By Melinda Iuster
On Aug. 19, the afternoon sky grew dark with smoke. The sun became a blood red disc. The weather’s excessive heat wilted my garden. Wildfires raged all over Northern California, and the CZU August Lightning Complex fire in Boulder Creek and up the coast, beyond Davenport was advancing closer to the Westside of Santa Cruz and my home.
The next morning, ashes floated in the air like dirty snow. UC Santa Cruz was evacuated and on my cul-de-sac of nine houses, neighbors assembled in the street discussing our plans, if and when we were ordered to leave. Someone said, “Make sure everyone knows if a warning or evacuation order is announced.” Another said, “If you decide to go somewhere else tell someone so we know your family’s safe.”
I’ve lived on Las Ondas Court the longest, 37 years. Besides my family, my house is the most important thing to me. That afternoon I drove my car to leave it in Capitola, stuffed with photo albums, house plans and my great grandmother’s 120-year-old brass Samovar. My phone rang and my neighbor Ross Clark asked if I wanted him to buy a sprinkler for the top of your house.
My answer? “Yes.”
Ross drove to Capitola, purchasing sprinklers for every house on our Court. When my daughter drove us back, neighbors were in the street, assembling sprinklers. Their ages ranged from mid-80s and down. Because of the pandemic many of our college kids and young adults were home too. The kids scrambled up onto steep roofs, affixing sprinklers on top of not only their house, but also those of older neighbors whose children were grown and gone. We took photos of them, standing all on the roofs, their chests expanded to the heavens, their faces flushed from excitement, heat and accomplishment. They attached garden hoses and climbed down.
Faucets were turned on and water sprayed from every roof, saturating our homes, protecting us from burning embers. We all stood in the street and watched. Then we turned the water off. We continued to wet our homes each day as we waited for the evacuation order that never came.
If the fire had raced to our homes would this plan have saved our little cul-de-sack? I don’t know. But we were united as a group, looking out for each other. My neighbors, this community has helped me brave these scary times.
"save" - Google News
September 05, 2020 at 11:25PM
https://ift.tt/2Zasixn
Fire stories: Neighbors unite to save homes - Santa Cruz Sentinel
"save" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2SvBSrf
https://ift.tt/2zJxCxA
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Fire stories: Neighbors unite to save homes - Santa Cruz Sentinel"
Post a Comment