00:00:00Camp Fire Oral History Project- Ratterree
Interviewee: Laurie Ratterree
Date of interview: February 20, 2019
Interviewer: Stefani Baldivia
Interview Transcription
S.B.: We're going to go ahead and get started. Uh--what is your name?
L.R.: My name is Laurie Ratterree.
S.B.: Nice to see you Laurie. Um--thank you for being here.
L.R.: You're welcome.
S.B.: Uh what is your name and your--oh sorry, your age and your occupation?
L.R.: I'm sixty-two and I'm an administrative analyst for the library.
S.B.: Okay, um--where did you live at in the beginning of November 2018?
L.R.: Magalia, California.
S.B.: Okay--and uh what did you do on Wednesday, November 7, 2018?
L.R.: Well I went to work and--um--when I got home, I had gotten two texts from
PG&E saying that it was going to be really windy, they were expecting high winds
and that it was most likely at some point going to lose power. So I was
preparing, getting out the flash lights, getting the candles out--uh--getting
the extension cords put together so I can hook something to my car to run the
generator. Um--you know getting blankets out, uh--centralizing everything by my
gas--uh--stove because--that's--my gas stove will work when the power is out, so
I was kind of setting up a sleeping bag, and a little mattress and you know,
just getting everything cozy in case we lost power.
S.B.: So, is this something that happens with PG&E when they have a high-wind advisory?
L.R.: I have not--um--I do not remember. So I lived up there for five and a half
years and we occasionally get something like that. We often have
fire--um--warnings. Um, we had just had one in September--September 24--and um,
because of that warning--um--I was very prepared for this one because I was
talking to my sister on the phone, and--on September 24-- and I was telling her
that we have a possible fire threat and she said, "Well you should go ahead and
get your stuff ready just in case," and so I did. And it took me five hours. So
I was like, "Okay that's not going to work" [laughs]. And so, that weekend I
made a list, and I moved everything in locations where they could be grabbed
quickly. My photo albums were by the door, my--uh-- grandmother's quilt, the
quilts I've made, were in an easy--uh--location I can just grab and--but it was
a whole list of items and--uh--so I was well prepared. We had actually--um--the
summer before, I was home one day and uh, there was a fire--I live almost at the
edge of the ridge in Magalia--uh middle lower Magalia and there was a fire down
the ridge, and I heard a helicopter and then right to the le--to uh, let's see,
the east of me is Magalia Reservoir and so the helicopter was going from the
fire to the river to pick up -- a big drop of water and back. And the round trip
was four minutes, so I knew it was close.
S.B.: Wow.
L.R.: Yeah, so we've had several threats but nothing ever happened you know.
S.B.: Okay--um--did you have plans on Thursday?
L.R.: I did and I'm so thankful I did--
S.B.: (both talking at once) Okay. What were your plans?
L.R.: --because normally I leave work at six forty in the morning--I ride in a
carpool--we leave at 6:40 and um, my brother had had hip surgery about a week
before and his wife was his caretaker. So--uh--she was a little bit overwhelmed.
So, I had--was going to take Thursday and Friday off--to go down there and give
her a break--she could take a nap, go shopping -- whatever--and um, so
I--um--did not leave for work at 6:40.
S.B.: Okay, and--because of that, you were home and -- um -- so what time did
you arise on Thursday, November--
L.R.: Actually, I woke up at 2:00 in the morning because it was so windy. It was
very loud and I couldn't--I never went back to sleep.
S.B.: So were you up and about, or were you just awake in bed?
L.R.: um--I was doing my devotions. I was--looking stuff up on the internet. I
was, you know, just doing stuff you do when you can't sleep (both laughs).
S.B.: Okay. So what alerted you? [5:59]
So I was by myself with my dog. My Jack Russell Terrier.
S.B.: What's your dog's name?
L.R.: Tahoe.
S.B.: Tahoe.
L.R.: Mm-hmm. So it was him and I.
S.B.: And you had been prepared?
L.R.: Yes.
S.B.: For high-wind advisory?
L.R.: Yes.
S.B.: So, what alerted you to the fire?
L.R.: About--I had gotten up about 6:00 to start--um--getting things together to
go on my trip and about 7:30--um--my girlfriend from Chico called and she said,
"What's all that black smoke up there?" And I looked outside, I didn't see
anything. I turned on the T.V., there was nothing on the news. I turned on the
radio, there was nothing on the radio. So I was just like, "I have no idea. It's
not here so, I'll watch for it," but even the local news Action News Now at 12,
which we get up at Magalia. Um--there was nothing. No word of the fire.
S.B.: That was at 7:30?
L.R.: That was at 7:30--between 7:30 and 8. Then--um--so I just continued to get
ready to go. You know, I was packing the bag, I was getting together my mattress
to take and--you know getting everything ready to take outside and put it in my
car and at 8:15, I went out back to put my dog in the kennel because my husband
was coming home that night. So, I was putting him outside and I walked out on
the deck and--okay so we saw pine trees and it's on a hill, so my front door is
level with the street but then--if you walk on that same level then you have a
deck that you have to walk down the stairs so it's on a hill and--uh--it was
very dark--and I looked up in the sky, and there was a tornado of smoke. Totally
silent, didn't make any noise but it was a ferocious inferno of black--gray,
white, some orange and red. It was mesmerizing. I almost stopped and took a
video but--um--I came to my senses [laughs] and--uh--me and the dog went back in
the house. The first thing I thought of was my next door neighbor--she's 85--
S.B.: Oh my.
L.R.:--and she just lost her husband. So, I ran next door to make sure she was
aware because it was silent. We hadn't got any notification--there was nothing
on the news. Um--and--so I got to her house and she was just grabbing her purse
and her neighbor behind her is 95 and blind.
S.B.: Oh my word.
L.R.: And her daughter was picking them both up. So, I was--because I was going
to grab her, and take her with me. So, they were taken care of so I went back
home, grabbed my list off the fridge that I had prepared in September and just
started--uh--grabbing items, and I'm so thankful I made that list because
you--you can't think. Your brain is just--your adrenaline is pumping and if I
wouldn't have had that list, I don't know what I would of grabbed.
S.B.: [Blows breath] That's a lot.
L.R.: Maybe the garbage can or something [both laugh]. Yes, so I just started
grabbing things. It took me like a half hour--
S.B.: Okay.
L.R.: --to get everything in my car, and--uh--during this half hour, different
people from work were--uh--trying to text me and--um
S.B.: So, you had said it took you about thirty minutes?
L.R.: Mm-hmm.
S.B.: To pack things up?
L.R.: Mm-hmm. And during that time different people from work had started
texting me. Mike Watts was texting me, Patrick [Newell] was texting me and they
were like, "Are you okay? Are you out? Are you--" So--uh, I knew Mike had a good
relationship with UPD--uh--because he works with them and so--um--I asked him to
contact UPD to find out if Skyway was open. There's three roads out of Magalia
down the ridge. That's Skyway, Clark and Pentz and I'd already heard Pentz and
Clark were closed because the fire started in Pulga up the ridge, which is the
other side of the ridge way down, right? And--um--Pentz is first, then Clark,
then Skyway. So, I heard Pentz and Clark was already road--errm closed. Mike had
let me know that they were already closed and he thought one lane on Skyway was
open. He was--uh--following a Facebook group.
S.B.: Mike was?
L.R.: Mm-hmm.
S.B.: Okay.
L.R.: And--um so-- my intention was to get down Skyway. About that time, I heard
something that I thought was an explosion which I think was probably someone's
propane tank and I was like, "Okay, it's time to go," and at the same time, Mike
texted me, "Go now!" in caps. So, I grabbed the dog and we got in the car--uh--I
park on the side underneath an overhang, so [I] got out, locked up the gate,
went to the house, turned on the alarm thinking, I'm going to be back. You know,
we've done this so many times. Not the actual leaving, but the threats of fire.
And so um--
S.B.: So you secured your home --
L.R.: Mm-hmm.
S.B.: -- with the intention, "I'll be back later --
L.R.: Mm-hmm.
S.B.:--today"?
L.R.: Uh--maybe not today but, soon. Not four months [laughs].
S.B.: So when you said--uh--you had a list, did you get all the way through your list?
L.R.: I did.
S.B.: Okay.
L.R.: Yeah.
S.B.: That's good. Is--what is something you absolutely did not want to leave behind?
L.R.: My dog.
S.B.: Okay.
L.R.: If I would have gone to work, my dog would of been stuck up there
because--um--the girl I carpool with, she left at 6:40 as normal and she was not
allowed to come back up to get her cats. Her house survived, but had it not, her
cats would've been stuck up there, and my dog. But anyways, so yeah my dog was
the most important thing and--
S.B.: --what was your--What was your dog's behavior--like, while you were
running around?
L.R.: He was excited I was home.
S.B.: Oh, he was just happy? He was like "Oh this is fun!"
L.R.: Yeah, he follows me around.
S.B.: Aw.
L.R.: Yeah. For my husband he'll just lay there and--but for me, he likes to
just follow me around.
S.B.: So when you were up and about, and had just started getting warnings. You
said you checked the news. There was nothing on the news--
L.R.:--nothing.
S.B.:--and then you started getting personal messages from coworkers and friends?
L.R.: Which freaked me out because they're getting other news that I wasn't getting.
S.B.: Right.
L.R.: And so--
S.B.: --at what point did it become--news like on the radio or on the T.V.?
L.R.: Uh--I never saw anything on the T.V.
S.B.: Wow.
L.R.: I never saw anything on the T.V. and I never heard anything on the news.
Now I listen to K-Love which does have a local--um, station in Magalia, Paradise
but nothing had come on about that. Nothing.
S.B.: Okay.
L.R.: And um--and I hadn't gotten any notifications. Um--like I hadn't gotten
any additional PG&E notifications. I--my last notification was the night before.
S.B.: About high-wind advisory?
L.R.: About high-wind advisory.
S.B.: Okay.
L.R.: About when they lose power.
S.B.: So when you left your home, you had a feeling of "I'll be back"?
L.R.: Mm-hmm. But I've got my important stuff just in case.
S.B.: Right.
L.R.: And then I was in the driveway and I said a prayer and I asked God to give
His Angels' charge over everything and I wasn't freaked. I wasn't--I was calm
and like --
S.B.: Is that something you normally do when you leave your house?
L.R.: No.
S.B.: Okay. So, you had a sense--
L.R.: If I'm going to leave for a long time, yes. But like every morning, no.
S.B.: Okay.
L.R.: So yeah.
S.B.: And as you started your journey, you said you had initially thought you
would take your neighbor with you.
L.R.: Um-hm.
S.B.: When you left had they--had your neighbor left--
L.R.: Yes.
S.B.: Already? So in your neighborhood, were there other people preparing to go?
L.R.: No. There was no--there was no firemen or sheriff. That's a sheriff's'
office, it's not an incorporated city, so--uh, no sheriff going down with
the--uh--what are they called--blow horn or whatever, saying, "You must evacuate
now". Nothing. There was nothing.
S.B.: Was there any activity?
L.R.: No activity.
S.B.: But there was a dark cloud in the sky?
L.R.: And it was right over my pine trees. There's probably--let me think,
one--there's probably 5 streets between our home, our street, and the end of all
the streets and then it's forest. So it's pretty close. Um--but--so, we started
to leave and--uh, we turned down Creston to Skyway, which is the main road that
comes into Chico and then it goes all the way up to Magalia, all the way--you
just keep going the other way and it goes to Butte Meadows.
S.B.: Okay.
L.R.: Uh, but I was going to try to catch that 1 lane that Mike thought was
still open. So I came up to Skyway. It's about 6 streets, up to the main road,
and--um, it was gridlock, traffic going north to Butte Meadows.
S.B.: Oh my.
L.R.: So I thought, Okay, well they're going that way, I'm going this way
(laughs). So I went right, the opposite way of the gridlock and--um--about three
quarters of a mile, where the post office is, is a red light and I stopped, and
the gentleman in the truck going the opposite way says, "Where are you going?,"
and I said, "I'm going out Skyway. I heard a lane's open," and he said, "There
are no lanes open that's why we're going this way. We're all from Paradise."
S.B.: Oh my word.
L.R.: Mm-hmm. So --
S.B.: So he had his window down?
L.R.: Mm-hmm.
S.B.: And did you have your window down?
L.R.: It was November 8th, it was still beautiful weather. We were still wearing
summer clothes. So yeah.
S.B.: And at that point, you can see smoke but you weren't breathing it?
L.R.: Right.
S.B.: Okay.
L.R.: Right. So it was right over my house but it wasn't on the main road. Like
I said, I'm kind of close to the edge.
S.B.: Right.
L.R.: So the smoke had gone from 6:30 to 8:15, when I saw it. It had gone--uh,
through Pulga up the ridge, across Paradise, and then had started coming up Magalia.
S.B.: Okay.
L.R.: So that was the smoke. It wasn't flames, but there was red and orange in
there so.
S.B.: Yeah.
L.R.: I don't know.
S.B.: So what was the energy that he was expressing to you? Like--
L.R.: "Turn around!" [Both laugh].
S.B.: Get in line behind me [both laugh]. Oh no, so it was gridlock?
L.R.: So I turned left at the light--
S.B.: Okay.
L.R.: --and then started to come back. It took me an hour to get back that three
quarters of a mile back to my street that I had turned on--and then it took
another hour and a half to get to the top of Paradise, which is only one mile,
and--um--it was very scary because you can see the smoke in the rear view
mirrors. Um--at this point, Patrick had called me and--um, I was like, "There
are no--there's no -- um -- officers of any sorts." No police, no sheriffs, no
firemen, nobody, nothing.
S.B.: Yeah.
L.R.: And um--which now we know they were all in Paradise trying to save people,
right? But there was nobody.
S.B.: And how did that make you feel when you were on the road?
L.R.: I was quite surprised that everybody was so civilized actually.
S.B.: Okay.
L.R.: Just sitting there waiting. People had pulled over their cars, people were
walking alongside the road with wagons with their few personal belongings, or
their children, because they were going faster than the cars were. Um, I almost
got to the point where I did that too. You know, 2 and a half hours and you know
the fires--well we didn't know at the time that the fire was moving 80 football
fields a minute, but--um, you can tell it was coming.
S.B.: Right.
L.R.: Um--there is one lane going north to Butte Meadows, one lane going south
to Paradise and then there are--for a period of time there is a middle lane.
Um--and so, somebody went into the middle lane and I was like, "I'm going to the
middle lane" [laughs].
S.B.: I mean at what point did you decide, that that was --
L.R.: After I had waited probably an hour and a half. So I went in the middle
lane and I went for probably half a mile and other people who were sitting
patiently in the right lane were not very happy about it and were yelling, and
screaming, and cursing, and giving hand signals but I felt much better when I
was a half-mile up.
S.B.: Right.
L.R.: And--uh, at that--at a point about then--um-- [voice breaks] this always
gets me -- um, I went to go call my children (sniffs)--um, to tell them, Goodbye
and I couldn't get out. There was no service. That was the hardest thing that
I've have ever had to do. I have 4 grown children. Ages--uh--42-30. So at that
point I was just like, "Okay, God it's in your hands. If you want me to get out
(claps hand), I'll get out" [Sniffs]. So, I almost got out of my car and--with
my dog to--um--catch a ride with a motorcycle because about every fifteen
minutes a motorcycle would come through-- a solo.
S.B.: Oh wow.
L.R.: You know, and I was ready to jump--uh, my (sniffs)--in my old days I was a
biker [laughs] with my--my husband has 4 Harleys but um--so I was ready to jump
on the back of a--a bike just to get out of there. But--
S.B.: Were you in gridlock at that point?
L.R.: Yeah!
S.B.: And you just could not get any further?
L.R.: Okay, so
S.B.: Because you --
L.R.: Finally, 2 and a half hours I get to the top of Magalia, 4 miles and the
gridlock is that everybody is stopping for gas at the gas station. So, 1 leaves
1 goes in, the line moves as people are coming in from side streets. That's what
the gridlock was. There was, at the top (sniffs)--there was, the lane coming
down out of Butte Meadows--they had blocked off--some company called a road
management company had blocked that off so people couldn't go down it, and I
don't know--there was nobody coming down that way anyways, so I don't know what
that was about and then the gentleman--who is a young man who was working for
the company was just standing there, and instead of trying to really direct
traffic and have people who weren't getting gas go--that was not
happening--that's why they--that's why there (slaps hand on table) was a
gridlock. That's why people weren't getting out.
S.B.: That's so frustrating. When you saw that --
L.R.: Oh my gosh.
S.B.: -- and you realized, did you need gas for yourself?
L.R.: No, I have--I always don't go below a half the tank, and I had just filled
up. I had almost a--full tank.
S.B.: When you saw that --
L.R.: I was --
S.B.: -- what did you do?
L.R.: Well, I was--one, I was--uh, relieved that I could just go--right? And get
out of there, and then for the first time I was driving like 50 miles an hour--right?
S.B.: [lets out a breath]
L.R.: And so that was a huge relief but now looking back, I wished I would've
pulled over, and helped this guy--move traffic --
S.B.: But you were --
L.R.: -- and help people get out of there.
S.B.: -- you were thinking--about getting out?
L.R.: Yeah, I was [laughs]! I was relieved.
S.B.: I wonder what was going through his mind.
L.R.: Well he was kind of laughing, and he was kind of lackadaisical and I--I
don't know. I was just (sniffs)--
S.B.: He must not have felt the imminent.
L.R.: Yeah, obviously.
S.B.: The danger.
L.R.: Because really in reality that [road]block shouldn't have even been there,
they should have been getting all 3 lanes out.
S.B.: At any point, before you hit 50 miles per hour, did you see--emergency
personnel? [22:54]
L.R.: Nothing. Not 1 single person, vehicle--nothing --
S.B.: Any sign?
L.R.: -- for 2 and a half hours, nothing.
S.B.: Wow.
L.R.: Nothing on the radio. Nothing.
S.B.: [lets out a breath]
L.R.: And my daughter, at 1 point I was able to FaceTime my daughter and--um--my
phone was sitting down on the console and um--she--I have a skylight that I
always leave open and I love the fresh air and--um, she took a (papers ruffling)
snapshot--a snapshot and posted it on Facebook, and when I finally got to
safety, my destination, and I was on Facebook, I saw it and there was flames in
my skylight. And she didn't tell me. She didn't want to tell me.
S.B.: So you got to talk to her? While you were--
L.R.: Finally, yes. Yes, I finally did--she was terrified because she had heard
and--couldn't get a hold of me --
S.B.: And did she --
L.R.: -- because there was no service.
S.B.: Where does your daughter live?
L.R.: She lives in Yucca Valley by Palm Springs and she just stayed with us for
the summer for the three months, so she knew the area very well. She was very
concerned (sniffs).
S.B.: What was your feeling when you finally got to talk to her?
L.R.: Uh--relief.
S.B.: Yeah. And she didn't share with you that she saw flames?
L.R.: Uh-uh, she just took a--she took a shot--which I didn't even know that you
can do (laughs) and then she posted it on Facebook.
S.B.: But you saw it later?
L.R.: Yeah.
S.B.: And when you saw that, what did you think?
L.R.: I was like, (whispers) Oh crap! [laughs] I'm glad she didn't tell me
because I was not calm.
S.B.: When you--how did you stay calm?
L.R.: I would've just had to look like this, but you know.
S.B.: Because you sound--when you're telling us--
L.R.: --Mm-hmm.
S.B.: --and um, you've had some time--
L.R.: --uh-hm.
S.B.: --but when you are telling us, you sound--so matter-of-fact, and I
appreciate that because you probably had to tell this story a number of times.
But how did you manage two and a half hours? Were you in prayer?
L.R.: Um--
S.B.: How did--did you have your animal with you?
L.R.: I had--yeah, I had--we--the car was stuffed with stuff, that I had rescued
and then my dog was sitting on top of all the stuff--I had put his bed on the
top, and he was right there, so this was like an outing for him you know? And
um--you know for a--until I got that mile up, it was very--um, stressful you
know? But once I got that mile up, It was kind of--a relief and um (sniffs)--and
I do have my faith so, I--I was comfortable that you know--okay, since the
imminent danger was away and my adrenaline wasn't pumping anymore, um--I--it
wasn't as stressful as it was--like a mile back [laughs].
S.B.: Yeah, okay.
L.R.: Even though really a mile is not very long [laughs].
S.B.: I mean, in your mind--
L.R.: Yeah, in my mind it was so far because it was probably--uh--a lot farther
than I have already gotten.
S.B.: So what was your final destination for you? What was--
L.R.: Um -- well --
S.B.: --what was a safety place?
L.R.: So my -- I had called my--um, brother from my house before I left and I
said, "I don't think I'm going to be able to make it to help you today," and
um--so then I decided, I just needed to get to Chico. I had been told, if I go
up through Butte Meadows then I should be able to get to Chico in about an hour.
Um--it took 3 hours--once we -- I got out of Magalia. Um and then--uh--by the
time I got on [Highway] 32 by Forest Ranch, coming down into Chico--uh, there
was already gridlock from--in that direction. There was gridlock in Butte
Meadows, then there was gridlock on [Highway] 32. In Forest Ranch, they were
getting ready to evacuate people. The fire had already come to the next ridge
over--it was already there--and uh. When I got down into Chico on Bruce Road,
Bruce Road they had already blocked off and they were making people go--uh--let
me see. It'll be right on Bruce, would that be north? I think it's north--on
Bruce Road, that's the only way you could go because they had already closed
Bruce Road and um--I was trying to get to--I had to get a package to UPS by 3:00
(laughs) and so --
S.B.: [laughs]
L.R.: I--it was like 2:45 or something and I--and so I get to UPS and I go, "Oh
no, take these here. You have to take it." I think it was FedEx. "You have to
take it to the airport." So I got to the airport at 5 [minutes] till 3 and got
the package (claps hand) delivered, and then I stopped and had a little bite to
eat at this cute little--uh, cafe at--on Airport Drive and they do catering and
just sat and ate lunch there--because I hadn't eaten anything all day and so then--um--
S.B.: At that point, it was just after 3 then?
L.R.: Mm-hmm.
S.B.: Wow.
L.R.: Mm-hmm and then--um, I got my car and drove to my husband's motorhome in
Corning, and that was my--um--home for 10 days. Um--they had an evacuation
center there.
S.B.: In Corning?
L.R.: Mm-hmm. At Woodson Bridge, where my husband's motorhome is.
S.B.: Okay.
L.R.: So--uh--I think that might be [unintelligible].
S.B.: It was. Um--I think--I want to know more about that though, was it an
evacuation center where other motorhomes could come?
L.R.: So, there were a lot of people--uh, there was some--um--uh--disability
children, young adults that came from facilities that had burned in Paradise,
and they were staying in the Clubhouse there. Um--and so, all these people were
coming in. There was people who had left with their motorhomes and they had come
in--uh, there was about 150 evacuees at Woodson Bridge.
S.B.: Wow.
L.R.: And so, pretty much--uh, that day--Thursday, we just watched the news and
watched Paradise burn down and the unknown, and then--um, the next day I got up
and said [laughs], "I can't do this anymore," and so I got up and
volunteered--um, with the church that was--um--serving food, and taking clothes
in, and I just worked for the next ten days.
S.B.: Wow.
L.R.: And got my husband to serve soup, and--you know, it was much better
to--uh, help than worry about "What Ifs" and--um--(sniffs) uh--the most
rewarding thing about that was listening to everybody's story. [voice breaks]
Everybody had a story.
S.B.: [lets out a breath]
L.R.: And most of them lost their homes. I did not lose my home.
S.B.: When did you find out about your home?
L.R.: Um--let me see, that was Thursday. Uh--Sunday morning -- we're renting, so
Sunday morning--um--we got a picture from our landlord who had a friend that
works for PG&E, and he had gone by the house and taken a picture. It was in the
dark so you couldn't really tell if there was any damage but it was still standing.
S.B.: Yeah.
L.R.: uh--plus we had been calling the house everyday--um, and our voicemail
would pick up. And it was an old time answering machine that you plug in the
wall and we figured, Okay, well if it's playing then --
S.B.: It must still be up.
L.R.: -- it must not be burned!" [Both laugh]
S.B.: That's great. That's a good trick. I like that. [Both laugh]
L.R.: But you know a lot of them now are digital so you wouldn't know, but this
is like--it had my husband's voice sitting on the desk.
S.B.: That's cool. Um--so you were able to be together? You had--he was
like--your destination --
L.R.: Yes.
S.B.: -- in a lot of ways.
L.R.: Yes, and he um--(sniffs) I think--let me see, on Thursday--Thursday he
didn't--he had taken the day off because of everything that was going on, and
then Friday and Saturday were his normal days off, and then Sunday he went back
to work.
S.B.: Oh wow.
L.R.: So I just continued to help with the--uh, evacuee station--help people
find clothes you know? A little old lady would say (sniffs), "I would like a
pink sweatshirt with a hood." So, by this time we had gotten, so many items
delivered--um, by local churches and--um--community members that--uh, I found
her a pink sweatshirt with a hood [laughs].
S.B.: Nice.
L.R.: Yeah, so it was just a lot of that and just listening to people and--a lot
of devastated people.
S.B.: Yeah. Did you--you said that you were volunteering there -- did you get a
chance--to connect with people from your group up, from your home in Magalia?
L.R.: No.
S.B.: Not at all?
L.R.: I didn't see anybody.
S.B.: All the people you were interacting with in Corning--were like brand new
to your life?
L.R.: Total strangers, and one of them--oh, one of the things--uh--that
occurred--uh, the mail was a nightmare. All our mail--the media said, "Come get
your mail at Chico Post Office," which we all know, we saw the lines. Um--to
pick up my mail was a 2 hour feat. So, um--but I met neighbors down the street
from me that I'd never met before--right behind me, you know, "Well what street
did you live on? Well what street did you live on?" And so, in that respect, it
is pretty amazing.
S.B.: That is cool.
L.R.: Yeah, but every time I went to go get mail, it would take 2 hours and we
didn't get much mail. I--there's still a lot of mail that I know is like--in
never-never land. We used to get a lot of mail and for weeks we didn't get
anything and we still never have, so.
S.B.: That's strange.
L.R.: Yeah, it's very strange. Well (sniffs), you know--uh, fifty thousand
people's mail was all of a sudden sent to Chico. They didn't have anywhere to
put it or sort it or--you know so it was kind of a mess. And then--uh, I had a
lot of packages I had already ordered because I had started buying for
Christmas, Amazon--through Amazon Prime. Amazon Prime wasn't even being
delivered, it was stuck in a warehouse on Sacramento and they were just holding
onto it. They held onto it for--like six weeks (sniffs). So, it was chaos.
S.B.: [lets out a breath] Okay.
LAURIE [laughs]
S.B.: I want to--I want to give you a chance to take--uh, a drink of water.
L.R.: Okay.
S.B.: But you really have taken us through--evacuation and the beginning of
shelter--can we get a time check? Can get what time it is? (Person in background
replies back to STEFANI.) Okay, so we have a little bit--like forty minutes left.
L.R.: Mm-hmm
S.B.: Um--when you arrived, how did you greet your husband? [34:41]
L.R.: [sigh] Honestly, I don't remember. Um--the interesting thing about this
whole incident is--I think I've exp--I experienced a little PTSD. There's a lot
of things that are just--I don't remember.
S.B.: Yeah. It was a lot.
L.R.: Mm-hmm.
S.B.: And it sounds like you didn't have a lot to eat that day.
L.R.: No, and -- uh -- so many things going on--
S.B.: You were short on sleep.
L.R.: There was so many emotions. Yeah, because I woke up at 2 and--um--uh, just
you know--going to go help my brother and then not and then you know just--so
many things going on, so many emotions, so many What Ifs you know? Uh, they had
at some point a map online that you could look at that showed--um--where the
heat was. So you can see where the flames were and--um, at one point and it was
after we had gotten that picture of the house and it was beet red--so we had
thought, It's gone, you know? At that point.
S.B.: [lets out a breath]
L.R.: So, you know, it's just--uh, "Oh it's there," "Oh it's gone," "No, it's
there," "It's gone," and then--uh, people would say--you know at the post
office,--"Well, where's your house?" And you tell them and they say, "Oh. Sorry.
That area is pretty wiped out," and actually--uh, we didn't get to go back in
until mid-December. Uh--we live in the North Pines and that was a very badly
devastated area. Uh, so, they--it took them weeks to--uh remove trees, remove
stuff, so we can even get in there.
S.B.: Right.
L.R.: And--um, so when the--when we went up that day that they lifted the
evacuation, our concern was getting the food out of the refrigerator. I just
bought a brand new refrigerator and--um, we were thinking we still had power
because we still had the answering machine, right?
S.B.: Right.
L.R.: Well we didn't. Uh, we opened the front door and it smelled like a dead
body. And so--uh, our main goal that day was just to get all that stuff out of
the fridge, and then we cleaned it real good, and we put baking soda in there
thinking that maybe when we came back it would be okay, but it wasn't. It's not.
It smells bad. Uh (sniffs)--the gentleman from ServPro says the smell gets
between the seams, into the insulation, and then it doesn't get out. So,
um--uh--that was a pretty nasty thing. But, when we--when we came up that first
time, you had to come up Pentz--that was the only road that was open--utter
devastation, warzone --
S.B.: All of the sides?
L.R.: -- all the way-- both sides. Um, you know our favorite homes that we, you
know, "Oh, we love that house," now gone. Um, and then--uh--in Magalia--uh,
there was some--a lot of the businesses were still standing, but all the homes
on the left all the way up were just gone. Everything around the golf
course--there was a random house here, or there--very random. Uh, but most
everything was gone. And then when we got to our street, which we had been told
was wiped out, it was--everything was gone. You can see for really far because
there was no houses there (sniffs)-- [38.28]
S.B.: Wow.
L.R.: --for streets. And um--so when you--when we turned left on Creston, and
went down to the sixth street on the right--uh, pretty much everything from the
main street to the street before ours, was gone. With a random house--random
house, here and there. And then, our street, we're like right in the middle of
twenty homes that made it.
S.B.: Wow.
L.R.: So my angels were busy that day. [laughs]
S.B.: I love that.
L.R.: Everywhere I look from my house, nothing looks different.
S.B.: Wow.
L.R.: Yeah, front or backyard.
S.B.: that's incredible.
L.R.: Um-hm, but then if you go down my street uh--probably (sniffs) oh one,
two--probably four houses, five houses and then gone--for like six houses and
then there's a house, and then they're gone for six houses and then there's a house.
S.B.: Wow.
L.R.: Yeah, so, and then on the--we're the second house from the street, so if
you cross that main street to go to the other side, there is a circle and every
house on the inside of the circle made it and every house on the outside the
circle was gone. And then almost everything from there down to the edge of the
forest is gone.
S.B.: Wow.
L.R.: Yeah.
S.B.: And so that was something--when you went the first day that you could go
back--you went and you cleaned out, and then you--
L.R.: And then we--and then we left.
S.B.: --you left?
L.R.: Yeah.
S.B.: So, have you been staying in Corning? This whole time?
L.R.: Um--so after ten days, I could not stay in the motorhome anymore.
S.B.: [Both laugh] Oh, I'm sorry. Okay.
L.R.: And so--uh, I rented a room in Chico on East First Avenue with a young
family that has a two year old baby.
S.B.: Oh wow.
L.R.: And um--uh, they couldn't have a dog, so the dog and my husband stayed
in--at the motorhome. So for these four months, because we're still not home,
um--he's been there and I've been um--in Chico. And then um (sniffs)--this week
ServPro has been at the house cleaning. Uh--last week the vents got cleaned.
Uh--the insulation was removed and replaced. Uh, so it's start--they're starting
to see action. ServPro--uh, who we con -- our insurance company contacted in
November, they were booked all the way through January with the Carr Fire [in Redding].
S.B.: Oh my gosh.
L.R.: Um-hm, so that's what we've been waiting for. And if you call other
companies, it was even farther. Yeah, so --
S.B.: Wow.
L.R.: -- they have--uh, ServPro cleaning companies coming from all over the
nation to come help out.
S.B.: That's great. So you're--I hate to ask --
L.R.: They're--hopefully by March 1st we will be able to go home.
S.B.: To be back in your home?
L.R.: Yeah, we--I had--we had to go out Sunday to remove all the--um--uh,
contaminated clothing and put in a bags, and then I'm going to go to the
laundromat and--just wash. Wash a bunch of stuff at the same time.
S.B.: Okay. Well we have--we have skipped around a lot, but (Laurie laughs) I
want--I know that earlier in December we had talked about your shelter
experience and you had some highlights and you had some lowlights, but I wonder
if you want to share anything from your shelter time when you were staying in Corning?
L.R.: Can you refresh my memory?
S.B.: Um--you had said that you met--a celebrity.
L.R.: Ohh yes! Um, okay so--yes, see a lot of things are going on during this
whole time.
S.B.: Right.
L.R.: And I just am so thankful, that [CSU, Chico President] Gayle [Hutchinson]
closed campus because there was no way I could have worked. So that was just
really a blessing. Um--but that gave us an opportunity to go to the FEMA Center
that had opened in the mall and--uh, so you had to--you were supposed to
register with FEMA, and so I had done that. I had gone and you know--everywhere
you go there's lines. There's fifty thousand people , and we're displaced
and--um, a lot of people don't have places to stay and so, you know, nobody
knows what they're doing and everybody is trying to figure it out and everybody
is in lines. So--uh, there was a lot of very generous--um, companies like
CalFire was giving out $250, uh--visa cards, um--you know the wildcat staff and
faculty--um, what did they call it?
S.B.: Wildcat Rise?
L.R.: Yeah, Wildcat Rise. They--uh, they--members of the community of the--uh,
campus community donated, I don't know like $350,000.
S.B.: Yeah.
L.R.: So, you know, that was--uh, sent out to the people so I got some money
from there. Other businesses were giving out--uh--Sierra Nevada was giving out
sweatshirts, you know, everywhere you looked somebody was trying to help you
know? And so that was really--um--that was a community come together.
S.B.: Yeah.
L.R.: Yeah, so that was pretty neat. So--um--I had to fill out some paperwork--I
don't even remember who it was for and drop it back off at the FEMA Center, and
so I had done that and it was the day before Thanksgiving, and--um--I was headed
down to the Bay [Area] to have Thanksgiving with my mom, who has recently been
put into a long term care facility, and--um, my husband had to work--he had to
work Thanksgiving so it was myself--um, just by myself. And so, I ran into FEMA
to drop off and when you left the FEMA building--uh, there was an
organization--I wish I remembered their name--that was giving out lun--uh, sack
lunches. [44:50]
S.B.: Um-hm.
L.R.: And--um (sniffs)--so, I went to go grab a lunch on my way out--it was
about lunch time, and I looked up and about ten--twenty yards from me was Arnold
Schwarzenegger, and I thought [gasp]--and there was nobody standing around him,
no line--he was talking to the two people from the organization that was giving
out the lunches.
S.B.: Yeah.
L.R.: So I walked around and--um, I asked someone to--um, take my picture and I
had my paperwork, my binder because here my life is in the binder that I started right?
S.B.: right.
L.R.: Because I have nothing and so--uh you can get--Staples was at the FEMA
building and they were giving out binders, and organizers, and pencils, and
paper and--and which was awesome. [45:40]
S.B.: That's nice.
L.R.: That was--saved me a lot. And, so I had that and I had my purse
and--um--Arnold [Schwarzenegger] handed me a bagged lunch and I put it in my bag
real quick, because I wanted to--grab his [laughs] hand and I shook his hand,
and he said--he said (deepens voice), "This lunch is filled with protein." [Both
laughing] And sure enough, it was. [STEFANI laughs] The sandwich--the turkey and
the sandwich was like that thick. [STEFANI laughs] I was so shocked. But anyway,
it was--there was a connection, he just you know--I could see through his
soul--his uh, hands--I think he has arthritis, his hands were real--um, almost
rectangular, (hands clapping together) hard, square.
S.B.: Wow.
L.R.: Yeah--um (sniffs), and he's short!
S.B.: I'm surprised to hear that.
L.R.: He's just a little bit taller than me.
S.B.: Wow.
L.R.: Yeah.
S.B.: That's incredible.
L.R.: Yeah. So that was fun. And I think--uh, the guy took like a really good
picture, I posted it on Facebook. That was fun.
S.B.: Cool.
L.R.: Yeah.
S.B.: I want to talk a little bit about your volunteerism.
L.R.: Mm-hmm.
S.B.: You said, you watched T.V. and then you just couldn't anymore.
L.R.: Yeah.
S.B.: But you felt--compelled. You said, you didn't--you couldn't come to work,
but you felt--
L.R.: I couldn't come to work to do work because you can't really--I couldn't
think right? (Claps her hands.) Um--but I could go, help. I could go--you know,
I'm kind of a--uh--I've--through my work career, I've been in charge of many
events and--um--activities and so--uh, there wasn't--there--this was a church
that had volunteered to come in and just start setting things up but they didn't
know really--I mean this was new for everybody and so I just stepped in
and--uh--kind of took charge and said, "Okay, why don't you put those tables
here," "Let's put the tent here," "Let's get that set up here," and so I was
able to use my gifts to help instead of sit and worry about What Ifs. Yeah.
S.B.: Yeah. Did you feel like that helped you too?
L.R.: Oh, definitely. Yeah. In fact, that's kind of--um--that's kind of
something in the church, that they encourage, is when you're feeling bad or
depressed or something to go help others because that's what makes you feel
good--is helping others. So, and it was definitely -- worked.
S.B.: That's really good.
L.R.: In fact, it wasn't until the fourth day when I thought--uh--I better find
a few things (laughs) for myself because I wasn't sure, even though we had seen
a picture of the front of my house. We didn't know if anything inside of it had
smoke damage--you know, we really just didn't know. So, it was almost like a
point when it was like a reality for me, you know? Accepting that, Oh maybe my
house--uh--is--maybe my stuff is gone (fingers snap). Uh--I don't know and so
that was kind of the, (fingers snaps two times) you know, the point where I was
like, Okay, I need to keep--grab a few things, just in case
S.B.: Yeah. So you're living in Chico now?
L.R.: Mm-hmm.
S.B.: And you're working on recovering your home?
L.R.: Mm-hmm.
S.B.: Um--and it sounds like you guys have made a lot of progress.
L.R.: Mm-hmm.
S.B.: What are you nervous about?
L.R.: Um--well there's some concerns. Um, now in Paradise their water's bad
because of the--uh, the plastic lines that burned, and all that chemical got
inside the water system. Um--Magalia has a different water system. It's in a
tank and it comes from--um, underground.
S.B.: um-hm.
L.R.: Uh--there's still, you know, a lot of run off from properties that
lost--you know, everything was burned, all the plastics and chemical and that
does get in the groundwater, so that is a concern. Um--there is a natural--uh,
cleaning, that takes place when water goes through the earth and the rock and
everything--um--but they've tested the water, the chemicals are allegedly not
there but that is something that, you know, we're planning on--um, going to get
bottled water for now. And--uh, we can have our water tested but you know what
anytime it could change (hands clap), you know? Uh--another concern is the
houses from Magalia to our house that have burned--uh--when they start
cleaning--uh. When we just went up Sunday to get up the clothes bagged--uh I was
surprised at what hasn't been done. It's been four months. It looks the same as
it did--except for all the trees that have been chopped down. Thousands and
thousands of trees, PG&E has chopped down. They have crews out there chopping
any tree that's under a PG&E line. So--um--my next door neighbor, she had left
to go to work for the day--when she came home all of her trees in her front yard
were chopped down. So, she was devastated. But--um--so besides that, no clean-up
has started.
S.B.: In Magalia?
L.R.: In Magalia--and even Paradise--even coming up Skyway. It still
looks--everything (hands clap??) looks the same--it looks like a warzone. So,
that's really hard to see. Um--once I get home, March 1st--um--and I start
driving back and forth through that every day, I'm sure that's going to have
some kind of effect on me but I don't know what at this point--you know, and
will it just desensitize me? I don't know. We'll find out.
S.B.: Okay. Um--we kind of skipped over the bureaucratic stuff that happens with
insurance. Can you share with me what your experience was?
L.R.: Um, I--my insurance--um, is Horace Mann--
S.B.: Okay.
L.R.: --through Golden Apple. Jack, who has a commercial and he does a lot for
the Chico State faculty and staff.
S.B.: Okay.
L.R.: Awesome. They've been amazing. Um, in fact--um, my adjustor just called me
this afternoon. She wants to get--um, some more reimbursements to us. So--um,
I've had a really good experience.
S.B.: That's awesome.
L.R.: Um--I had--we had two show cars in our garage so we had to open claims for
them because at that point we didn't know if they were -- still existed or not.
And then we--um--the adjustor for the home and then our landlord had his own
insurance for the actual structure (sniffs)--um, and so--uh--I've just had--I've
had a really good experience with them. She's uh--she--right off the bat--um, I
went to--uh, their office in Chico on Forest Avenue and they gave me a check for
two thousand dollars. Just--"Use it for whatever you need to". Uh, thankfully I
had renters insurance. I can't--I can't tell people enough, get renters
insurance, because we've would have had nothing.
S.B.: Right.
L.R.: You know, if we--if everything would of burned, and even now they
paid--uh, (sniffs) for--they paid up to $17,000 for rent and $85,000 for
content, and it was $14 [laughs] a month. So it's just like--I'm so glad I had
renters insurance because it's uh--it provided us a place to stay, it's paying
for the cleaning--um--and uh, for some of the things that got smoke damaged
because we do have some smoke damage. So even though our house didn't burn, it
did--there was a lot of smoke there, you know, like I said it was covered red so
it was hot--
S.B.: Mm-hmm.
L.R.: --and smoke comes through, you know, like where the washer and dryer is,
where the garage is--there's things on the roof and so it was saying you can
smell it a little bit in the drapes and, you know, so those all need to be
cleaned or replaced and--um--so there are some things, that will need to be
replaced that we don't even know about because we haven't really be home yet.
(Both talking at once) Um--yeah, so my experience has been--uh--good in regards
to the insurance. I have heard others not so much. So.
S.B.: Well, I'm glad to hear that because I think when it comes to--like you
said, when it comes to bureaucracy and paperwork--it's so overwhelming.
L.R.: Yeah.
S.B.: And I--can--I think the other additional trauma.
L.R.: Yes.
S.B.: So I'm glad to hear things are --
L.R.: Yes!
S.B.:-- good for you.
L.R.: Thank you.
S.B.: Yeah. Um--I think we're about to wrap up. I wanted to ask two more
questions--is there anything else you wanted to share about your evacuation and
is there anything you wanted to share about sheltering before we--?
L.R.: Uh, not anything that I can think of.
S.B.: Okay. It's alright.
L.R.: Uh, it's--I think--uh, you know, being that I work in Chico, and in Chico,
normally during the workday--um--I see a huge difference between now and
November 7th. You know, you go to a restaurant where you would normally just go
right up and order, and you're waiting in the line for a half hour and the
traffic is--I mean the traffic was kind of bad then, when you had seventeen
thousands students come into town but now it's just--yesterday morning on my way
to work, I saw two intentional vehicles, run red lights and I don't mean chasing
the yellow--I mean two seconds already into red. So--uh, I know all these people
that are here, making it a temporary home, it's--it's stressful on our little
community here.
S.B.: Yeah.
L.R.: So, other than that--um--I'm excited to go home--um--and just be home.
I'm--once I get up there, I love Magalia. It's like Lake Tahoe. I love it. I
would--I--we're going back. We're going to go make Magalia great again (laughs).
S.B.: Awesome.
L.R.: But then at the same time, I'm a little anxious because of the water--the
pollution when they start cleaning, you know, what's in the air, you know, the
fine particulates that, they say, that everybody should be concerned about
because that can cause lung cancer and--and I have my--um--two and three year
old granddaughter who comes stay with me for months at a time, so that concerns
me, you know? Is the POA going to open--which is our homeowners' association and
there's a pool and you know--how will they open again because--uh--if there's no
homes to pay the fees, how are they going to stay open? Um--and that for me, was
a huge thing in the summer. I'd swim a mile a day--three days a week. So,
without that I wouldn't have that anymore, and they have a lot of other
functions--Friday night barbeques, music--um--you know, the post office is open
again--uh--the grocery store is open again, Dollar General is open--um--there's
one restaurant on the whole ridge, and that's Red Lion Pizza.
S.B.: Mm-hmm.
L.R.: And um, there's no other restaurants open and there's still a lot of
people--all Upper Magalia is still living there. So if you call and order a
pizza, you wait an hour and a half, for a pizza. Um, there's a lot of businesses
in Paradise that made it, and they haven't opened and I don't know if they're
going to open--Starbucks opened, Big O Tires opened. I've heard there's like 350
businesses that made, it but whether they're open or going to open or not. If
there's no customers, I don't know how they are.
S.B.: Right.
L.R.: So it's just going to be anybody's guess not to--what happens on the ridge.
S.B.: Yeah.
L.R.: A lot of people I talk to aren't going back. I know one gal who's lost her
home twice. She lost her home in the 2008 fire and then she lost it again
and--um--she says they're planning on rebuilding but--uh--most the people I talk
to are not. They've already bought down here, or they've moved out of the area.
They're going to hang on to their property, get it clean, and in ten years when
Paradise is great again, then they'll sell. And make some money maybe, because
right now you can't sell anything.
S.B.: Yeah.
L.R.: Nobody wants to buy.
S.B.: And the insurance--
L.R.: Well for example, my--um--dentist--uh--my hygienist--uh--she had a house
that she bought right by--um--Nobles -- um -- Apple Orchard.
S.B.: Okay.
L.R.: And--um--so it's on the side of the ridge by Pulga. So she was already
cleaning teeth at 7:30 that morning when they started to hear about the fire.
She left, went home--um--the fire was in the orchard. She had just bought the
home in August and--um--she started putting things in her car, which she said
was kind of an advantage, that she had just move here because she knew where
everything was, so (sniffs) she filled up her vehicle looking over the fence
every ten minutes and it wasn't really coming that fast but she got everything
out of there. She lost her home (sniffs) with--uh--plus she lost--uh--she lost
basically, her job because even though their brand new building that they just
opened the dental office in survived, everything inside was damaged. So--uh--it
took them almost three months to open up--uh--branch in--uh--Oroville,
and--uh--so all that time she wasn't working, but she had already collected her
insurance on the home--um--and had--uh--found she was living with somebody from
her church and--she was already--she was already -- she had already moved on,
you know? And I know some people who didn't lose their homes but they're smoked
damaged. They're still dealing with--they're going to be dealing with repairs
for years. And--um--they wish their home would have burned down, because the
people who did, most of them have already gotten their money for their homes. So
they--they paid off their mortgage then they have enough to put down [a payment]
on another house and they still own the property that they just have to get
cleaned, which FEMA is doing they--at the FEMA building, you can sign up to have
somebody come clean it and get all this stuff off--for free and FEMA pays it,
but you don't.
S.B.: That's a process.
L.R.: It's a process, and you have to sign up for it. If you don't sign up for
it, you have to do it on your own and you have to pay for it, out of your own money.
S.B.: Yeah.
L.R.: And if you have insurance your insurance will pay up to a certain
percentage for it. So, yeah.
L.R.: So many things
S.B.: So, how is today different in February of 2019?
LAURE: Well (sniffs)--
S.B.: --for you?
L.R.: I feel like I've been robbed, because--and I'm sure this is a common
feeling--um, you know, I was supposed to have my granddaughters and my daughter
for the whole month of December, celebrating Christmas. I couldn't even see
them, you know, I'm in a room. I can't entertain, you know? So that month of
holiday, it's so precious, I never got. So I've--I--I feel like a lot of things,
you know, I didn't--I didn't get to decorate, I didn't--you know? Little things,
are just gone. So in that respect, I feel like I just lost so much. But, I--I'm
living, my dog's living, my husband's living, my neighbors are living, you know?
I'm very thankful--um--especially for our little area that all survived
and--um--so far from what I can tell, people are all coming back. So,
um--but--uh. There will never be a normal--I mean it'll be a new normal, there's
never going to be the old normal. So um--you can't really dwell on that. You
just have to be--um--hopeful, for the new normal.
S.B.: Yeah.
L.R.: Yeah.
S.B.: So what brings you hope?
L.R.: Um--what brings me hope? I think my Lord brings me hope.
S.B.: We haven't talked about your faith very much. I wonder if that
is--some--the way you want to leave it now? It sounds like a personal thing.
L.R.: Well--um-- (sniffs) for people that--um--I'm a born-again Christian.
I--um--I didn't find Jesus until I was 49 and--um--it's taken me to a whole,
different--um--walk, you know? Um--it's brought me here to Chico, brought me to
my high school sweetheart who we married on 7/7/07, and he lived up here in
Willows. So my faith--uh--I found--uh--my faith when I went through a really
tough time, when I went through a divorce after thirty years, four kids--four
grandkids and--um--I was in a really bad place and--um--I started attending a
divorce support group at a local church and that's how--that's how I found God.
And--um--it's taken me on a whole new adventure and I feels--I still feel like
I'm--I, you know, I'm always going to be on an adventure. So--um--where is this
going to take me? I don't know. I do know that myself and others who have gone
to the Chico State support group that--of people who went through the Camp
Fire--uh--the Survivors, they called them. Um--we've lost our passion. We've
lost our passion for work--uh--we've lost our passion for a lot of things.
Uh--things that--uh--somebody use to come to me and ask me and I--I was very
interested in contributing to, now it's like, "Really. I don't care. Do whatever
you want. Is it really that important?" You know? And it's a very
common--um--feeling of every single person in the [Chico State] Camp Fire
support group. And so, one--um--of the common hopes of us is that we get that
passion back, you know, and how do we do that? Is it just time? You know? I
don't know. Let's see.
S.B.: Yeah. Okay. Well I appreciate you talking to us, and I--I--I just want to
say thank you, and I want to offer you that forgiveness in letting yourself go
through that experience, and letting yourself--give yourself time to-- get that
passion back because it will--I think it will just take time.
L.R.: I think so.
S.B.: Yeah.
L.R.: I think so. I hope so because--uh--you know, I love to work and I told myself--
S.B.: I see that about you [laughs].
L.R.:--I told myself as long as I can make a difference, and enjoy what I do,
I'll keep working.
S.B.: Okay.
L.R.: You know, the Bible doesn't say anything about retiring. [Both laugh]
S.B.: I guess, it doesn't.
L.R.: And--uh (sniffs)--uh--so when you don't have that anymore, that's when you
start thinking about retirement and a lot of the people in the [Chico State]
Camp Fire group are retiring, or already have.
S.B.: Wow.
L.R.: Yeah, so this is been a life not just they've lost their homes and their
stuff but, their whole direction. (Sniffs) uh--one gentleman, he moved up here
in Paradise to be with his daughters. They all lost their homes. Uh--both of his
daughters lost their homes, and one moved to Utah, and one moved to another
state and--uh--they're devastated so he's retiring and they're moving to Utah to
be with, one of his daughters but they're separated for--Indefinitely, you know,
so it's changed a lot of people's lives.
[Interview ends.]