Carried Through the Storm: Surviving a Wildfire

On November 8, 2018, at about 8 am, Tom and Bonnie Crawford received a call that their entire town of Paradise was under a mandatory evacuation order because of a wildfire coming down the ridge. They quickly gathered up their dog, two cats, and a few possessions as they expected to be back that night.

As they left, they saw ash and debris floating through the air and heard propane tanks exploding around them. They could see plumes of white smoke coming up behind their house. Bonnie prayed over all the 14 homes on their street, and they headed toward Chico with no idea where they would go.

While driving through town and trying to avoid gridlock, Bonnie received a call from a college friend who lived on a small farm in Willows, about an hour away. The friend heard about the evacuation and invited the couple to stay on their farm until they could return home. “As we headed toward their farm and looked back up the hill toward Paradise, we realized this was more than a fire drill,” says Bonnie. “The entire sky was black like an atomic bomb had gone off.”

The town was destroyed within two hours. The devastation was so swift that, with only three roads out of Paradise, many didn’t make it out. Tom took a rural road out of town, but a lot of people got stuck in gridlock and died in their cars trying to evacuate.

“It was truly a surreal experience,” says Bonnie. “We lost our entire town,” says Bonnie. “We were wiped off the map.” The couple was overwhelmed with calls and support from friends all over the country, offering them places to stay and any other help they could provide.

A friend of theirs was a builder in Redding and had several newly furnished duplex rentals that he offered to them and members of their church life group for as long as they needed. Other residents weren’t as fortunate. Red Cross had people camping out in the Walmart parking lot. Some people were buying RVs and trailers to live in while waiting for their homeowner’s insurance to come through.

Three days after the fire, the Crawfords received a call from a neighbor informing them that their home was one of the 10 percent that didn’t burn down. About five days after the fire, the couple learned that Paradise was under Marshall Law and the National Guard wouldn’t let anyone into the town except by police escort. Their friend’s son was a police chief and agreed to escort them to their home.

As they drove to their home, they were shocked to see nearly total devastation of a once beautiful mountain community. Electrical wires were hanging everywhere and still sparking, and small fires were burning here and there. The air was very smoky and had a horrible stench. There were burned-out cars and even a burned-out school bus along the road. There was no color anywhere; everything was black and covered in ash. All the neighborhoods surrounding them were completely gone. Bonnie had been asked by five different friends to check on their homes and was heartbroken to report to them in every case that their homes were gone.

“We finally got to our home, navigating downed wires, burned-out vehicles, fallen trees, and potholes, and despite everything, it was still standing,” says Bonnie. But their home and beautiful treed landscape were barely recognizable. “It truly was a miracle our home hadn’t burned down.” There were flame licks up the side of the house that destroyed the landscape and left fire scorch marks on all the exterior walls. Somehow, the propane tank and gas piping didn’t explode. “God truly had protected our home,” says Bonnie.

“We grabbed a few more possessions, cleaned out our refrigerators and freezers, and drove back to Redding a little shaken but incredibly grateful for having been spared our lives.” The couple learned later that 86 people had died in the fire. “God reminded us that the most important things in life are not ‘things,’” says Bonnie. She loves the Bible verse from Ephesians 3:20: “There will always be trials and tribulations in life, but God will carry you through every storm.”

Shortly after the fire, they were able to house-sit for some friends in Kona, Hawaii, for almost a month, giving them a chance to rest and rejuvenate from the stress of the fire. After that, they stayed at an Airbnb on a horse ranch in Ramona for a month. “Ramona was high on our list to move because we had family here, including our son, brother, their wives, and my 96-year-old mom in Solana Beach, where I grew up,” says Bonnie.

After about three months of repairs to their home, they sold it and moved to Ramona. “We bought a “fixer-upper” that we now love and feel incredibly blessed at this season of life.” They feel very fortunate to be in Ramona after such a tragedy. Bonnie is happy to be close to family and gets to watch their 21-month-old grandson, Henry, at least two days a week. Tom enjoys retirement and spending time at the nearby golf course. “We are not retired, we are re-fired,” says Tom. Bonnie explains that “re-fired” means revved up to do something better, and they are fired up to be in Ramona.

Thomas and Bonnie stress the importance of having a go-bag ready and shared some tips.

The “Six P’s” of evacuation include:

1.     People and pets.

2.     Papers, phone numbers, and important documents.

3.     Prescriptions, vitamins, and eyeglasses.

4.     Pictures and irreplaceable memorabilia.

5.     Personal computers (Information on hard drives and disks.)

6.     Plastic (credit cards, ATM cards & cash)

As the height of fire season approaches, may these stories of loss help us empathize with those who have gone through a national disaster and provide an opportunity to be prepared in case disaster strikes close to home. Stay safe and always be prepared.

Photos courtesy of Bonnie Crawford.