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Lake Berryessa Fire

I had to evacuate from hidden valley lake yesterday. Actually my wife had too...I was at work in santa rosa. She got the rv trailer hooked up and gathered up the pets then split...it was moving fast!. I met up with her later and we were able to set up camp at Bartlows "feel like a pro dirt" ranch in kelseyville😎..At this time it looks like hidden valley is still safe👍
 
mean dad said:
Thanks for that link, Geoff.

The edge of the orange field (presumably the burned/burning areas) is a few hundreds yards past their property.
They're the first one on the east side of 128, just south of Turtle Rock.
I'm guessing they lost the house.
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:nchantr

There is always hope.
 
cg_ops said:
If you're even potentially in the path of the fire, get prepared NOW. You don't need to leave but to be ready to. My sister had no warning, unfortunately. They lost everything. Se was able to go see if anything was left this morning. Nothing... She's in absolute shock and i'm not even sure how to properly begin to help her after seeing what's left....

OlK16RY.jpg
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God, that looks so familiar. :(

Thank goodness your sister got out in time.
 
kxmike said:
I had to evacuate from hidden valley lake yesterday. Actually my wife had too...I was at work in santa rosa. She got the rv trailer hooked up and gathered up the pets then split...it was moving fast!. I met up with her later and we were able to set up camp at Bartlows "feel like a pro dirt" ranch in kelseyville😎..At this time it looks like hidden valley is still safe👍
Click to expand...

I am glad you made it out safe. I still remember meeting you folks at Bartlow's gig after the Valley fire. We are still holding, and this shit is getting tiresome. Between Covid and all this other stuff, it is hard to keep going sometimes. Stay safe.
 
cg_ops said:
If you're even potentially in the path of the fire, get prepared NOW. You don't need to leave but to be ready to. My sister had no warning, unfortunately. They lost everything. Se was able to go see if anything was left this morning. Nothing... She's in absolute shock and i'm not even sure how to properly begin to help her after seeing what's left....

OlK16RY.jpg
Click to expand...

I know what it is like. I lost my home in the Valley fire. If she needs someone to talk to who has been through it, please p.m. me and we can talk about if she even wants to talk to a stranger. That offer is for you too. Send me a p.m. if you want to get some ideas about how to help.

To let you know how bad it was for us. We had 15 minutes to put things together and then we watched our deck catch on fire as we drove away. I still have severe PTSD from this. Every year at this time, my stress level goes through the roof. We lost so much since my mom had died two years before and we had so much of her stuff.

Breath, make sure your sister has a roof over her head, and that she has contacted her insurance company. If she has any health issues, make sure she can get replacement meds. Some insurance companies are very good about getting emergency funds. Everything else is just stuff, although it does not feel that way right now. The shock can be devastating. If you can, if it is safe, give her a hug. I will be part of her support system if she wants or needs it.

Our area is getting worse, we are prepping to fight if it comes our way. Seriously though, get in contact with me. I am happy to help.

Just so you know, my name is Denise Lindquist. I have been around here for years and have folks that can vouch for me. This a very legit offer.

Take care.
 
2WheelBear said:
I am glad you made it out safe. I still remember meeting you folks at Bartlow's gig after the Valley fire. We are still holding, and this shit is getting tiresome. Between Covid and all this other stuff, it is hard to keep going sometimes. Stay safe.
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Thanks, I know you're under evac warning...hope it dosen't go any further. We've been in lake county for almost 17 years but the last 5 have been stressful to say the least. I keep saying there's nothing left to burn...but it still finds a way:(. I know so many that have lost their homes from the previous fires...its so sad. Good on you for offering to help:thumbup
 
Here off Pleasants Valley Rd. north of Vacaville we had no damage to our property beyond a few small burned areas around the edges and two stacks of firewood that went up in flame. But it looks like only 7 of 21 homes in our immediate two mile area survived last Tuesday's fire.

We always keep our property well mowed and trees trimmed up off the ground and have dedicated fire fighting equipment ready to go, so we chose not to evacuate. It was a long and exciting night keeping all buildings wet down and snuffing out small spot fires creeping toward the orchard. All the while we were hearing propane tanks exploding up and down the road, knowing they meant another home was lost. The many huge pine trees on surrounding properties sounded like shrieking jet engines as they went up in flames.

We never really felt in danger, or maybe we were just too busy. With lots of burned power poles I expect our electricity will be out for quite some time. Here is a link to some photos of the aftermath. Click on the captions below the photos to expand them:

https://billspurlock.smugmug.com/LNU-Lightning-Complex-Fire-8182020/i-4qNB7xc/A

Bill
 
Bill, good to hear you are and your home are safe. Going to be strange in your area for some time. Take care.
 
Damn Bill.

That must have been surreal. You got guts man.

Props to you for sticking it out.
 
Wow...the before after pics really hurt🥺. I just drove through there 2 weeks ago and was thinking what a nice area it was. Glad you made it through that...sounded intense!
 
budman said:
Damn Bill.

That must have been surreal. You got guts man.

Props to you for sticking it out.
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Thanks, been here for 49 years so we long ago learned that fires in these dry hills are a fact of life and we were prepared to make a stand. Still for a 71 year old guy and his 73 year old wife who had hip surgery four days prior we are kinda proud that we prevailed in spite of not a single fire truck coming around until three days later. Bummed that all our great scenery is toast though.

-Bill
 
GB500guy said:
It was a long and exciting night keeping all buildings wet down and snuffing out small spot fires creeping toward the orchard.
Click to expand...

"An ounce of prevention" helped pay massive dividends for you.

Congratulations.

Did you see any fire fighters?

EDIT: I see you were indeed on your own.

Wow.
 
GB500guy said:
Here off Pleasants Valley Rd. north of Vacaville we had no damage to our property beyond a few small burned areas around the edges and two stacks of firewood that went up in flame. But it looks like only 7 of 21 homes in our immediate two mile area survived last Tuesday's fire.

We always keep our property well mowed and trees trimmed up off the ground and have dedicated fire fighting equipment ready to go, so we chose not to evacuate. It was a long and exciting night keeping all buildings wet down and snuffing out small spot fires creeping toward the orchard. All the while we were hearing propane tanks exploding up and down the road, knowing they meant another home was lost. The many huge pine trees on surrounding properties sounded like shrieking jet engines as they went up in flames.

We never really felt in danger, or maybe we were just too busy. With lots of burned power poles I expect our electricity will be out for quite some time. Here is a link to some photos of the aftermath. Click on the captions below the photos to expand them:

https://billspurlock.smugmug.com/LNU-Lightning-Complex-Fire-8182020/i-4qNB7xc/A

Bill
Click to expand...

Wow...Good job defending your property, Bill! Glad you and your wife remained safe, too. I'd be interested to know what your dedicated fire fighting equipment consists of. We are planning on putting in a firehose spigot on our 2500gal water tank, and are trying to procure a pump that can move a high volume of water from our creek.

Your photos are heartbreaking, especially the before and after shots. Our good friends have owned their home in the Berryessa Highlands for about 25 years. They've had to evacuate several times in the last couple of years and they've grown weary of the fear and uncertainty. They figured it was just a matter of time so they began preparing themselves for the inevitable. They paid off their rental property back east, heavily insured their home here, documented everything, and removed all their important documents, photos, etc., a year or so ago. Smart move, as the inevitable happened Wednesday...

image1-L.jpg


image2-L.jpg
 
Wow, those before and after are just gutting. Really glad you and your wife and property made it!
 
matty said:
Wow, those before and after are just gutting. Really glad you and your wife and property made it!
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So much open space I guess the fire just raced through tall grass as opposed to jumping from tree to tree as in more dense areas.
 
WoodsChick said:
.... I'd be interested to know what your dedicated fire fighting equipment consists of. We are planning on putting in a firehose spigot on our 2500gal water tank, and are trying to procure a pump that can move a high volume of water from our creek.....
Click to expand...

Thanks. We have a 2,000 gal tank that I always keep at least half full. It's on the highest part of our property but still needs the pressure boosted for house/firefighting use. So we have a 7K watt generator that powers the booster pump in case of power outage. We also have another booster pump in a second location and a gas pump with its own 550 gal tank, each with 100' of 1" fire hose with option of adding another 100' to each. We have 3/4" hoses on 3/4" ball valves in 8 locations. around our buildings. I've considered installing sprinklers around the eaves of all buildings so if we did have to evacuate we could turn them on before leaving.

But the most important factor is keeping the property fire resistant with mowing, pruning, cleaning leaves from rain gutters regularly, raking up leaves around buildings etc.

-Bill
 
Truly sorry to all who live up or by lake , I travel up towards the lake at least once a week to take the boat out.Does anyone know if steel park made it or even pleasure cove resort, seen the photos of Markley.......
 
NoLuV4uHaTeRs said:
Truly sorry to all who live up or by lake , I travel up towards the lake at least once a week to take the boat out.Does anyone know if steel park made it or even pleasure cove resort, seen the photos of Markley.......
Click to expand...

There is lots of Berryessa news at this link: http://lakeberryessanews.com/

Sounds like there was lots of damage at Steel Park but Pleasure Cove might be OK.

-Bill
 
It is really sad to see and hear all of the devastation.

GB500Guy- Wow!! You and your Wife are hardcore!!! I hope that you continue to be safe.
 
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