MIDDLETOWN >> High schools stretching from Eureka to Walnut Creek and all sites in between are answering the call as one of their own, the Middletown Mustangs, begin the long road back from the destruction caused by the Valley Fire on Saturday and Sunday.
“I have six confirmed players who lost their homes,” longtime Middletown varsity football coach Bill Foltmer said. “Three of my coaches lost their homes … our athletic director, the principal.”
Among those players who fled their homes in the communities of Cobb Mountain, Hidden Valley Lake and Middletown with little more than the clothes they were wearing on Saturday night, the list of destroyed personal items includes all of their athletic gear. Cleats, pants, jerseys, shoulder pads … everything.
Replacing it is expensive and no magical school fund exists to front the necessary money.
Yet not even a veteran coach such as Foltmer, now in his 31st season at the school, is worried about sports right now, not given the degree of human suffering caused by a catastrophe the likes of which Lake County has never experienced. More than 585 homes have been lost to the Valley Fire, a number that is expected to climb in the coming days, and thousands are displaced.
“People don’t have homes, some don’t have jobs right now,” Foltmer said. “They’re worried about where they are going to live when this is over.”
Foltmer said that while many of his players will return home once mandatory evacuation orders are lifted in Middletown, Hidden Valley Lake and Cobb, others have nowhere to go — including renters who lost homes or apartments. They will be burdened with the task of finding a new place to live close to Middletown, and Foltmer doesn’t know if they’ll find it.
“There aren’t that many rentals available in this area,” Foltmer said. “If they rent in another part of the county, are they going to commute to Middletown to drop off kids at school or are they going to send their kids to school in the area they’re going to live?”
Which is to say while many of Middletown’s players should return to practice at some point, Foltmer doesn’t know how many. He does know that outfitting them with equipment lost to the fire won’t be a problem.
“The silver lining in this disaster has been the overwhelming amount of support we’ve received in just the last few days,” Foltmer said. “It’s heartwarming.”
Middletown’s coach rattled off a list of schools — El Molino (Forestville), Tomales, Justin-Siena (Napa), Berean Christian (Walnut Creek), St. Bernard’s (Eureka), Salesian (Richmond), St. Helena, St. Vincent (Petaluma), Casa Grande (Petaluma), Fort Bragg, Lower Lake, Clear Lake and Kelseyville — that have rushed to help.
The list doesn’t stop there. The San Jose SaberCats of the Arena Football League and the Oakland Raiders of the NFL have sent help as have former Middletown players, the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce, and the Redwood Empire Officials Association.
“I hope I haven’t left anyone off the list,” Foltmer said. “If I did, I apologize. It’s been a hectic couple of days.”
Teams are sending actual equipment or the money to purchase it.
“El Molino has already raised $10,000 for us, which is amazing,” Foltmer said. “They also wanted to come up here Friday and cook our team a dinner at the football field, but I don’t think that is going to happen right now (because of ongoing fire suppression and infrastructure work). They have been incredible.”
El Molino was scheduled to play Middletown on Friday night at Bill Foltmer Field. That game has been canceled. Middletown’s opponent last week, Berean Christian, is right up there with El Molino in terms of the amount of help it has offered, according to Foltmer.
“They’ve called us every day asking how they can help and what we need,” he said. “It’s just a crazy outpouring of support.”
As an example, Foltmer said he met with many of his Middletown friends earlier this week at BJs Restaurant and Brewhouse. Foltmer said once the restaurant learned the assembled party was from Middletown, they comped the meal. Additionally, Foltmer said a laundry he currently takes his clothes to while living in north Santa Rosa offered to provide him with quarters for the washing machine and dryer.
“And it’s not just me,” Foltmer said. “I’ve heard the same thing from a lot of people from our area who are scattered everywhere right now. They are treating us so well.
“I know you hear about looters or bad contractors, all the bad stuff, but there are more people out there doing the right thing than the wrong thing,” he said.
Foltmer has spoken with the majority of his players since the firestorm swept through the southern portion of Lake County on Saturday night into Sunday.
“They are doing good,” he said. “I’m proud to say a bunch of them are staying behind in the county to help feed animals and help animals.”
There is still no official word on when the Middletown Unified School District will re-open its schools.
“I know we have some smoke-damaged classrooms at Middletown (High) that need some attention and we have to get the power back on first,” Foltmer said.
Maybe then football will return to Middletown and the lights at Bill Foltmer Field can burn bright again. It won’t make everything better, according to Foltmer, but perhaps a bit more normal.
