HIDDEN VALLEY LAKE >> And then there was one.
Only one travel trailer remains at the Hidden Valley Lake Campground that several months ago was home to about 130 people living in travel trailers and tents, mostly Valley Fire refugees who lost their residences in the September inferno.
Wednesday was the unofficial deadline for the two trailers remaining in the campground to leave, with the three occupants of one of the travel trailers packed up and ready to go, albeit into a life of uncertainty for the immediate future.
For the remaining trailer, legal action may be needed to evict them.
Gayle and Jason Hill had their travel trailer packed and hooked-up to their pickup truck Wednesday afternoon and said they would be leaving before the end of the day. They have been at the campground since Valley Fire refugees began setting up camp there in early October.
Gayle Hill could not hold back her tears as she talked about leaving the camp, their home for more than three months.
“We stayed to the very end,” Gayle Hill said, standing outside her trailer in pouring rain. “Now, we’re trying to keep moving forward. I’m really trying to be optimistic about the future.”
Hill said it has been especially hard on their 15-year-old son, Samuel Mijarez, a student at Middletown High School, who lost all of his belongings in the September firestorm.
The campground is owned by the Hidden Valley Lakes Association (HVLA) and abuts Gallagher Creek, a tributary of Putah Creek. HVLA officials say the campground is in an official flood plain and water will overrun the campground should the creek reach flood stage, which officials expect it will do with heavy rain this winter.
Any legal action appears to be aimed at the one remaining travel trailer and its two occupants. They have remained at the site despite two deadlines to leave, first on Dec. 7 of 2015 and the second Jan. 13. Repeated attempts to contact the trailer occupants over several weeks have been unsuccessful.
“We have asked them to leave and they there have been all kinds of opportunities for them to relocate,” said Bob Broyer, HVLA interim general manager. “If they don’t leave voluntarily, we will have to initiate legal action.”
On Dec. 7, Sheriff Brian Martin indicated from the campground that some of the camp residents have been there “a long time” and may have certain rights that prevent them from being evicted without due process.
Broyer said HVLA officials are increasingly concerned about the possibility of the campground flooding, especially with the likelihood of above average rainfall in January and February due to El Niño.
He said earlier this month that the campground is in relatively good shape after nearly three months of heavy use and that the work that needs to be done is “relatively minor” repairs and normal maintenance and winterizing.
Broyer said basic services, including utilities, will be maintained as long as the campground is occupied.
Hill said an HVLA security guard came by Wednesday morning and said, “We have to go,” so the family decided to end their stay. The family lost their residence in Middletown to the fire and have not yet been able to get back on their property, Hill said.
She praised the HVLA and residents of Hidden Valley Lake for their support during the local refugee crisis caused by the loss of nearly 1,300 homes and 27 multi-family structures, including apartment buildings, in September’s inferno
“We are grateful that we were allowed to stay here,” Hill said. She could not hold back her tears as she talked about how difficult life without a home has been. “I’m living way beneath my station. It’s been very difficult on me and my family.”
The final act of the family before leaving was to clean up their camp site before heading to another temporary living site at the Edgewater Resort in Clearlake.
