Happy homecoming: Those forced to flee

By KAYLEY MENDENHALL Chronicle Staff Writer

Purdy fire return to homes

GALLATIN GATEWAY -- Relieved residents unloaded their most important worldly possessions from haphazardly packed trucks and trailers Wednesday afternoon, as the evacuation order for homes near the Purdy fire was finally lifted.

"It's nice to be back," said Daryl Todd, as she, her husband and several friends hauled armloads of clothes, photo albums, silverware and ski equipment into her home. "We're pretty thankful."

Thank you signs praising the work of the firefighters were posted outside several homes in the areas that had been evacuated for the past six days -- including the Little Bear, West Fork of Wilson and Yankee creek drainages.

"I can't say enough about what these people have done," said Elizabeth Nicholas, her voice choked with emotion. "The firefighters, the entire crew has been phenomenal."

In the 20 years Nicholas has lived in her home, she said this is the first time fire has threatened to take it away.

"It's beautiful, we love sitting here, this is what we do for entertainment," she said of the lounge chairs on her back deck, lovingly adorned with potted flowers. "We still have a gorgeous view, in spite of the dead timber."

Over the years, Nicholas said she and her husband have worked to keep their grass green and watered and to clear trees away from their home. Because of these precautions, firefighter Bruce Lodge said the house was defendable.

"I just wish some people would think twice about having dead grass right up to their door," Nicholas said. "This was too close to home for a lot of people."

If the lightning-caused fire had gotten any closer to the Todd home, they probably wouldn't have been moving back in Wednesday.

"Out of the 161 acres that we have, about 160 are burned," said Daryl Todd.

The Todd home was just barely spared from the flames as the Purdy fire roared through in full force, and then again when the wind changed direction and swept through a second time.

"See the streaks on the windows," said Stan Todd, Daryl's husband. "That's from the foam. They foamed this house five times, that's how close it got."

The Todds worked Thursday morning clearing trees, a chore Daryl Todd said they had planned to get to as soon as they were done remodeling.

"If you are going to build in the mountains, you have to get everything away from the house for 100 to 150 feet," he said. "The firefighters didn't have to prepare our house when they got here."

Out of the 123 structures that were threatened by the more than 5,000-acre blaze, only one was destroyed, said fire information officer Phil Turk. After seeing the blaze first hand, many residents can hardly believe their homes survived.

"You could see the hillsides engulfed in flames" from Gallatin Gateway, Nicholas said. "There were explosions that I'm sure now were trees, but I thought it was propane tanks and houses going up. I didn't sleep very well."

Crews of more than 1,100 people continued working Wednesday to make fire lines and mop up the area. According to fire information officials, the Purdy fire was 75 percent contained Wednesday night and is expected to be 100 percent contained by sometime this afternoon.

For fire information contact the fire camp at 763-3246 or the Bozeman Ranger District at 522-2520.

Kayley Mendenhall is at kmendenhall@dailychronicle.com.