Comment from Gee

Excellent

Thank you, Mr. Botts, for sharing the disaster poem.
It's a shame simple mistakes can turn so deadly.
Yes, in many foreign countries, anything that can be scavanged is used.

I enjoyed your poem and hope to see more.
Thanks for sharing

 Comment Written 19-Jan-2022

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reply by the author on 19-Jan-2022

Thanks so much Gee for the fine review and comments. It's hard to imagine that one mistake can cause such a disaster. It obviously wasn't a good idea to be smoking fish where gasoline barrels are stored, but hindsight is always better than foresight I suppose.

Comment from Gypsy Blue Rose

Excellent

Excellent entry for the Freak disaster contest. Fires are scary. I heard about a few. It's a good example of freak disasters. Good job. I wish you good luck in the contest.

Gypsy

 Comment Written 18-Jan-2022

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reply by the author on 18-Jan-2022

Thanks for reviewing this poem and the fine comments. I consider it high praise from you, knowing your skill with poems.

Comment from Rosemary Everson1

Excellent

THE FIRE In 1944, a disastrous fire destroyed much of the town in Alaska. Homes filled with ancient, priceless objects of Tlingit culture were lost to the flames. What a very sad ordeal.

















to Hoonah World War II ...

 Comment Written 17-Jan-2022

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reply by the author on 17-Jan-2022

Thanks so much for commenting on this poem and the story it told. There is quite a large space between what was written at the top and the last few words at the bottom, so I don't know if part of your message got missed. In any event, it was indeed a tragedy.

Comment from Bill Schott

Excellent

This poem, Disaster in Hoonah, calls up a seventy-five year old fire in the fiftieth state which wiped out a stilted town. Wow. ...

 Comment Written 17-Jan-2022

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reply by the author on 17-Jan-2022

I've seen the pictures and it was devastating. I've also seen pictures before the fire. The houses lining the beach were separated from those against the mountainside by a wooden boardwalk. It was a disaster waiting to happen. Thanks for reviewing.

Comment from LisaMay

Excellent

You have crafted this story of a disaster-waiting-to-happen-and-then-it-did-happen very effectively through description and poetic rhyming construction.

 Comment Written 17-Jan-2022

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reply by the author on 17-Jan-2022

Thanks for reviewing this poem. I lived in one of the old houses that were built after the fire. Most of the older part of town consisted of them. I'm not sure where the folks who lost their homes lived after the fire, but it was a close knit community, with most of the natives being related, so I guess it all worked out.

reply by LisaMay on 17-Jan-2022

Close-knit communities usually pull together when there is an emergency. What a pity the whole world isn't close-knit.

Comment from SimianSavant

Excellent

This is a fantastic contest entry. You did a good job of keeping the story progressing with good rhymes. Meter is mostly on point. I thought I wouldn't have much competition until I read this one. Now it's on!!

 Comment Written 17-Jan-2022

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reply by the author on 17-Jan-2022

Thanks for reviewing this and the positive comments. Because Hoonah is so isolated, being on a large island in Southeast Alaska, the closest town to retreat to was Juneau. I imagine that many of the folks who were left homeless went there.

Comment from Wendy G

Excellent

A well written poem which fits the criteria for the contest, and contains a message as well. Smoothly written, and well rhymed. Sending best wishes for your entry in the contest.
Wendy

 Comment Written 17-Jan-2022

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reply by the author on 17-Jan-2022

Thanks for the review and encouraging words. I wrote this at the last minute, with two hours left in the contest. The fire was a disaster indeed, leaving many of the folks homeless.

Comment from Alcreator Litt Dear

Excellent

In Hoonah, Alaska a freak disaster happened, people left, some tried to keep the houses above the high tide line; some did something to save; most of the town burned; well said, well done; post more. ALCREATOR LITT DEAR (D R)

 Comment Written 16-Jan-2022

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reply by the author on 17-Jan-2022

Thanks for reviewing this poem. I appreciate the positive comments and encouragement. It was a freak disaster, but almost foreseeable because of the close proximity of all the wooden houses to each other.

Comment from Liz O'Neill

Excellent

For recorded history that could be presented in a drear manner, you have done well. The images you have described could easily be put into prose. The poem is that well organized. Well done.

 Comment Written 16-Jan-2022

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reply by the author on 17-Jan-2022

Thanks for your review and comments. You're very kind. Though I wasn't living there at the time, I did see some of the pictures, and it was terrifying. All the houses were wooden structures and were built side by side. I believe quite a number of priceless native artifacts of the Tlingit culture were destroyed, but I don't recall if there was any loss of life.

reply by Liz O'Neill on 17-Jan-2022

It's good someone is honoring this tragedy

Comment from moongirlwriter

Excellent

Great poem of a terrible disaster. In California a few years ago (California is known for their fires) a fire came to a little city of Paradise and burned down the whole dang town. So VERY sad. They are still trying to rebuild.
I really enjoyed reading this well-written poem. Thanks for sharing.

 Comment Written 16-Jan-2022

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reply by the author on 17-Jan-2022

Thanks for reviewing this poem and the great comments. I saw the results of the Paradise fire on the news. How awful. Fires of this magnitude are very rare in Southeast Alaska. It's home to the Tongass National Forest, a rain forest, where sunshine is a rarity and most days are cloudy, rainy or snowy. However, the houses, which were all wooden structures, were built side by side with a wooden boardwalk separating the houses on the beach from those against the mountainside. Fire, wherever it occurs, is devastating.

reply by moongirlwriter on 17-Jan-2022

Yes. . .no matter where or why, it's so sad. Thank goodness there are kind people who come together in times like these and offer their help.