Californians endure 7 days of wildfires

Word that at least one of the major blazes, in Orange County, was deliberately set spread further outrage.

And still more towns faced new evacuations, among them Julian, an apple-picking hamlet in the mountains northeast of San Diego, and Jamul, a community near the border where homes can go for a million-plus.

There was, however, one reason for optimism. By Thursday night, the ruthless winds that fueled the calamity had finally died.

‘It’s a good feeling’
Come Friday, Gonsalves and his colleagues were back at their computers at the weather office, swapping war stories in between work about their own fire encounters. The office was unscathed, but for the lingering stench of smoke.

Gonsalves was lucky; his family never had to evacuate. One colleague remained displaced from his home in Julian, though even that evacuation order had lifted by Saturday morning.

Zeulner was enjoying his first 24 hours off in five days, although, given the circumstances, enjoying hardly seemed the right word. He still had no idea when he might head home, or whether he’d miss a vacation to see his 5-month-old granddaughter.

And at 6 a.m. Saturday, he and his crew reported for yet another day of duty in San Diego.

He joked that he’d better at least be back by Dec. 28 — the day he retires from the fire department.

“I got in the fire service to help people,” he said, his eyes reddening with tears because, despite so much loss, he believes he did help people this past week. “It’s a good feeling.”

At the remains of his home on Lancashire Way, Crane’s eyes were noticeably dry of tears. Instead, there was a sense of optimism in him and the neighbors who flooded back to begin cleaning up, and returned Saturday to pick up more pieces. They exchanged hugs and “I’m so sorrys,” talked about getting together, already, in the coming days to discuss rebuilding.

“Did I want to start over at this time in my life? No,” 60-year-old Crane said. “But my family is fine. I’m fine.”

Everything else, he said, “is just stuff. I can make it through this.”

Like the soot-covered CorningWare dish, the ceramic salt shaker and his father’s old circular saw that he recovered from the ashes — “little miracles,” a neighbor called such precious finds, so desperately needed in a week of so few.

The American Red Cross has set up a service for evacuees to register their status and for loved ones to search for evacuees. Either call 1-800-REDCROSS or go to disastersafe.redcross.org .

Click here for more information on how you can help.

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