UTAH COUNTY, Utah -- The Trask family is six of the 6,000 evacuated from their homes due to the Pole Creek and Bald Mountain fires. Leaving their home in Elkridge, the Trasks are now staying in a hotel on the outskirts of Payson.
“It’s been insane,” said Adam Trask, father of the family. “Almost every field you drive by down here you see trailers and you think, 'okay, they’re probably Elkridge.'”
When first put on pre-evacuation this past Thursday, Elisha Trask - the mother of the family - said she didn’t think it was serious. Put on mandatory evacuation just hours later, Elisha said it hit her when she was driving the kids out and seeing the line up of cars.
“I turned around and told the kids this is going to be something you’re going to remember forever," Elisha said.
Grabbing what they could, the Trask’s said they were originally planning on being out for two days. Now, the Trask’s have been told they’ll be out for about two weeks.
Paying for the hotel and eating out every meal, the Trask’s said the costs are adding up, but are trying to make the best of their situation.
“If you feel like a victim then you just become a victim, right? And we don’t want to be a victim, we want to learn and grow from this experience,” said Adam.
Opportunities to serve and be served have shown Adam and his family hope, out of their less-than-ideal situation.
Adam said one night, they opened their door to find a basket full of treats and a Domino’s Pizza gift card.
“Because we had all this chaos going on, we opened the door and it kind of felt like a little piece of heaven,” said Adam.
Police have offered to escort residents to their houses to grab anything they were unable to get in the rush of their evacuation.
