The Great and Dreadful Day

"When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee" Isaiah 43:2

The last picture I have of my folks standing in front of their home 7-09

Dad, brother Bill, Mom and me 7-09

Two weeks ago today I was sitting in a Carl's Jr. parking lot with Sawyer in the back seat of my car, contemplating whether or not I would buy a chocolate malt. Two weeks ago today I received a phone call in that parking lot from my sister, Sandy, telling me that our parents' neighborhood had been evacuated due to a wildfire and that no one could find them. Two weeks ago today seems likes two years ago tonight. For the next 4 or 5 hours individual and conference phone calls, emails and texts were flying around among my brothers and sisters, as we tried to piece together what was truth and what was fiction. Most of us found ourselves in front of our computers watching KCRA-Channel 3 News live on the internet trying to determine if our parents' home had burned down. And asking each other and God, "Where are they?"

It's very difficult to conceive that this could be your parent's home

Bill was quickly able to pinpoint, capture, and email to us

The brick column and patio furniture look familiar, but could this really be where Dad sat on the porch every morning reading his newspaper and greeting his hummingbird friend?

And when the newscaster points to the rubble declaring that most of the homes on Cedar Mist Circle are gone, is he really pointing to our once livingroom?

Here's what we've been able to piece together albeit maybe still not too accurately: Sometime around 2:15-2:30 pm on Aug 30th, Dad (94) and Mom (85) had come home from church. Dad was in his office and smelled something burning so he walked into the kitchen to see if Mom had burned some toast. But there was no toast. He went back to his office and looked out the window to see the bushes and trees on the side of the house up in flames and partially charred. He went outside and saw that the corner of the house was on fire. He grabbed a hose and tried to start spraying down the house but soon realized that the whole neighborhood was on fire. He scrambled back inside, got Mom and his car keys, they climbed in their car in the garage and drove away from the house. They live off a circular street at the top of a hill with only one way in and out. We learned from a neighbor that the street was bumper to bumper with evacuees and the cars were going slowly down the hill. Apparently Mom was quite terrified and kept trying to jump out of the car while yelling "our house is on fire!" The neighbors kept trying to keep her inside the car.

John pulled this photo from The Auburn Journal

Dad was probably in shock but decided to drive to my sister, Marlene's, house which is about 25 minutes away, hoping they'd returned from their trip to Utah. They hadn't. He then drove back up to Auburn and thought he would go to a friend's house, but that street was closed off. Eventually he spoke with some people standing around who told him about an evacuee shelter at a local grade school. They drove over to the school.

In the meantime, my niece's husband, Brandon, had his mother drive up to Auburn from Loomis and try to locate our parents at one of the shelters. At the same time, a member of our church and Mom's surgeon, Dr. Bradshaw, had been driving all over looking for them. First he'd been told that they'd been taken by ambulance to the hospital so he went there and searched for them with no luck. Then he was told that they'd been taken by the sheriff to the evacuee center. He drove there but no luck. He continued to search all the shelters and possible locations at which they might be. He was told that they'd gone to their children's home in Granite Bay for dinner so he contacted, Kelly, my brother-in-law. But Kelly told him his family was still in Utah and that none of us knew where they were. Dr. Bradshaw went back to the school and saw the folks standing across the room with Brandon's mom. He told us that never can we imagine the feeling in his heart when he saw Tony and Olea, well, and in good spirits. He went out to his car and wept. And upon hearing of his diligent search we wept also.

My sister, Sandy, and her husband, Bill, drove up to get the folks and take them to their home in Woodland. My brother, John, and his wife, Gayle, were visiting in the Bay Area for a high school reunion. They drove back up to Sacramento to rejoin the family. The Gallachers arrived home Monday night. I drove up Tuesday morning with Sawyer, and Chelsea later flew in the next day. We all took various assignments in trying to quickly remediate the terrible disaster and bring order back into the lives of our parents. Cheryl, Fred, and Bill lent their support from afar. After the burned out acreage was allowed to be re-entered it was verified that indeed, our house and many others had burned to the ground. It was strange and awful touring the neighborhood and seeing the destructive and nonsensical chaotic path of the fire...some homes spared...some homes destroyed, including 4 homes that belonged to members of our church.

Front walkway leading to the house

In the far upper LH corner is the patio where the playhouse stood. A little left of center is the remains of my refrigerator that I gave the folks when I moved to Dana Point (the one I bought a few days before Brittany's wedding)

On Wednesday, those who could went to D.I. and bought cleanup clothes so we could work on the property. We don't have to worry about demolition and restoration because the insurance company allows money for clean-up and we're not going to rebuild. However, there was time needed to sift and sort through the ashes to see if anything remained. We found some pottery pieces, an anvil, some porcelain doo-dads, a part of Dad's trumpet and camera, coins underneath much rubble, Dad's dogtags and the metal parts of Dad's WWII rifles, and other misc. and trivial things, which have suddenly become very precious to us.

A few dumb things we and the firemen found

The part that pleased us the most was finding that the Golden Gate Bridge was still standing and barely damaged. Several years ago the Golden Gate Bridge was being renovated and parts of it were being sold to the public. We purchased a 3-4 foot section and gave it to the folks as a gift, as the bridge has always had great meaning for our family. At the time we had it cemented into their backyard in the garden. Now, while everything around it was gray or black and nothing but several feet of ashes, there stood the Golden Gate, like a phoenix, it's orange-red paint still intact. It now is on its way to its new home in the Gallachers' backyard. There's a picture of this somewhere but I don't have it.

My nephew, Brigham, holding two Golden Gate bookends, but the actual GG structure can't be seen in this photo

Me, Chelsea, and my sister, Sandy, posing before the mass of destruction

Brother, John, in his D.I. cleanup shirt

John continued working at the site and working on the financial and insurance aspects of the fire. I helped with the recovery at the county and state sites and pulling paperwork and permits. Marlene and family helped with meals and babysitting. Gayle, Marlene, Sandy and I shopped for furniture and clothes and everything needed to set up a new household. I can't begin to describe every detail and complication along the way. We were all exhausted. Marlene and Gayle found a beautiful assisted living location for the folks to move into. Then we needed doctors reports and TB tests and evaluations. And we all had to put our 2 cents in. In the meantime, we took the folks over to survey the damage in the daylight.

Dad, using his cane to point out where his office was and that he probably wouldn't have to worry about organizing and filing all his paperwork there anymore.

Mom and Dad, still smiling. Dad said he came from good pioneer stock, and whereas his great-grandfather and grandfather had given up all that they had and pressed forward with only their wagons, so did he and Mom with their Chrysler 300m

The folks gave some money to their neighbor who had shown kindness to them over the years. She was renting and had no rental insurance so lost everything, but she did find her engagement ring in the ashes.

Two days ago we helped Dad and Mom move into their new place. They can be reached at 6100 Sierra College, Rocklin, CA 95677. Any memories or old photos that you might have would be appreciated.

Within 3 days new grass had started to grow back through the ashes

Within 3 days we had located a new place for them to live

Me, Sawyer, Dad, Mom, sister, Marlene at Sunrise Assisted Living

Thank you to everyone for your messages of concern and love. We, as their 7 children, are so grateful that their lives were spared. Dad is very happy with the new living arrangements. Mom is not so sure. We hope they are happy there. Marlene lives very close by and plans on visiting and helping out as much as possible. Sandy, too, lives not so far away. Providing Mom doesn't run away or get lost this should be a very good place for them. If Mom isn't able to adjust, then we will have to come up with Plan B. But for today and tonight, this is Plan A. And since we never know what tomorrow brings, Plan A is good enough.