Lake County >> An angel tapped Emily Cragg on her shoulder, as she tells it, and whispered, “you have to get out of here.” She was awakened by air filled with so much smoke from the Valley Fire she could hardly breathe. Within minutes Cragg, her husband and pets traveled down winding roads at speeds they’d never reached before to seek relief.
Their Hidden Valley Lake home on Deer Hill Road was spared by the destructive blaze, but the smoke proved to be too much for them to inhale safely.
Gayle Cahill, petting her small dog as it sat on her lap, pointed to the scratches on her arms from a struggle trying to get her panicked cat before leaving her Clearlake Riviera home.
Ivan Seifert, a student from Amsterdam who is studying abroad in Seattle, Washington, got caught up in the chaos of the wildfire as well on his road trip down to San Francisco. He and friends were at Harbin Hot Springs on Cobb Mountain when they were told they had to evacuate. They fled to Middletown before heading to Hidden Valley Lake where a friend had a home, only to come across flames coming down.
“We were surrounded,” the German native said. “It’s been a hell of a road trip.”
They are just a few of the roughly 200 people who had taken refuge at the American Red Cross evacuation center at Kelseyville High School on Sunday — one of nearly a dozen shelters currently open to the 13,000 displaced residents and their animals.
Monday afternoon, Joyce Overton said the Highlands Senior Services Center was so full and busy she hadn’t even gotten a chance to count how many people the county operated shelter had, but she estimated it was about 150.
Despite some crowding, “everybody has been in very good spirits,” Overton said. “We appreciate the work that all the volunteers are doing.”
Unlike the Red Cross which staffs its shelters with its own personnel and only takes monetary donations, the senior center welcomes volunteers and is taking in items people want to donate.
Refugees receive everything they need, Overton said. There’s food and clothing; staff has found places with showers for people to use and there’s enough cots for 100 people to spend the night. On average it’s been 30 to 40 people sleeping at the shelter.
They has enough clothing and personal hygiene items for evacuees, Overton said. What they need now the most is duffle bags or shower shoes.
“Duffle bags would be great for people to put items in that they are getting,” she said. “Most of these people that show up here have nothing, not even a duffle bag to put their stuff in.”
Cahill said in the rush to evacuate her home Sunday morning, all she had time to get was her medications, mother’s jewelry and pets.
“I didn’t even have time to brush my teeth,” she said.
It’s been a hectic, busy few days for everyone involved. Overton, who’s breaks have been few and far between since the shelter opened Saturday night, said about 40 or 50 people were helping volunteer at the shelter.
She welcomes anyone else who would like to help out to go the senior center. All they have to do is show up, and Overton will sign them in and get them to work.
“Our county is wonderful when it comes to things like this,” Overton said. “Some people that have had their houses lost are still trying to help other people.”
Even firefighters working on containing the blaze have lost homes.
Cal Fire Battalion Chief Paul Duncan is one of them. His home in Hidden Valley Lake was destroyed while he was out already battling the fire.
“It’s been a fight ever since we started going,” Duncan said. He was called in on his day off Saturday, and nearly 24 hours later was still working. The same rings true for countless other firefighters, emergency personnel and volunteers.
“We get a lot things we are told are bad [in Lake County], but we are not bad when it comes to emergencies,” Overton said.
The best time to drop off donations at the senior center is between 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The Highlands Senior Services is located at 3245 Bowers Ave. in Clearlake.
