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This was someone's dream home


It was a peaceful place where you could sit on this bench and look out on a serene valley.

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A Shell of a van is all that's left at this home
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awful... so sorry. I cannot begin to imagine.

You know what really hurts. A family who lives across the valley from us had their own little cabinet shop and house on a rural road above the agricultural preserve.
They worked so hard. The mom is the nurse at our elementary school and the 3 kids were in my children's classes.

They were the ones I was most worried about and I couldn't get ahold of them, so I drove up there with a road full of downed telephone poles and power lines laying on the street for miles.

Everything was unrecognizable.
Here is their business, the home is burned down behind the palm trees. We've known them for 7 years. I think they built the home themselves. He was a talented craftsman. He tried to be a 'man' and not cry as he wore sunglasses and looked over the ruins with me .... all his tools, the small animals that didn't get away.


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As I drove the winding roads, I saw countless home burned down never mentioned or documented in any of the media.

It's beyond belief - your photos really put a human face on a tragedy most of us can't imagine.

It is such a tragedy and I feel so bad for the people involved.
Denise, thank you for the pictures.
Is the family all found now?

Carla

Unbelievable, I cannot imagine anything like this. We have lots of fires in BC too, but never experienced them on the island. I often look out of our back window at the forest we have set ourselves in, and in times of high temps and drought as we do have now and then, I get very apprensive.

I am totally saddened by this. How many lives were lost, I am sorry, I do not know. I am always so sick about the poor animals too.

Just prayers and good wishes are sent to all who have lost homes and particularly family, that the rebuilding will be as painless and as expedient as possible.

Thanks for reporting these heart rendering scenes.
Pauline - Vancouver Island

Just horrible-----Your story about the school nurse and her family is so sad. I'm sure they took great pride in the home they built------

My heart goes out to everyone,

Florence

I'm so sorry to see this. The news never can depict the total devastation of a tragedy like the fires, or put a human face on it. The only positive is that so few lives were lost. Thanks for posting these pictures.
Kathy

This is heartbreaking!

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I want to thank you all on this forum for your thoughfulness and concern. It truly helps to know we are all in this together. I'm touched by how much people pull together during these times.

We are so thankful to our brave, smart, skilled and talented firefighters who risk their lives to save our property and our lives!

My children's elementary school is burned all around the perimeter, but the school looks nearly unscathed! What does that tell you ... they stood their ground on all sides to save the k-8 San Pasqual Union school.
When the children returned, we sadly found out approx. 20 families in our school 'community' have nothing left.
But we are all taking good care of them and collecting everything they will need to make a new start. It makes us so proud of our community and it brings us closer

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Amazing pictures. Thank you for sharing them.

The news pictures were surreal and scary but these are profoundly sad. I always cry when I think of people's pets or the wildlife. Wish we could put a stop to these horrible fires. The amish have the right idea. Wish we could make it right again. Why do the fires always start with the winds? This has bugged me for a while.