replace those light fixtures.  We’re going to work on the yard,” which was constant, all the time.  We would take the boat out and – and fish.  That’s – that’s our release.  You know, that’s – other than that, we were always…

T. Meadows: We were either working or on the lake.

P. Meadows: Working, yep.  So, but I don’t want to do that this time, spend all of our time.

T. Meadows: And it made my sister think, too, about everything we went through.

P. Meadows: How everything we had was gone in an afternoon.

T. Meadows: It’s like – because she had – she was doing a lot of stuff on a house and just like it was non-ending projects and she’s like, “You know what?”

P. Meadows: She sold the house.

T. Meadows: She just sold it.  She just sold it…

P. Meadows: And – two weeks ago.

T. Meadows: Two weeks ago?

P. Meadows: Yeah.

T. Meadows: And she’s moving into a little house and she’s going to start having more fun.  She’s like, “Look what happened to you guys.”

P. Meadows: It was – T.’s father built the house and so she was really trying to…

T. Meadows: Keep it.

P. Meadows: To keep it, you know, but it – it was huge and needed a lot of work and she was constantly working on it and once this happened, she said, “I’m done.  I’m just done.  I’m not doing it.”  So she started clearing stuff out.  She had garage sales and put it up for sale and she really did.  She sold it and she said, “I’m not – it’s not worth it.  When everything can be gone in the blink of an eye, it’s – it’s, you know,” so she’s moving into a little house and…

T. Meadows: Yep.

P. Meadows: She’s really happy.  Actually today they’re – they’re all over there – the family’s over there seeing it for the first time.

KUT News: It changes the way you’re going to live.

T. Meadows: Oh yeah.  Oh yeah, it’s a major eye opener.

P. Meadows: Yeah.  Yesterday I was in the house – this is irrelevant really, but I was in the house yesterday scrubbing the floors on my hands and knees.  I have to have everything perfect and T. was outside working and I decided I’m going to go out and work in the garage so at least we’re outside together and we can talk.  So, I got out there, we were talking and he was washing his bike and stuff and I started working on the garage and – and it was totally different than what I would have done a year ago because I would have had to stay in there and finish that floor and it was going to be perfect, but I just picked everything up and actually I just left it and went outside with T. and then picked it up after dark.  But, it was like – and it – and it felt like that was the right thing to do.  I mean, so rather than being in two separate places doing two separate things, you know, it’s tough.  There’s a lot of – there’s a lot of anger, you know, “How could this happen?” you know, when we’ve worked so hard for this long and there’s a lot of sad and people that haven’t been through it don’t understand it.  You know, they just don’t.  My boss actually told me, “Get over it.  You should be over it,” you know, and I don’t think it’s anything we will ever get over.  It will be easier to deal with like – they said it’s like a death in the family, you know, and it is.

T. Meadows: Yeah.

P. Meadows: I mean, everyday I’ll think of something or someone will say, “Oh, gosh, I wish I had this. I need to – “ and I’ll go, “Oh, I have it.”  Well, I was going to tell you you could borrow it, but we don’t have it anymore. You know…

T. Meadows: It’s hard to – it’s even hard for us to realize that we – you just – you don’t have certain things, you know, and so people, they don’t have a clue.  When I tell people that we’ve lost everything, they – they don’t understand that we lost everything – everything.

P. Meadows: They don’t – they’ll ask us, “So, have y’all been fishing lately?”  We don’t have a boat.

T. Meadows: We don’t have gear, we don’t have anything.

P. Meadows: We don’t have any of our gear, you know…

T. Meadows: Stuff we’ve collected for 20 years, stuff we’ve had all of our lives and…

P. Meadows: We’ve had people say, “Did you get your golf clubs out?”

T. Meadows: Jewelry – yeah.

P. Meadows: It’s like, “Really, yeah, that’s what we were thinking about.”

T. Meadows: Yeah.  Yeah.

P. Meadows: Yeah, all – all – everything.

T. Meadows: So it’s – and it’s still – it’s hard – it’s hard for me to still think that we don’t have this and don’t have that, you know.

P. Meadows: And I know they’re just – it’s just material things, but it’s things that we’ve had forever, things that his – T.’s brother, who passed away, he left us, you know.  Pictures of the children when they were small and family pictures that there’s no way to replace them, you know.

KUT News: We lost everything is such a simple sentence, isn’t it?

T. Meadows: It is.

KUT News: I mean, it’s a little sentence.

T. Meadows: It is, but it’s – it’s – people just don’t understand what it – it’s not a figure of speech.

P. Meadows: Oh…

T. Meadows: It’s – it’s reality and it’s…

P. Meadows: Tell her about the cable company.

KUT News: And would you – I think you’re rubbing against the <inaudible 52:06>.

T. Meadows: Oh.

KUT News: Get a little bit out.  It may not be, you’re fine.

P. Meadows: When it comes – when it comes to people not understanding or caring that – that everything is gone…

T. Meadows: Yeah, well, can I say their name or no?

KUT News: This is your story.  You can do whatever you want.

T. Meadows: Well, when – when it happened of course we had to cancel certain bills and stuff because if you don’t, they’re going to just keep charging you and we had Direct TV at this point and when we were at my sisters, I guess the second or third day or whatever it was, I decided, “Well, okay, we’ve got to cancel this service.”  And so they – you know, I explained to the, you know – after I explained to them what happened, they still ask you, “Okay, well, what address can I send these boxes to you so that you can return the equipment?”  And I’m like, “Listen, the equipment is ash.  There is nothing there.”  So the guy finally realized that there was nothing there.  They said they would waive all the equipment.  All that was going to be fine, forget about it. I had written all this down with confirmation number and all this stuff and talked me into suspending the service for six months until we get somewhere we can pick it back up.  So, I did that.

P. Meadows: Not realizing…

T. Meadows: That when we came to that point to get service again, we tried with them, but we wanted a better deal that we had had with them because we were paying too much and we didn’t – but they wouldn’t work with us.  So, I was like, “Okay, well, we’re just going to have to cancel y’all entirely.”  So…

P. Meadows: We did and went with another company.

T. Meadows: Went with another company.

P. Meadows: Now, they’re…

T. Meadows: Sending me – they sent me a bill asking where to send the boxes to get their equipment and I had to call and talk to them and explain to them that I’ve already gone through this and we don’t have the equipment and it’s been cleared.  Well, apparently, it wasn’t and…

P. Meadows: When they suspended it…

T. Meadows: You start your two year contract again.

P. Meadows: All over again.

T. Meadows: Which I didn’t know that.

P. Meadows: And he was in no shape to even make any decisions about – we had no place to – so, I mean, they – they talked him into suspending the service, which put him right back into the contract.

T. Meadows: Into a two-year contract again, which I would’ve never done because we were already out of the contract.  So, now, for leaving early, getting out of the two-year contract early and they want their equipment.

P. Meadows: So, they’re – they’re – they’re threatening to take $400 out of our checking account.

T. Meadows: In 15 days.

P. Meadows: In 15 days.

T. Meadows: I just got that – this 4:30 this morning, they sent that to me.  So, it’s like – and I explained to them, you know, what – that we – but they just don’t care.

P. Meadows: Yeah, we were like, so this is how you treat fire victims who have lost everything?  You’re going to harass them and – send the boxes.  We’ll fill them full of ash and send it back.  I mean, there’s nothing…

T. Meadows: We’ll get as much of the equipment that we can.

P. Meadows: That’s all there is, you know.

T. Meadows: You know.

P. Meadows: It’s crazy.

T. Meadows: So, it’s just little things like that on top of what we’re dealing with, you know.

P. Meadows: But it’s going to be okay.

T. Meadows: Oh, yeah.  Oh, yeah.  Definitely.  And I would have to say the community of Bastrop surprised me in how strong everybody was out there.  Don’t you think?

P. Meadows: They – they were awesome.  That’s why we like it there.  Yeah, everybody pulled together.  There are several new houses already coming up there in Tahitian and that is great to see, you know, that they’re building and they’re not leaving.

T. Meadows: Yeah, a lot of people left.

P. Meadows: It’s because a lot people were leaving.  They just…

T. Meadows: A lot of people left.

P. Meadows: Yeah, so, but they’re rebuilding and it’s a strong community, you know, it’s – I couldn’t leave.  I had to go back.

T. Meadows: Get us back to the – to the woods.

P. Meadows: Yeah.

T. Meadows: Or what’s left.

P. Meadows: Which isn’t there anymore, but…

T. Meadows: What’s left, yeah.

P. Meadows: But, yeah.

KUT News: But there are woods in Tahitian, aren’t there?

T. Meadows: There’s still trees.  Yeah.  Yeah, there’s…

P. Meadows: There are.

T. Meadows: There’s quite a bit down there.

P. Meadows: We’ve got a lot of trees in the backyard down by – going to the creek and stuff.  There’s – the ones – there’s like 16 that are marked next door that have to come down.

T. Meadows: And they’re all about…

P. Meadows: They’re huge.

T. Meadows: Sixty feet tall.

P. Meadows: Beautiful – they were beautiful.

T. Meadows: So, when those come down, we’re going to get a lot of sunlight, even though there’s no foliage on them that…

P. Meadows: Yeah.

KUT News: So you’re there to stay?

P. Meadows: Not in Tahitian, probably.

T. Meadows: Probably not in Tahitian, but in Bastrop, yeah.

P. Meadows: We’re not good with neighbors.  Yeah, no…

T. Meadows: We got spoiled.

P. Meadows: Yeah and – and we have neighbors directly next door on that one side of us and – and I’ll be outside talking to my daughter on the phone and I’ll hear “Hello,” you know, from their deck and I’m like, “Hi.”  You know, we’re just not used to that.  We’re used to going out in the backyard and if you see you’re neighbor, you wave.

T. Meadows: Waiving neighbors.

P. Meadows: You know, but it’s like…

T. Meadows: Great.

P. Meadows: Yeah, we were really spoiled.  We didn’t really know how lucky we were.

T. Meadows: Yeah.

P. Meadows: You know.

KUT News: How old is your daughter?

P. Meadows: Thirty-three, yeah.

KUT News: Unbelievable.

P. Meadows: Yeah, she’s – she lives in New Jersey and she’s actually getting ready to have back surgery so she was texting all the way up here and she’s – she’s in a happy mood today.

T. Meadows: Mm-hm.

P. Meadows: She’s in a good mood, so, yeah, she’s pretty awesome.  She couldn’t talk about this when it happened.  You know, they were – you know, being all the way up in New Jersey, you wouldn’t think it – but she turned on the news and there it was, you know, and she was just like, “Oh, my god.  I can’t watch this.  I cannot believe this is what – what they’re going through, you know, I can’t” – and – and she couldn’t talk about it.  She would check on us, but she didn’t want to talk about it, you know.  She – she wanted to pretend like it wasn’t happening.

KUT News: To you.

P. Meadows: Mm-hm, yeah.  Yeah.

KUT News: So, what else would you like to add to your story?

P. Meadows: We’re lucky to be alive.

T. Meadows: Yeah, we’re lucky.  The main – the most important thing is that we’re out alive and we’ve got our animals, we’ve got our health, you know, that’s the main thing.

P. Meadows: Everybody – so many people down there are in the same boat.  We all have a look, you know.  It’s like you’re lost.

T. Meadows: Everyone just looks like they’re just thing.  You’re constantly thinking and you can – and some people – then someone asks you, you know…

P. Meadows: I was in the grocery store and – and I was looking at spices and I was thinking, “I have to buy all these spices because I don’t have any,” you know and I – I was just looking at them.  So, I was trying to figure out what I needed for what I was making that day and this lady came up and she put her hand on my shoulder and she said, “Honey, you lost everything, didn’t you?”  And I said, “How can you tell?  I thought – I thought I was having a good day,” you know, or, “I thought I looked good today,” or something, you know.  I thought – she’s like, “You can tell on all – all of you.” She said they had just moved to Bastrop and she said you could tell the fire victims and I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, but I was just like – I almost – when she said that, I almost dropped to my knees.  I was just like, “Oh, my god.”  You know, it’s five months later and it’s still…

T. Meadows: It’s hard.

P. Meadows: And we did have to buy all those spices.

T. Meadows: We’re still buying spices.

P. Meadows: Yeah, it’s amazing.

T. Meadows: And fishing – we went and got two fishing poles because…

P. Meadows: We gave in.

T. Meadows: We have to have – we have to go fishing and that – that was what – that was a big release which we’ll start that – that’s our first edition of rebuilding the equipment, which we will.  We’ll get another boat and…

P. Meadows: We went out there, actually, to get T. a rod and reel and I couldn’t stand it.  I had to have mine.  I was just like – I haven’t used it yet.  I did use it one time out on Kenny’s boat.

T. Meadows: Mm-hm.

P. Meadows: But I just can’t wait to get out there and get on the water and…

T. Meadows: Get our life back.

P. Meadows: Yeah, we have a competition – competitive thing when it comes to fishing.  Who’s going to catch the bigger bass?  Yeah.

KUT News: Who do you think that will be?

T. Meadows: I don’t know, she – sometimes she surprises me.  I gotta say.

P. Meadows: I love it.

T. Meadows: But – but I put – I put her on.

P. Meadows: He – he – he baits it for me.

T. Meadows: No, I put you where the fish are.

P. Meadows: That he does.  Yeah.  For a while we’ll be fishing off the bank and stuff, that’s okay, we’ll be fishing.

T. Meadows: Yeah.

P. Meadows: So, I’m ready actually.  We should do that.

T. Meadows: Mm-hm.

P. Meadows: All in all, I think, you know, we’re – we’re really lucky.

T. Meadows: Extremely lucky because we could’ve been sleeping or…

P. Meadows: We could not have gone home.  We had just gotten home.  We had spent the night at the ranch out on 21 and we were going to spend the day because it was our friend, Jim’s, birthday weekend.

T. Meadows: He has a – he has a pool down there and…

P. Meadows: Yeah, and we had…

T. Meadows: We were actually going to stay.

P. Meadows: The Saturday we had had a barbeque down there for Jim’s birthday and so we spent the night, got up that morning, made breakfast for everybody, got that cleaned up and we were supposed to stay there all day and I was like, “I think we need to just go home and Chloe,” and so we went home.  Thank God we went home.

T. Meadows: The most ironic thing that Jim did say before we left was, “Gosh, this would be a terrible day for a fire,” because it was so windy and he said that and about four hours later…

P. Meadows: Yeah.

T. Meadows: It’s what happened, but – but we’re very fortunate to be here and right now, so, you know, we can rebuild and we can re – replace our stuff, but we can’t replace each other, so it’s the main thing.

KUT News: So you went back to get your dog to spend the day back out at the ranch.

P. Meadows: Mm-hm.

KUT News: And you were inside the house when you heard the fire truck?

P. Meadows: Yes.

KUT News: Their sirens were going?

P. Meadows: Yep.

KUT News: And that’s when you went outside?

P. Meadows: That’s when T. went outside and then he came in and got me.

KUT News: What did he say?

P. Meadows: He said, “Baby, you need to see this,” and we went running out there and I just – I – I said, “What do we do?” and that’s when the neighbor walked up and he was joking, I think.  He said, “Should we run?”  And I was like, “I think so.”

T. Meadows: Well, he was talking about run…

P. Meadows: That way.

T. Meadows: Like get – get out and I was talking – I was thinking – he was – I was thinking I wanted to run closer to see where it was going.  I went back inside to get my keys.  I came back out and that’s when the volunteer fire truck came in and yelled at us to get out.  I was like, you know, like, “How?” you know.  He said, “You got about three minutes to get out of there.”

P. Meadows: I had – he still had on his swim trunks and flip flops and I – I had a pair of shorts and a t-shirt on over mine and that’s all.  My purse was in the truck because we’d been gone all weekend.  So, I still had my driver’s license and all of that, thank God, you know, but…

T. Meadows: Yeah.

P. Meadows: Yeah, I’ll never forget that moment when we walked around the shop and looked up and it was…

T. Meadows: It was just a big…

P. Meadows: It was just a…

T. Meadows: Black – you saw no flames.

P. Meadows: You’re thinking, “This can’t be.  It can’t be and it can’t be right there.”

T. Meadows: Yeah.

P. Meadows: So when we left, I didn’t even look back at the house because I knew we’d be back.

T. Meadows: And we were just in panic.  We were just panicking.

P. Meadows: It’s so funny because I accidentally dialed Kenny, the friend of ours that we stayed with, during this whole thing.  He had actually called us trying to warn us because from his house, he could see the smoke and he wanted to check on us.  Well, evidently I just hit call back. So he and his girlfriend heard the whole thing and heard us, you know…

T. Meadows: Heard us panicking.

P. Meadows: Yeah and, “Oh my gosh.  What do we do?”  You know, we got the truck and we started to back out and it’s like, “Oh, no, we need the car,” you know…

T. Meadows: And I had – I had the – the doors were locked and…

P. Meadows: And I asked T., I said, “Did you shut off the TV and lock the doors?”  And he just looked at me like…

T. Meadows: I don’t think it matters at this point.

P. Meadows: Yeah, I was just like – you just don’t think, but it was – it was all – it was all on his phone.

KUT News: Has that been saved?

P. Meadows: No, it was a conversation.  I mean, he answered…

KUT News: Yeah, he didn’t record it.  So when the fireman said, “You had three minutes to get out,” did he mean three minutes to just evacuate because everybody needed to be out at a certain time or three minutes before the fire was going to hit you?

P. Meadows: I don’t know.

T. Meadows: We don’t know.

P. Meadows: We were just like…

T. Meadows: I would say – I would say he was probably telling us we safely had three minutes to leave.  We’ve got about three minutes to leave.  I don’t think he meant three minutes before the fire is to hit, but I’m sure it did within about 10 or 15 minutes.

P. Meadows: When he said that, so – all I could do is look at T. like – and he – and he was like, “Come on. Let’s go.”

T. Meadows: You wanted to get…

P. Meadows: Because I was just like…

T. Meadows: You wanted to go back in to get something.  I was like, “No, we’re leaving now,” and that’s when we jumped in the truck, started backing up and you said, “Wait, let’s get – we need to get the car.”  I ran in.  Of course, the door was locked, so I had to get the keys and unlock the door and then open the garage and get the car and…

P. Meadows: Yeah and then Chloe and I went on up to – to the – the convenient store and T. didn’t come and he didn’t come.  I was like, “Oh, my gosh, what happened?” you know, and he was down there – some friends of ours own a business down there on the corner and he was talking to them and then went on the next street over to see if he could see anything, you know, maybe get behind the house and – and look over.  There was a lady standing out there, wasn’t there?

T. Meadows: There was a lady standing out there just – she was just dazed and she was out in her driveway just looking back up at the – at the smoke toward our house, because that’s the street I went to and I – I yelled at her and said, “Lady, you need to go.  You need to get in your car and go.”  They were coming down, so then – they would have got here out.  She was just – I think she was thinking she was going to be okay, or something, but there’s just no way.

P. Meadows: Yeah, well it’s – see I – I – that’s why I’m glad I had you to push me because I – I – I just stood there when he said that like…

T. Meadows: Well, when they’re leaving, because there’s nothing they can do…

P. Meadows: Yeah, they were leaving.

T. Meadows: They were leaving.  They were coming – they were leaving out.

P. Meadows: They were backing up.

T. Meadows: There was nothing they could do.

P. Meadows: Yeah, they were coming out of the…

T. Meadows: And these weren’t – these weren’t big fire trucks, they were volunteer trucks, but they…

P. Meadows: Now, the big fire trucks were still back there…

T. Meadows: Yeah, who knows where they were.

P. Meadows: When I left.  I hadn’t seen them come back through yet.

T. Meadows: But they were leaving, so…

KUT News: They were getting out.

T. Meadows: They were getting out of there because the fire was just so big.  I mean, it was huge.  There was nothing that you could do except work in front of it to try to make – make a path for it to go and that’s exactly what they were doing.

P. Meadows: They did and, I mean, they saved the house across the street and animals.  I mean, they only lost two animals in that whole thing.  I don’t know how they did that, but…

KUT News: Who?  Who, your neighbors?

P. Meadows: The neighbors across the street.

T. Meadows: They had a big open field and not very – it was real open, not very many trees, so…

P. Meadows: It was, yeah…

T. Meadows: That helped.

P. Meadows: And the – and the goats had kept it…

T. Meadows: Mm-hm.

P. Meadows: You know, kept it…

T. Meadows: Because the trees were just – the pines are so flammable and the Loblolly’s are just – so it was just an inferno.  Incredible.

P. Meadows: And there were a lot, like I said, there were a lot of dead ones throughout because of the – the drought, you know.  We had been watering the ones around the house trying to keep them alive.

T. Meadows: Yeah.

P. Meadows: And all of our plants.

T. Meadows: Yeah.

P. Meadows: It would take us an hour and a half every night to water our plants.  We’re not doing that anymore.

T. Meadows: We don’t have – yeah, we only have a few plants.

P. Meadows: It takes us 10 minutes to water.

T. Meadows: We’re not going to do that again.  That was – that was a chore.

P. Meadows: Yeah.

T. Meadows: That was a chore.

P. Meadows: Yeah.

KUT News: Well, you are rebuilding, you know, even though you’re still processing…

T. Meadows: Oh, yeah.

KUT News: And you’re in transition, you – you know, you are rebuilding.

T. Meadows: Oh, yeah.

P. Meadows: Yeah.

T. Meadows: So I’m sure…

KUT News: Your lives.

P. Meadows: Yes.

T. Meadows: And we’ve – we learned quite a bit from it.  We were – I used to collect so much stuff and…

P. Meadows: Everything.  He never got rid of everything.

T. Meadows: But I would use it.  I would always use it down the line, so we had a lot of stuff fin our garage and I don’t do that anymore.  I don’t – I – I think about it and I’m like, “I really don’t need that.”  So…

P. Meadows: We filled up a three-car garage and you could only get one car in it.

T. Meadows: It was good stuff, though.  It was good junk.  It was good junk.

P. Meadows: Yeah, no more.

T. Meadows: No more.

P. Meadows: We still haven’t even – I haven’t been able – you’ll probably think this is crazy, but I haven’t been able to go get a living room set, you know, I just – I’m not there yet.  We – I can’t make that decision.  We – and I’m not decorating, you know, it’s – I just haven’t…

T. Meadows: Well, we haven’t – where we’re at now is – we haven’t decided if it’s home or not.

P. Meadows: We don’t know.

T. Meadows: And so we don’t have that…

P. Meadows: See it was…

T. Meadows: Drive yet…

P. Meadows: It was…

KUT News: Yeah.

T. Meadows: Too.

P. Meadows: It was one of our best friend’s house – home and we used to go there and it was Lisa’s house.  So, it still feels like Lisa’s house, right?

T. Meadows: It just doesn’t feel like home, you know, and nothing probably will for some time, you know, but we just have to get over it or, you know, we’ll never get over it, but we have to, I don’t know, I guess get ready and…

P. Meadows: Take it one step at a time.

T. Meadows: Well, we haven’t gotten there yet.

P. Meadows: We went and bought stuff to decorate the kitchen, the shelves, you know, and all of that.  We did do that, but every time I go to look…

T. Meadows: It’s depressing.

P. Meadows: Yeah, it’s just like – because you know usually when you buy something, you buy it to match.  It will go with this or it would look so good with that and we don’t have that, you know.  So, we’re just…

T. Meadows: We don’t have like – we don’t have a theme.  Like at our other house, we did a lot of Texas stuff, rustic and it kind of was all throughout the house.  So, everything we bought related.

P. Meadows: Everything, mm-hm.

T. Meadows: So we – we don’t have – we, you know.  I mean…

KUT News: Well, obviously you – this is a rental and…

P. Meadows: Yeah.

KUT News: You’re not planning on staying there.

T. Meadows: Right.  We haven’t 100% made up our minds, but I think we have, if that makes any sense.  We just don’t know yet.  We just really don’t know.

P. Meadows: Even as a rental, we need to fix it up so that it’s – it’s our home, you know, it’s our place, but we will, we just haven’t…

T. Meadows: Yeah.

P. Meadows: Go shopping and it’s like, you know…

KUT News: It just – it just hasn’t felt right yet.

P. Meadows: Uh-uh.

T. Meadows: No, not yet.

KUT News: You’ll get there as you know.

P. Meadows: Yeah and I think all in all, the whole community of Bastrop is doing better.  You know, I think it’s – it’s going to be – it’s going to be okay.  We just have to stand together and there are several different places, you know, that are – that offer help for – for those people that are really having a hard time.  So, we’re doing a lot better than others.  We really are.

T. Meadows: Yeah.

P. Meadows: As far as being able to get up and go to work, you know, do the things that you have to do.  Some people aren’t there.  You know, they just – I don’t know if it’s depression or they just can’t do it.

T. Meadows: Well, so I would urge anybody that is curious about it or has no idea of how – how people are feeling, just to take a drive through Bastrop and through the park.  I think it would really explain a lot of things because it’s devastating.  It’s – a lot of people just don’t get it, which is hard, too.

P. Meadows: You know that – I just thought of something else.  That was another thing that – that bothered me when we got into the property and – and – and were there sifting through the footprints of our lives, you know, and people are stopping and filming us do – do that and taking pictures like – you know, I wanted to turn around and say, “Hey, this is our life here,” you know, “and this is devastating.  This is not entertainment,” you know, but they were.  They were driving down the road and it was just – I don’t know, made me so angry.  Then there are other people that would stop by and…

T. Meadows: Want to help.

P. Meadows: Want to help, just…

T. Meadows: Just to help.

P. Meadows: Yeah, just, you know, come up and offer their help and we were like, “Oh, no, we can’t – we can’t,” and they’re like, “No, we’re just offering you our help.  We don’t – we don’t want anything.”

T. Meadows: “We don’t want any money.  We just want to help you.”  We said, “We don’t – we don’t even know what we’re doing.  We’re just kind of here looking.”  It was a big mess and dangerous.

P. Meadows: It was dangerous.

T. Meadows: So, it comes and goes.  You know, we have our good days and we have – sometimes it just comes out of nowhere and hits you and, you know, you just got to remember, though, that we’re still here, so we’ll be alright.

KUT News: Well, it’s just so soon, you know, I meant it hasn’t been year.  It just – for something like this, for somebody who can’t imagine, because you can’t unless it’s happened to you, but it hasn’t even been a year.

T. Meadows: Yeah.

P. Meadows: It seems like a long time.

T. Meadows: Well, and it’s really starting to – to hit people and victims, I think, now because in the – in those prior months you have to take care of so much things you have to take care of and you don’t have time to reflect and think about what’s really happened and now we’re really – we have that time to sit back and think about things and so it’s hard and it’s starting to – a lot of people think it should be over and we should be over it and it’s like it’s really just starting to hit us, you know.

P. Meadows: Mm-hm.

T. Meadows: And it probably will for a good 20 years, but…

P. Meadows: But, see things now have started settling down because all of the business has been taken care of and we’ve found a place to live and, you know, we’re having – we’re having to do things to make life normal.

T. Meadows: Yeah.

P. Meadows: And so when you have time to sit back and for me it’s when I – when I sit down to watch TV, things start – I start thinking.  So, I try not to do that very often, you know, it just – yeah, now is when we – I’ll be driving to work and it will just hit me.

T. Meadows: Mm-hm.

P. Meadows: You know, or the other day I was in a meeting and I lost everything they were saying and I just – I started thinking and I couldn’t shut it off.  It’s, you know, I couldn’t shut it off and I had to get up and leave, you know, and go in and wipe my eyes and…

T. Meadows: Yeah.

P. Meadows: It was…

T. Meadows: It happens, it does.

P. Meadows: And then when – when you say, you know, it’s – it’s everything, you know, they just looked at me like…

T. Meadows: Yeah.

KUT News: Nobody understands.

T. Meadows: Yeah.

KUT News: Even as eloquent as you can be, nobody can understand.

T. Meadows: Not unless you go through it and even when you do go through it.

KUT News: And everybody’s, you know, got their own individual going through it.

T. Meadows: Exactly.  Exactly.

P. Meadows: Yeah, friends of ours – a lot of friends of ours expect us to be the way we used to be and we’re different people.

T. Meadows: Yeah.

P. Meadows: You know, it is what it is.

T. Meadows: Yeah.

KUT News: Seems to me you need to get your fishing poles out.

P. Meadows: Yeah.

T. Meadows: I think so.  I think we do.

P. Meadows: We should do that today.

T. Meadows: We can.  Yeah, we definitely need to go sit on the lake because that was – to begin with that was our stress – that was our – we would get out on the lake…

P. Meadows: We met on the lake.

T. Meadows: Yeah, we met on the lake.  So, maybe that – that’s got to be the – but we love just being on the water.  We don’t even have to be fishing, but we love to fish and just being out there.  We just go out there and sit and just have a great time, so we’ll work at get – getting back to that point and that will help us feel normal again.

P. Meadows: Yeah.

T. Meadows: Some little things, too, but less plants.  Less plants.

KUT News: Anything else?

P. Meadows: That’s it.  Thank you for giving us the opportunity.

KUT News: I’m so sorry for what you went through.

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