Wildfire

Two teachers pick up the pieces after the deadly California fires destroy their home.

Photos by Bob Riha, Jr.

We had seen the fires on the morning that would be the last day in the home we loved. But despite the strong Santa Ana winds, we were convinced they were plenty distant--that we would be safe. We even left to help other friends evacuate.

That trek away was the beginning of the end. Little did we know those fires were circling and coming our way.

When we returned, they had crested the hill behind our house. We had 10 minutes to make our choices. What would they be? A set of baby pictures of our three children. Cub Scout memorabilia. A few clothes. School keys and the school computer. That was it.

Family antiques from generations past, a trunk that Daisy's grandparents had traveled with by covered wagon, precious photo albums--we left it all.

We frantically snapped photos in the house, but the smoke got so thick we couldn't breathe and our eyes burned badly. Then the power went out. At noon it was dark--so dark we couldn't see the flames coming. But we could feel the intense heat, made worse by 60-mile-per-hour winds. We knew we had to get out. Our son Michael got our Australian cow dog into his car and we left.

Driving away, we still didn't believe our house would burn. We knew there would be smoke and water damage, but surely the fire department would be able to save it, we thought. Surely we wouldn't lose our home.

A few hours later, Daisy's best friend called. Her husband had taken a bike ride through the neighborhood to see what was still standing. "I'm so sorry," Cheryl said.

It was 8 p.m. when we went to see for ourselves. Our house was still on fire. We asked a neighbor to take our picture in front of the burning house. What are you going to do? We were just one of many. You just move on.

All the houses on our side of the block were now just piles of smoldering rubble. The firefighters were there, dead tired. They apologized profusely, but what could they have done? The fires had banded together along a 40-mile front. The flames had simply been too powerful.

Up and down the block, gas fires still raged from burst gas lines. One neighbor was still wetting down his house with a hose. His eyebrows were singed, he had inhaled a lot of smoke, and he seemed to be in shock. His eyes had been fire-burned, too, much like a skin burn from the sun. We drove him to the hospital while his son and our son Shawn stayed and successfully battled to save their home. A bright spot.

Later we found a hotel and tried to get a good night's sleep because we knew there would be much work ahead. The next day, we called a friend who is a school secretary and asked her to arrange for subs for our students. It's a teacher thing--when everything is falling down around you, you take care of your students.

We spent the next several days canceling utilities and working with our insurance company, which found us a furnished house to rent not far away.

The students were out of school all week. We got back the day after they did, and saw that the assistants and subs had a done a good job getting students to journal what happened and how they felt. They had written letters to us that were really touching. We found out these students do appreciate us, even some who had kept their distance before.

We needed that. At our house the only thing the fire left standing was the chimney, and the city knocked it down a few days later because it was unstable. In our back yard, trees that our children had helped plant--flowing plum trees, peach trees, and an avocado tree--were burned to a crisp.

But what we still had was much more important--our memories, and our family.

Daisy Lane teaches English and Skip Lane teaches social studies to special education students at San Bernardino High School, San Bernardino, California. Top: The Lanes and friends sift through the rubble of their house.

On the morning of our last day in the home we loved, we got up and saw the fire off in the distance. Despite the strong Santa Anna winds, we thought it would not get out of control. But it was closer to the home of some friends, so we went over and helped them evacuate. We had no idea it was circling around and coming at our house.

When we got back, it had crested the hill behind us and we had about 10 minutes.

We saved one set of baby pictures of our three children, some Cub Scout things, a few clothes, the school keys and the school computer, and that's it. Our furniture, including antiques passed down in the family, a trunk that had come here on a covered wagon with Daisy's grandparents, old photo albums--we had to leave all of it.

We snapped photos in the house, but the smoke got so thick you couldn't breathe. Then the power went out and it was dark, at 12 noon.

There was so much smoke, we couldn't see the flames coming, but we could feel the intense heat. The winds had picked up to 50 or 60 miles per hour. Our eyes were burning. We knew we had to get out of there.

Our son Michael left his elec-tric guitar behind to make room in his car for our Australian cow dog.

But as we drove to Daisy's mother's place, we still didn't believe our house would burn. We thought there would be smoke and water damage, but the fire department would be able to save it. You never think you're going to lose your home.

A few hours later, Daisy's best friend called us. Her husband had taken a bike ride through the neighborhood to see what was still standing. "I'm so sorry," Cheryl said.

It was 8 p.m. when we went to see for ourselves. Our house was still on fire. We asked a neighbor to take our picture in front of the burning house--what else are you going to do? You just move on.

There were gas fires burning from burst gas lines all up and down the block. One neighbor was still wetting down his house with a hose. His eyebrows were singed, he had inhaled a lot of smoke, and he seemed to be in shock. His eyes had been fire-burned, which is like a sunburn. His son asked us to drive him to the hospital, where they decided to keep him overnight. His son and our son Shawn stayed to continue the battle to save their home, which they won.

On our block, all the houses on our side of the street were gone, along with one across the street. The firefighters were there, dead tired. They were apologizing to us, but what could they do? The fires had gotten together along a 40-mile front. We found a hotel and tried to get a good night's sleep. We knew there would be much work ahead of us.

The next day, we called a friend who's a school secretary to arrange for subs for our students. It's a teacher thing--when everything is falling down around you, you take care of your students.

We spent the next several days canceling utilities and working with our insurance company. They found us a furnished house to rent not far away.

The students were out of school all week. We got back the day after they did, and we saw that the assistants and subs had done a good job, getting the students to journal what happened and their emotions.

They had written letters to us that were really touching. We found out these hard-core students do appreciate us, even some who had kept their distance before.

At our house, the only thing the fire left standing was the chimney, and the city knocked it down a few days later because it was unstable. We had trees in our back yard that our children had helped plant, flowing plum trees, peach trees, and an avocado tree--they're all burned to a crisp.

But we have our memories and our family--that's more important.

Daisy Lane teaches English and Skip Lane teaches social studies to special education students at San Bernardino High School, San Bernardino, California. Top: The Lanes and friends sift through the rubble of their house.

California Teachers Association Helps Fire Victims

The California Teachers Association (CTA) reports some 40 members lost their homes in last autumn's wildfires, and another eight lost vehicles. When disaster strikes, colleagues help colleagues. CTA has had a Disaster Assistance Relief Fund since a 1983 earthquake. Since then, the fund has provided more than $500,000 to help members recover from earthquakes, fires, and floods. It is helping the fire victims today. The fund, which comes from member contributions, provides up to $1,000 cash grants and $2,000 in interest-free loans to help members get back on their feet. Any active CTA member, Student CTA member, or CTA-Retired member in good standing can apply. More information is available on the CTA Web site at www.cta.org/membership.