Homecoming bittersweet for Lake County fire evacuees

CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. - Four nights after fleeing flames, most evacuees of Lake County's Pawnee Fire returned to their homes Wednesday evening.  

A dozen of them, however, lost their houses, making the homecoming bittersweet in the close-knit Spring Valley neighborhood of Clearlake Oaks.  By Thursday evening, the fire had charred 13,700 acres and was 50 percent contained.

"My daughter, her wardrobe, her clothes, " said survivor Rodney Harper ruefully, looking at the ruins of his three bedroom home.

He and his wife have two teenagers at home, 14 and 16, and their son just graduated as 8th grade class valedictorian. 

"All the honors he got, and the money, all the mementos are gone," said Harper sadly, " and my wife's Grateful Dead collection, and my Tom Petty tee-shirt, from his last concert before he died."

It was devastating for Harper to see, but not a surprise.

Saturday night, as the Pawnee Fire raged, Harper evacuated with his family but sent them ahead so he could return to retrieve medication. 

He found his place blazing.  

"There was a fireman up there on the road, and a fire truck down the way, and he said, 'Oh, man I just got here!" recounted Harper. 

There was not enough time or enough fire resources to save everyone, and in the hills of Spring Valley, a dozen homes were lost, half of them on Wolf Creek, like Harpers'. 

At the local market, which has remained open inside the evacuation zone, the ground is scorched on all sides.

As the all-clear was given, people began streaming in, grateful to head home, and to see friends who had been displaced.

"Everybody's pulling in the valley, honking horns, whoo hooo, we're back," said Gigi Armitage, clerk at Spring Valley's Pantry.  

"I know when I drove up to my cul-de-sac, everyone was outside, shouting and hugging, it was awesome to get everybody back."

And for those not so fortunate? 

"We will all be there for everybody, we'll all help those who lost their homes, any way we can," responded Armitage.   

Like so many wildland fires, the Pawnee destruction hopscotched with the wind and flying embers, some homes set afire, others spared. 

Next door to the burned-down Harper property,evacuee Donna Barker was relieved to find her poultry no worse for wear.

She and husband Al have been sleeping in their RV, parked at the Moose Lodge, an emergency shelter.    

"I have well over 50 chickens, these are my guys, and I love them dearly," said Barker, wading through her chicken coop, finally able to stop worrying about their welfare.  

 The chickens, the garden, the entire ranch was unscathed, except for a fence, although several neighbors are leveled. 

"The firefighters saved us, I'm sure of it, " said Barker, "and I think it's because I'm cleared. I was always told, if you clear your property, you're in, they will save you. " 

Across the blackened fence, Barker consoled her neighbor Harper.
"I'm so sorry for your loss," she said, "let me know what I can do."  

An already tight community now pulls even tighter, as some count blessings, and others count losses. 

 "You get kicked and stomped like this it makes you fight a little," said Rodney Harper, "and my 48 year-old self would have fought harder than my 58 year-old self."

Harper was especially distressed at the charred hulks of a coffee trailer and food truck, both recently purchased for a new business venture, and neither yet insured.

"All we can do is go forward and up," said Harper, "and my priority is making sure my kids are affected as little as possible."

A GoFundMe site has been set up for the Harper family.