Claudia Sternbach: In the heat of the moment what would you gra...

And so there have been the fires, climbing ridges, sweeping through fields and destroying whatever they find in their path.

[wildman]

Funny how we treasure things. It is not the things, but the memories they trigger, and you cannot lose those memories.

[Peking]

Once upon a time long ago, I lived in a city apartment in the Northeast. One night around eleven someone ran through the hallway outside, shouting, "Fire, fire, get out." So my spouse and I ran out the door and down the stairs, fear wound tightly around our hearts. We ran out on to the street. What did we take with us? Nothing, absolutely nothing except what we were wearing. All of our treasured momentos were left behind. Luckily the fire was contained in a large dumpster behind the building and was extinguished by the rapidly responding firefighters. The building was untouched.

To this day we repeatedly say that we would do the same thing. When one's life is in immediate danger,there is nothing more important than saving it. The rest is just stuff.