Panic turns to relief
By Morgan Voorhis, Sierra Star (Oakhurst, Calif.) | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Everyone seemed to have a story.
As for the Padovich family, one garage is a total loss. Their well house burned, which meant no water temporarily -- yet the flames spared a white trailer and small boat.
"I really didn't think it would head this direction and thought we would be okay," Shawn said. "But we barely got out of here before the fire swept through our area."
An hour after leaving, Shawn and Pam decided to return to their home on foot.
"When a firefighter asked what we were doing back there, I told him and all he said was 'grab a shovel,' which is exactly what I did," Shawn explained. "Trees were burning. The ground was on fire. Some smaller tanks at Suburban were on fire. I walked around our property smothering flames with shovelfuls of dirt. I was just trying to stop embers from catching something else on fire. Then I heard the propane tanks exploding and saw the flames shooting 30-to-100 feet in the air. That's when we decided to call it a night."
The family, including eighth-grader
"We're so happy to have our home and animals," Pam said. "The firefighters were here the entire time, until today (
The Padovichs have insurance coverage and Shawn estimates the damages at close to
Neighbor
"This has been a very stressful experience," Cudd said.
From her primary home in a separate
Refocusing
"We got out with the clothes on our backs," James said. "Even though we're going through a grieving process, we're so grateful that the kids and animals are all okay and safe."
According to James, there just wasn't any time to grab anything once the fire jumped
"Our home was only 150 yards from those large tanks," James continued, "and the sheriff deputies told us to get out now."
The family lost every single family photo going back to great grandparents, and china sets that were being saved to pass down to future generations. Jennifer lost a Bible that her grandmother had given her as a child. There was a desk in James' room that his mother had sat at as a young girl doing her school work. Pat lost about 12 instruments -- one an old trombone from the turn of the 20th century that his great grandfather had played in a band.
"Even though these are just things," James said, "they're irreplaceable and have strong memories attached."
While his parents are temporarily housed with his sister and her family in
"We're sort of settled in," James continued, "but every 20 minutes or so, we think of something else that we've lost and there's another wave of grief. It's hard not having a place to call home and feeling displaced. We're literally living out of piles of donated clothing."
Jennifer and James have been good friends for years, having worked closely together at the
James expressed his gratitude to
"It's such a huge blessing for us," James said. "We all want to live together, and maybe we'll be able go get into another place and replace some of the things we lost. We're truly overwhelmed by the community response. It's very humbling to have perfect strangers give selflessly to help us."
"We've been talking a lot about the outpouring of love," Jennifer added, "and the support we've felt in this catastrophe -- but this was a physical disaster. How many people go through secretive and hidden emotional catastrophes? How wonderful it would be if somehow people slowed down their own lives so that they could see and be more sensitive to others more private needs -- to see them hurting, worried, or feeling alone -- to take the time to talk to them. It's little things like that that make a huge difference. It says 'I notice you and I love you.'"
"What we've learned from this," James said, "is that you never know what each day will bring. On Monday morning, we had no idea how much our lives would change. Then something like this happens and it forced us to focus on what is truly important -- and that is the people we have in our lives. We may have lost our house, but we will never lose our home."
Business as usual
Two
"The guys did a great job fighting the fire," Struck said. "I'm most impressed with how quickly the fire got out of control, and how quickly the firefighters fought to get it under control. I was moved back down
Smith lives off
"I went up to the top of
Then the wind shifted and the fire jumped
"When I returned to my friend's home later, the fire was burning only 100 yards from the house. I stared at the flames. Old 200-foot trees were burning, and I said, 'Oh God it's here, and it's going to come down the mountain.' Then someone with the
"I got out about 10 minutes before the fire came through," owner
Greeting Bennett the morning of
"But the office and shop were still standing," Bennett said. "The firefighters did a good job protecting the buildings and the business trucks."
DC10 saves the day
The DC10, with a capacity to carry 11,000 gallons of fire retardant per drop, made four trips from Castle AFB to
"There were those who said this would never happen. They said it was too expensive, that it was never going to work, but now people are starting to realize that in many cases, when a DC10 can lay down as much in one drop as 10 smaller air tankers, an awful lot can be accomplished in just one fly-over,"
The red retardant, which helps to slow and cool the fire, is made of fertilizer. Because of
"I asked Jack (the pilot) how it was going when he came back to refill," Bercovitz continued, "and he acted as if it was no big deal, telling me that there was a ring of retardant all around the fire. These pilots are very modest and never make a big deal out of it, so people on the ground never really know the full story."
Pilots who fly air tankers have been flying -- generally for airlines -- for an average of 30 years. Not just any pilot can qualify. Tanker pilots require special training and must meet flying requirements for both federal and state fire agencies.
The DC10s are housed at the old
"It takes a fire like the Junction Fire for people to realize they're really at risk," Bercovitz said.
"We were pleased with the contribution made by tanker 911 on the Junction Fire," president and CEO
To donate
To make a donation, visit the fundraising site on gofundme.com under the Mierkey name. Also, the Queen's Inn has set up an account at
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(c)2014 the Sierra Star (Oakhurst, Calif.)
Visit the Sierra Star (Oakhurst, Calif.) at www.sierrastar.com
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