After being forced to evacuate her longtime Spokane home as wildfire closed in, Sherry Merritt reflects on the fear of leaving, the generosity that followed and the faith that helped her see loss as a new beginning.
Q: Can you take me back to the day you had to evacuate? What happened?
Sherry Merritt: My husband was at the window looking out, and we hadn’t really gotten dressed for the day, just lounging around. I said, “What’s going on?” He said, “People are leaving.”
I went downstairs to take my shower because I had someone to meet at 3:00. The next thing I know, he said, “We have to leave. We have to leave.”
I said, “Leave?” I didn’t realize the fire was that close.
Then there was a knock at the door, and it was law enforcement. They said, “You have to get out. You have to leave now.” So I grabbed my pillbox for my medication. I couldn’t really get anything else.
Once we got in the line of cars trying to leave, it was terrible. We could see the smoke. First, it was really light, and all of a sudden it got dark—so black you couldn’t even see the sky. Then the wind would blow and it would clear up, and then there would be more black smoke.
My husband was directed down 291, and I was directed up 291 toward Francis. We were supposed to meet at my son Sean Merritt’s house at Five Mile, but he called and said, “Don’t come here because I have to evacuate.”
He said, “I’m going to the church.”
I said, “Okay, that’s where I’ll meet you.”
We waited at the church for my husband, not knowing where he was. Come to find out, they had routed him all the way toward Fairchild. That’s how bad it was.
Q: What happened once you were safely evacuated?
Merritt: The blessing came when we got there. We had been there maybe an hour or less, and our insurance company called. They knew about the fire and called to see how we were doing.
So many people have reached out to us, and it’s hard for me personally to accept the help because you don’t know what to do or how to react. I can’t tell people what I need because I really don’t know.
I was supposed to go to the Seattle area for our 100th state convocation for our church. I said, “No, I’m not going to go.” My son said, “No, Mom, you need to go.”
So I went, and my childhood friend was so, so kind to me. Her husband told her to take me shopping. She said, “I want you to make a list of everything you need from head to toe.”
I said, “Make a list? I’m not going to make a list.” I couldn’t. How do you accept something like that?
I can’t explain how grateful and humbled I was to know that someone cared for me that much after not having seen them for years.
Q: You said you felt like God had prepared you for what happened. What do you mean?
Merritt: God prepared me. I don’t know if anyone believes that or not, but He prepared me.
The week before the fire, I was saying to myself, “I need to get rid of a lot of things.” Then one word came to me: fire.
Then the words came to me: new beginnings.
I said, “Lord, you know, it is a new beginning.”
The weight is lifted off me now. I don’t have to worry about what I consider clutter because it affects your mind. It affects your very spirit when you have all these things cluttering up your life.
I want to be a better steward of what God is going to give me and what He has given me.
Q: How long had you lived in your home?
Merritt: We bought that home in 1977, when our son was about nine months old or less, and we’ve been there ever since. We have not moved. We’ve been there for more than 45 years.
We got to know our neighbors. Our children grew up with them. We knew everyone in the neighborhood. It’s been a good home.
Q: How do you think the wildfires impacted the Spokane community?
Merritt: What I saw happening early on was the community banding together.
They put up the resource fair at Shadle Park. The insurance companies were there. The Salvation Army was there to help. Catholic Charities was there. CORE, which I had never heard of, was there to help. There were organizations giving out gift cards for food and clothing.
I was amazed at how fast the community organized and came together to help those who were in need.
Q: What does support mean to you now?
Merritt: It’s much needed. We need to bind together even more, even when there are no disasters in this city or anywhere else.
We need to be there to support each other and lift each other up. Don’t say, “Well, you’ve got this and you’ve got that, so you don’t need my help.”
No. If they need the help, give the help.
Q: What is one message you want people to hear about community?
Merritt: That we live in a fantastic community. It is fantastic. People who you thought would not reach out to you reached out, and I am ever so grateful.
I am ever so grateful.