Guerneville residents relieved, grateful as they return home after fleeing Waldbridge fire

Aug. 28--Shirley Valley's smile outshone her headlights as she drove her RV down Guerneville's Laughlin Road toward home Friday morning, eager to unload her pets and settle in after 10 days away.

She had enjoyed a peaceful stay at her daughter's rural home on a hill above the village of Bodega, but Valley was thrilled to be back on Happy Lane, among neighbors.

"I feel like Dorothy in the 'Wizard of Oz.' There's no place like home!' " she proclaimed, throwing her arms in the air, as her black cat bounded from its carrier and her terrier, Buddy, munched some long garden grass.

Valley, a 36-year resident, was among about 1,500 people in the Guerneville area cleared to return on Thursday evening, many of them still trickling back into town on Friday for grateful homecomings and reunions.

On nearby Watson Road, which heads west off Armstrong Woods Road through Forgotten Valley toward Pool Ridge Road, Cynthia Berman's Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Piper, barked excitedly as they walked behind her wood-sided home, tucked against a tree-covered hill.

Berman's neighbors had stayed behind despite the evacuation order because of the variety of animals they keep on their 9 acres next door, and she had checked in with them by phone several times from the safety of her pet-friendly hotel in San Rafael.

"I was so worried some of the days being away," she said.

White ashen residue in the seams of her walkway told of the Walbridge fire's proximity, its remaining flames still pumping out plumes of smoke in the hills to the northeast.

All is not back to normal yet, though the high-pitched smoke alarm at Guerneville School that sounded nonstop for more than a week has finally been turned off.

The town's Safeway, a community hub that serves up food, news and gossip through good times and bad, was scheduled to reopen at 7 a.m. Saturday.

A local assistance center is set to open at 1 p.m. Saturday in the Bank of America parking lots at 16390 Main St., providing fire victims with help accessing financial assistance, rebuilding information, insurance claims help and other support. Another center is opening at the gym at Healdsburg High School.

Representatives for state, county and nonprofit agencies will be on-hand to help with replacement of driver's licenses and other documents, access to economic assistance and with providing information about safe reentry to fire zones.

Most of those returning to town on Friday were well outside the burn zone, however, and faced few losses, with the possible exception of spoiled food.

Sue Rooney faced a somewhat dismal scene at the True Value Hardware of Guerneville, where she is nursery manager.

Another worker got in to water the plants a time or two while she was away so she was shocked when she returned. "Oh, there's color!" she said, sharing her reaction. Many still died, however, and Rooney, 68, was scooting paintings and other personal belongings aside in her minivan so she could squeeze in some of the dried up plants and take them to compost.

She and her husband, after staying with a son and his family for a few days, had spent much of their evacuation at the Flamingo Hotel in Santa Rosa -- recently redubbed "Little Guerneville," because so many evacuees are staying there.

Her home up Armstrong Woods Road was just inside what was left of the evacuation zone, though a kind policeman allowed her to walk in and water her garden earlier Friday.

"I broke down when he let me in," she said.

At the Fife Creek Commons apartments on Fifth Street, several residents turned up at once, sharing hugs and air hugs as they lugged coolers, piles of clothes and satchels of belongings back up the stairs.

They greeted each other and compared notes on accommodations over the previous 10 days, and recalled the panic and bewilderment over what to do and where to go when the order to evacuate came Aug. 18.

Robert Valdez, 77, passed several nights on an evacuation center cot at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds before landing a room in vacant student housing at Sonoma State University this week.

Another resident, Barbie Gaulin, 71, got a ride from a neighbor who doubles as a caretaker to Petaluma, where they were met by Gaulin's son, who lives in San Francisco and took her in.

"Nobody knew exactly what to do," said Henry Blackwell, 67. "It's nice to be back in your own bed."

There was little time to pack on evacuation night, as well, said Gaulin. "It's hard. You're panicking," she said.

But back at home, they were all relieved and smiling, perhaps none more than Anna Haynes. The evacuation had proven expensive, and the temporary quarters somewhat cramped.

Traveling with her boyfriend, two kids, ages 3 and 8, a cat and a guinea pig, they had stayed in a couple of motels and a cousin's spare room in Novato. But it had still cost more than $1,000 for food and lodging, said Haynes, 30.

"I'm a waitress," she said, her point obvious.

The Walbridge fire has burned across 86 square miles in the forested hills north of the Russian River. Many who fled communities along its perimeter faced hardship on top of inconvenience.

For Kayte Guglielmino, who cares for her granddaughter and ailing mother, it's been a highly emotional time, made all the more difficult by the fact that her son, a state park employee, lost everything when the fire burned through his residence in the northern reaches of Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve.

Guglielmino has been worried sick about him as he fought to save majestic trees in the park's redwood grove, while his wife and their 1-year-old son took refuge at a vacant family home in Petaluma.

Guglielmino also had to put her parents up in a hotel, where they were to remain for several more days because of the smoke that's still settling in the valley each day.

She and her 8-year-old granddaughter came home Thursday evening from a relative's home in Santa Rosa. Their neighborhood was nearly empty.

"I wondered if I was supposed to be here, but I wasn't going to leave because I wanted to sleep in my own bed so bad," she said. "I'm so grateful that our community is still here. So grateful."

You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 707-521-5249 or [email protected]. On Twitter @MaryCallahanB.

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