Update from the Wehe/Mitten’s:

Well, we finally have some telephone service (house line still out but Peter’s is working) and electric.

I am facing the removal of most of my grove. The experts are telling me to wait 2 months, however, it is pretty clear that a large number of them have been severely damaged. The grove fire was from wind blown embers.

SDGE is removing the palms along the road at the front of the house. They have been assessed destroyed and a danger to the electrical lines, and the house across the road. I am happy they are doing this removal as it would be very expensive for me.

The grove irrigation melted completely. The gentleman who picks my grove brought in his crew – who are now out of work picking avocados as so many groves have been destroyed – and has completely replaced all of the sprinklers and risers and repaired damaged lines and shutoff valves. So the trees were watered yesterday for the first time. The house irrigation was very damaged as well and all of the hose bibs were melted and that is being repaired as I write.

The fire came within 3 feet of the back and burned some ground plants but never entered the retaining walls to the front and around the back of the house. All buildings are in great shape and aside from washing everything down and probably having a lot of dirt for several months we are in superb shape.

The overall cleanup, removal, fence rebuild and outside damage to furnace/ac and exhaust fans will probably take 3 months. The insurance adjuster was here Saturday and has assisted in fulfilling my deductible so that some money can come to take care of the growing “to do” list.

Our road was lucky and each house survived intact.

The State of California has wildfire fighters who are contracted with from county to county. These are the fighters who come into areas that cannot possibly have the manpower to fight the blazes. They are called Cal Fire and they are amazing. We had an engine and team at each of our homes. They congratulated the neighborhood and N.C. Fire Dept. for a job well done at clearing and maintaining clean areas around our homes. We met and talked with firefighters throughout the weekend. They came to our homes to meet us. It was very emotional to shake their hands and say thank you. Most of them were from the Sacramento area and each of them mentioned that this is what they are trained to do and have little opportunity to use the skills they have worked so hard to build.

The fire has removed all brush from the surrounding areas of our homes. This will now permit many of us to begin spraying Roundup and Stumpbuster to maintain these bare areas. We are lucky to have a native plant that we call sugarbush – sumac family – and it is fire retardant. If we keep the ground clear and encourage the growth of these bushes that become trees, the birds will continue to have a living space and we will be much more protected in the event of another fire.

As we view our moonscape, we now imagine what will be encouraged to grow back that we haven’t seen in many years. Wild lilac predominated the bowl behind the house 10 years ago but the underbrush pretty much choked it out. I am hoping the lilac will return as it was beautiful.

It is definitely smelly and sooty and our white dog, Jake, will be gray, but we are all celebrating our good luck and blessings.

Thanks for the calls and the prayers, we have appreciated each one.

Kathy