Panic turns to relief

Aug. 28--The ferocious Junction Fire that roared through Oakhurst last week left in its wake blackened tree trunks, scorched earth, mangled metal frames, and ravaged homes. For days after, the singular question heard around town was ... "Did you have to evacuate?"

Everyone seemed to have a story.

Shawn and Pam Padovich regard themselves as lucky, considering what happened to their neighbors along Old Barn Way in Oakhurst. Three homes around them were destroyed -- the Mierkey home, Linda Cudd's family home and a vacation home owned by the Drurys.

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 Casey Williams, were able to get the last room available at Americas Best Value Inn.

"We're so happy to have our home and animals," Pam said. "The firefighters were here the entire time, until today (Aug. 21), checking for hot spots. This is the first day it's been a little quiet around here. They have been doing such an amazing job."

The Padovichs have insurance coverage and Shawn estimates the damages at close to $50,000. Their home was spared, even though just 70-feet away, the garage burned, and on the other side, about 35-feet away, his Bobcat, boom truck, and jet ski burned.

Neighbor Linda Cudd, who ran the Stage Stop B&B for 10 years, rented out her home, and recently completed a remodel for resale purposes. Now, just a pile of burned debris is left -- a loss estimated between $275,000 and $300,000.

"This has been a very stressful experience," Cudd said.

From her primary home in a separate Oakhurst location, Cudd reflected, "I consider myself very blessed, and feel very sorry for those who have lost everything."

Refocusing

James Mierkey, 40, lived with his daughter, Grace, 10, and parents, Pat and MaryHelen in a rental home on Old Barn Way. Living in an apartment above a detached garage were Jennifer Piccolotti, 44, and her two children, Joseph, 12, and Lyric, 17. Jennifer had just moved in about two weeks before the fire.

"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 Highway 41 and headed towards Suburban Propane.

"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 Yosemite Lakes Park, James and Jennifer, and their children are staying with friends in Oakhurst.

"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 Golden Chain Theatre. They are looking for another place to rent, but are having a hard time because they want to stay together and there aren't many four-to-six bedroom rentals available.

James expressed his gratitude to Matt Sconce for posting a fundraising site on gofundme.com under the Mierkey name. Current donations top $15,000.

"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 Oakhurst friends and members of the band Swingshift, Rick Struck and Courtney Smith, were enjoying the beginning of a relaxing day over coffee late last week.

"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 Highway 41 to the Valero Station before the road was closed, and could hear 'swosh, swosh, swosh.' Ponderosa Pines were exploding, and then they were just gone."

Smith lives off Indian Springs. While he and his family weren't evacuated, he said he was ready to go, if necessary, and made the decision early on to send his family to a safer location.

"I went up to the top of Indian Springs to my friend's home, which overlooks Highway 41," Smith said. "We could see everything from up there, and it looked like the fire wasn't going to be much of a problem."

Then the wind shifted and the fire jumped Highway 41.

"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 Tuolumne County California Department of Forestry came up looking for his crew in relation to our area. He contacted them ... they came to where he was, and on foot, they started fighting the fire, pushing it back from Indian Springs Road. If they hadn't done that, I know our mountain would have been gone. I was staring at how close the flames were, and in a matter of minutes, that fire would have worked its way down to School Road, taking all of Indian Springs with it."

Melissa Lewis, office manager of Oakhurst Rocks said she didn't realize how incredibly serious it was until the fire started moving fast.

"I got out about 10 minutes before the fire came through," owner Bruce Bennett said. "I was standing with the firefighters waiting, when the fire changed directions, heading north on Highway 41. I jumped in my truck and headed out of town."

Greeting Bennett the morning of Aug. 20 were piles of charred stone, mounds of rubble, a burned trailer and golf cart, burned-out vehicle frames, and an empty 2,500 gallon plastic water tank that had melted to resemble a half-crumpled piece of paper. Because the support pole for the main PG&E breaker box also burned down, the business must run off a generator for power.

"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 Oakhurst to fight last week's Junction Fire. The final drop about 7 p.m. Monday was credited by Cal Fire as being the turning point in gaining control.

"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," Stan Bercovitz, Public Information Officer for Castle Air Tanker Base, said. "The Oakhurst fire was a good example of how critical it is to have a big drop."

The red retardant, which helps to slow and cool the fire, is made of fertilizer. Because of EPA standards, the retardant, while not harmful, should not be ingested, and no drops are allowed over waterways.

"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 Castle Air Force Base in Atwater, just north of Merced. Currently, this is a temporary base on Stanislaus National Forest land, and is centrally located within the state. Located 45 minutes to the Oregon border and to the Mexico border, the planes have the ability to reach all areas of the state quickly.

"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 Rick Hatton added. "It's a fine example of the right tool at the right time."

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 Yosemite Bank through Sept. 12. On your check, write "Junction Fire Account." The Queen's Inn held a fundraiser last Friday evening, raising $5,200.

___

(c)2014 the Sierra Star (Oakhurst, Calif.)

Visit the Sierra Star (Oakhurst, Calif.) at www.sierrastar.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services