Southern California Wildfires - Rice Fire 2007

October 21, 2007

Sunday, sometime in the middle of the night:

I woke up to branches hitting my house. The winds were so strong that my screen door and windows were rattling. I kept hearing this constant tapping noise at my front door as if someone were trying to annoy me out of bed. I went to the window and looked out…nothing. I turned to go back to bed and there it was again. Tap, tap, tap... what in the world? I opened the front door half expecting to see someone there laughing or ready to attack (too many crime shows and murder mysteries). Then I looked up, it was the flag pole hitting the house. I was so annoyed; I yanked it out of its vessel and brought it into the house. Now, back to sleep.

October 22, 2007

Monday morning around 7am:

I watched the news for a little while. The fire could not be contained and was spreading quickly. The winds weren’t helping matters and now the news was saying that a fire had broken out in Fallbrook but that it was not threatening any structures.

9:26am:

I called my friend to see what the weather was like at her house. We were supposed to get together and scrapbook at 10am. She said there was no wind at all and to come on over. I decided to go, thinking that they would just contain the fire near Fallbrook, but I was leaving with a nagging feeling…something that I couldn’t shake or put my finger on so I decided to call another friend for reassurance. “You have nothing to worry about where you are. They aren’t going to let the fire go into town.” I still wasn’t quite satisfied. I called my mom to let her know what was going on and that I’d let her know if we were to be evacuated or in any danger. I gathered my scrapbooking things and my son and went out the door.

The wind was incredibly strong. The playground in front of my house was filled with branches and pine needles. Two trees had blown over and were lying on the ground next to my house. “What a mess,” I thought, “I feel sorry for the people that have to clean up this mess.”

Around 1:45pm:

I get a phone call – “All of Fallbrook is being evacuated? Have you left yet? Do you have somewhere to go?” I’m not even at home! I threw all my scrapbooking stuff into a box, grabbed Landon and headed for home. I prayed the whole way that they’d let me into Fallbrook to get my things and my “baby girl,” Mary. Before I even got to the Naval Weapons Station I was turned away. The MP said that he’s sorry but that I can’t go back for anything. The first mental breakdown begins…

Sobbing and semi-hysterical, I called my dad. I told him the situation and he calmed me down. I had nowhere to go. I called hotels. Dad looked for hotels online. Everything was booked. I called a friend, barely able to get the words out, “We have no where to go…” and before I could even ask her if we could stay there she said, “Come right now. Don’t worry about anything, just come over here and we’ll get through this together.” I told her that we didn’t have anything with us. I decided to run to the store before it got too busy. $200 later, I had all the essentials for a couple of days plus some food and water for all of us and a couple of toys for Landon.

Around 4:00pm:

We sat and stared at the television for the rest of the evening and into the night. I couldn’t believe what I was watching. I couldn’t believe how bad it had become. The news:

Firefighters in Fallbrook are gearing up to battle a resurgence of flames in the Rice Canyon fire, which began as a small fire on Fallbrook's outskirts, but is moving quickly toward the historic town. All 40,000 residents of Fallbrook have been ordered to evacuate the area. The fire has eaten up about 750 acres and is spreading. It is moving toward Fallbrook on Reche Road, spreading on the east side of Interstate 15.

Two people have been injured in the fire, officials said.

When asked about the chances that the fire will make it to downtown Fallbrook, North County Fire Protection District spokesman John Buchanan responded with realistic resolve."It's going to be a tough fight," he said.

Around 7pm:

The kids were bathed, the beds were ready, but Landon and I couldn’t sleep. He told me that “the fire is not going to burn my house or my rocket, Mom.” I told him that he was right and that everything was going to be okay. He finally fell asleep around 10pm and I drifted off around 11pm only to wake up all through the night to check the news.

October 23, 2007

Tuesday:

Another stressful day. Reports from everywhere seemed to be conflicting. I never knew who or what to believe. All I wanted was to go home and get Mary. We tried to get our minds off of it. We watched other things on television and played games but there was always that moment when we just had to get an update. Again, the news:

The Rice Fire in Fallbrook appears to be destroying homes in an unpredictable pattern, John Buchanan, the public information officer for North County Fire Protection District, said this morning. Buchanan said the fire is acting like a tornado, taking out homes outside of its path of destruction, probably from hot embers.

WALDO NILO – North County Times Photographer

By late this morning, fire officials said the blaze had destroyed 250 homes and damaged 30 others in Fallbrook and the eastern portion of Pala Mesa Village.Firefighters were battling a 4-mile long front of the fire in Fallbrook.

The fire is zero percent contained and is stretching from north of Mission Road almost to Highway 76 and Gird Road.

"That's where we're trying to make a stand," Buchanan said at 9:15 a.m. today.The fire is estimated to have burned 4,000 acres and injured two civilians and one firefighter.
An estimated time of containment is not known.

"We're still dealing with very erratic winds and extreme fire behaviors," Buchanan said. "We're basically at the whim of Mother Nature."

Sometime on Tuesday:

I saw the map for the first time of the Rice Fire that was burning in Fallbrook. I couldn’t believe how close it was to my house. It was burning the park were Loren and I had taken Landon to play.

My second breakdown began…

Tuesday, in the middle of the night:

The power had gone out. No light and no fans. (Try sleeping in the heat, in a house that has a lingering of stale smoke. You can’t open the windows for air and you have no idea what is going on. Is it just a normal power outage? It is from the fires?)

We got a phone call that we were under voluntary evacuations and that it was just a matter of time before the MPs came around telling everyone to leave and it would be mandatory. What? Why? My head was a fog. I felt like I was sleeping in the middle of a bad dream. I wanted to wake up from the dream but I didn’t want to wake up from my nap. Exhaustion had taken over my body and my mental state wasn’t far behind. I didn’t want to evacuate again. Now where were we supposed to go?

The information that we got was that there were three new fires on Camp Pendleton – one behind the commissary (which was about two miles down the hill from us), one in the Horno area, and one behind the Air Station (where Loren’s work was located).

My friend was having her breakdown now. She went to pack up some things and then came back downstairs and said that she was not going anywhere until those MPs showed up at the door. She decided to call the MPs directly to find out what was going on. She asked if her housing area was being evacuated and the man said “no, stay in your homes with the windows and doors shut and do not go outside.” She asked him if there were three fires on the base right then, one being right down the hill from her house. “Yes” was the only answer she got and then the man hung up. She watched the neighbors all pack their cars and head out. So much for staying in your homes.

“What should we do?” she asked me. I was so drained and exhausted that I could only think of my head hitting the pillow. I knew that we had to be up in the morning ready to take care of three little kids. “Let’s just get some sleep and we’ll worry about it if the knock on the door comes.” Agreed.

Landon woke up crying some time later and I stumbled up the stairs trying to reach him before he woke up everyone in the house. He told me that he wanted his own room. I told him that we still couldn’t go home because of the fire. He said “okay Mama” and went back to sleep.

October 24, 2007

Wednesday:

There was still no power. The house was hot and stuffy. We were miserable, irritable, and were not getting any answers. The kids were running around the house like banshees. We were ready to pull our hair out if we heard one more scream or fight. Landon and I were out of clean clothes. We got the latest update on the fires on Camp Pendleton from friends before we headed out to the store to go buy some more clothes, food, water, lights, and batteries. Here was the news:

Camp Pendleton authorities have relocated the residents of one housing area, San Onofre 1 and 2, to San Mateo. That relocation, which affected approximately 800 family members, was a precautionary measure in light of the proximity of the Horno fire.

The five-acre fire near the Commissary (the Base's largest grocery store) inthe 21 Area is also 100 percent contained.

After we got home from the store, ate lunch, and stared at each other for most of the afternoon, we decided that it was time to “get out of dodge” (where did that saying come from, by the way). It was just too hot, still no power, the kids were driving us crazy; they were cranky and so were we. We were told that evacuations were voluntary at that time and that it looked like they would not get the power back on until Saturday. That was the last straw. We called dad and had him make hotel arrangements for us in Fontana (about an hour-and-a-half northeast of us).

Wednesday evening, leaving Camp Pendleton:

As we drove along I-5 we could see where the fire had been. The smoke was a heavy fog in the distant but the smell was everywhere. And then, there it was… the fire in the Las Pulgas/Horno area. I had never seen anything like it. It was like I was watching a television. Was I really seeing what I was seeing? The tears fell as I continued to drive north. I wanted my husband. There was an anger growing inside of me. It wasn’t fair. Loren was out helping others in a foreign land while his own family needed his help. All the Marines that were over in Iraq, not knowing if they would have a home to come back to; it was sickening. I felt nauseous, angry, scared, and saddened all at the same time. I just kept thinking that I had to keep it together for my son. He had to know that we were going to be just fine.

Wednesday night, at the hotel:

The hotel was… let’s just say… a little run down and dirty and a lot scary. It was a bad part of town. We stayed one night because we had no other option at that point. We would find a new hotel in the morning. Sleep came easily though. I can remember a feeling of peace like it was okay to just fall asleep.

October 25, 2007

Thursday morning:

We didn’t even shower at the hotel. The bathrooms weren’t very clean and we just wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. We drove back towards LA until we found what looked like a nicer part of town and a nicer hotel; the Claremont Inn. Perfect. We got our rooms and got settled in. I was feeling optimistic. The news we were getting was all positive. We stayed there that night knowing that the next day we would probably get the word that we could go home. Home… I thought about it as I went to sleep. Would Mary be okay? Did she have enough food and/or water to sustain her until I got back? Was she scared? I finally fell asleep feeling that the news we had heard that day meant that I would find out soon enough. We would be able to go home in the morning. That’s all I had to cling to.

The news that day:

Fire crews have their arms around about 20 percent of the Rice Canyon fire in Fallbrook, CalFire officials said Wednesday night.

There is also a plan that could see some Fallbrook residents back in their homes by the weekend.

As of late in the evening, none of the threatened homes in northern Fallbrook were burned. The estimated loss of residences in Fallbrook remains at 206 homes, a number unchanged since Tuesday morning.

Much of the losses are in east Fallbrook, including the hard hit Valley Oaks mobile-home park off Reche Road.

(All photos taken by North County Times Photographer, JAMIE SCOTT LYTLE.)

A birds-eye view of the Valley Oaks mobile home park in Fallbrook on Friday.

The National Guard onsite at the Valley Oaks mobile home park in Fallbrook on Friday looking for human remains -- fortunately -- none were found.

Remnants of the Valley Oaks mobile home park in Fallbrook.

Tony Brencola a Fallbrook Water District Worker, looks through the rubble of his Valley Oaks Park mobile home. More than 50 percent of the homes in the park in Fallbrook were destroyed by the fire.

The remains of a small bicycle reminiscent of where children once played is seen in the Valley Oaks mobile home park in Fallbrook.

October 26, 2007

Friday morning:

Dad called. “You can go home now,” he told me. That’s all I needed to hear. We ate our continental breakfast, packed up, and headed for home. Right before we left my friend got a call from her neighbor saying that the power was back on. We said our goodbyes to each other and headed out.

Nothing can explain the feeling I was having as I entered Camp Pendleton. I was scared, nervous, exhausted, happy, and tired. I felt nauseous, once again, as I pulled up to the Naval Weapons Station gate. It was open! I was really going home. What was just five days of ups and downs, highs and lows, was coming to an end. It felt like it had been five months since I had been home.

We pulled into our parking spot. The entire parking lot was covered in pine needles, branches, leaves, and ash. There were only two cars in the entire lot. A neighbor’s car and Loren’s car; the ash and pine needles thick, covering the top of his car.

I opened my front door half expecting Mary to be waiting there for me. She wasn’t. Where was she? I called her and she came running. I scooped her up and just kissed her and held her for a few minutes. She was so happy to see us. She was out of food but still had water. She was okay. We were okay. Our home was just fine. We had nothing left to worry about.

That night as Landon and I got ready for bed we talked about the fire. He told me that the fire was gone now and that the fire trucks went home. He said that the fire didn’t get his house or his rocket and it didn’t get his daddy in the big jet. He said that daddy could come home now too. I told him that Heavenly Father blessed us and saved us and our home from the fire. I told him that we should be thankful to all the firemen and to our Heavenly Father for watching over us and protecting us. We said our prayers and said how grateful we were to be home and safe. We prayed for Loren, as we always do, that he would be safe also.

I think we both went to bed that night feeling relief. It felt so good to be home. I thought of all of those that had lost so much. How blessed we were to just be put out of our home for a few days. Some people didn’t have home to go back to. I prayed for them.