ASHBY -- Bailey and Jesse Hefner have a ranch on the west side of Ashby. It is a life of horses and cattle.

Early Thursday morning it became a race against a fire.

“I heard some thunder and lightning, and then I heard some rain so I wasn’t real worried about it. Then my phone rang about 12:30 (a.m.) and it was my mom and she said ‘do you guys know there’s fires like everywhere?’” Bailey Hefner said.

Her husband Jesse jumped out of bed and responded to the fire. She quickly learned the fire was close to their home.

“I stood up and looked out my window that way (west) and it was just a glow of orange. And then I walked over to this side (east), looked out this way and there was a glow of orange that way, and he learned that they needed him more on the Minor Fire than the Ashby Fire, so he went down there,” she said.

She was watching the west when the glow started turning to flames. She gathered supplies set aside during a previous fire. She and some friends gathered her children and got them to safety as she and another friend loaded horses.

“I couldn't get my cows out. We didn’t have that much time,” she said.

She said they didn’t lose any livestock.

“Our whole pasture is black, but somehow our cows stayed safe and they’re fine,” she said.

The emotions were difficult as they saw the impact, but realized how fortunate they are.

“It’s really hard. To me, it’s a really hard feeling because I feel very blessed that our house was saved and our buildings were saved, but at the same time just total devastation,” she said.

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