1 . After their business trip, John and Mary returned, eager to see their lovely children. As they drove into their hometown feeling glad to be back, they noticed ________, and they went off their usual route to see what it was. They found a ________ in flames. Mary said, “Oh, well, it isn’t our fire, let’s go home.”

But John ________ closer and screamed, “That home belongs to Fred Jones who works at the plant. He wouldn’t be ________ work yet, maybe there is something we could do.” “It has nothing to do with us,” Mary ________.

But John drove up and stopped and they were both horror-stricken to see the whole house in ________. A woman on the lawn was screaming, “The children! Get the children!” John ________ her by the shoulder saying, “Get a hold of yourself and tell us where the children are!” “In the ________,” cried the woman. “Down the hall and to the left.”

In spite of Mary’s disagreement, John ________ for the basement which was full of smoke and ________ hot. He found the door and two children. ________ he left he could hear some more sobbing. He ________ the two badly frightened children into ________ arms and started back asking how many more children were down there. They told him ________ more and Mary grasped his arm and screamed, “John! Don’t go back! It’s ________! That house will fall down any second.”

________ he ran into the smoke-filled hallway and at last he found both children. As he climbed up the ________ stairs, the thought went through his mind that there was something strangely ________ about the little bodies next to him, and at last when they came out into the ________ and fresh air, he found that he had just ________ his own children.

The baby-sitter had left them at this home while she did some shopping.

2 . “We had no warning,” says Ron, 73, a technician, referring to himself and his wife Sharon, 74. And with winds at 70 mph that night, the fire was quickly ________ their way from nearby Echo Mountain.

They had 30 minutes to ________ what they could and go. As they rushed to gather their valuables, their growing ________ was for their safety.

Just as they were looking around, the ________ went off. “Now I had to find flashlights in a ________ room,” recalls Ron. Another ________ in their escape plan. Their new truck was parked in their brand — new RV bam (车库), which operates with electric doors, now ________.

Time was ________, though, and they needed to go. ________, their old truck helped them. As the fire started coming down the mountain, they ________ in one of their two vehicles. But they saw a ________ walking toward the fire. “The smoke was so ________ at that point that I could barely recognize him, but it was my neighbor.” says Ron. Ron turned around and ________ his neighbor.

While they were ________ down the mountain, emergency personnel were on the scene. The Echo Mountain Fire ended up burning over 2,500 acres and destroyed 30 homes in Otis. A ________ of high winds and dry conditions ________ the wildfires

While the couple has lived in Otis for just four years now, they felt at home immediately. The fire has only strengthened their sense of ________ — with neighbors ________ housed in nearby hotels and shelters. They are ________ regularly to compare notes and strengthen their collective will. “I’ve met more neighbors in the past couple of weeks than I have in the four years we’ve been here,” Ron laughs. “And make no mistake. As soon as we’re able to, we will ________ our homes.”