A carpet of smoke stretched across the horizon on Thursday evening as Meeker residents Jack and Ava Bowles spoke of their worries, and plans, as the flames of the Lee Fire danced around them.

The couple is among many residents Thursday night that were in the “Set” stage of the Ready, Set, Go evacuation plans that have been implemented by emergency personnel in the area after the Lee and Elk fires began last weekend in Rio Blanco County. Like many residents in Meeker, or outside of the city limits, the Bowles, who do not own a smartphone, were on edge as they prepared for the worse.

“They don’t work very well around here, so we just don’t have one,” Jack said of not owning a smartphone.

His wife had contacted the Rio Blanco Sheriff’s office and let them know that they would need to be notified if the needed to evacuate.

“You can see where the fire was last night,” said Ava, pointing to the barren landscape of a nearby ridge just across highway for her home that was filled with the still standing, charred remains of trees. “When we saw those flames going across that ridge (last night) that’s when we got in the trailer and left again, even though we were not required to evacuate.”

The Bowles home is located on the outskirts of Meeker near the intersection of Colorado Highway 13 and Rio Blanco County Road 64.

Jack, a youthful 81-year-old, lives in the house with his wife Ava, an equally youthful 75-year-old, who still works as a bookkeeper and makes the commute down Highway 13 to Rifle to meet her clients. The couple has lived in their Meeker home for more than three years.

Prior to that, they lived in Rifle for 17 years, where, among other things, they owned the local bowling alley.

Late on Wednesday afternoon as high winds drove flames toward the town of Meeker, the couple decided to spend the night in their vintage travel trailer near Maybell. The night before they had camped at a friend’s home in Meeker, where they said things seemed safer.

As the winds continued to fan the flames of the Lee and Elk fires Thursday  — which had consumed more than 75,000 acres in Rio Blanco County by Friday morning — the streets in Meeker were quiet. As emergency vehicles with lights flashing made their way past the Bowles home on Rio Blanco County Road 64, the couple was still packing what they could fit in their travel trailer and weighing their options.

“We are hoping that we don’t have to go anywhere tonight — we are old and we are tired,” said Ava. “This is getting old. We are Christians and we know that God is in control, but you know, things happen.”