In response to the wildfires ravaging Southern California, the BC Alumni Association sent an e-mail to some 2,650 alumni living in the region, offering them the opportunity to apprise the alumni community of their whereabouts. Pertinent e-mail responses are being posted below in the order in which they are received. E-mail your postings to uacommunications@bc.edu.
Our thoughts and prayers are with all alumni, parents, and friends affected by this disaster.
Rancho Bernardo
I shot this as I was evacuating our neighborhood in Rancho Bernardo, California Monday morning, October 22. Note the ominous clouds of smoke from the approaching fires to our north. Ultimately, the fires came within one mile of the homes shown.
»John Carbone '67
Carlsbad
It has been pretty crazy here in San Diego County, and we were very fortunate here in Carlsbad to avoid any fire damage. The area has been in turmoil during the entire week, but now it is starting to settle down and many of our friends can return to their homes in the area. Schools are scheduled to open next Monday, and businesses are opening up again. The sky is finally starting to clear up here after a week of smoke and ash. After seven-day, 24-hour fire coverage, it was great to enjoy the BC "come from behind" victory last night in Blacksburg on ESPN . Last time I was there in person at Lane Stadium to see the Eagles win there. Hopefully there are not many BC families affected. I have also seen many incidents and evidence of the "men for others" spirit here during the week.
»Mike Sapien, P '07
Laguna Beach
Thankfully the fires did not reach our town this time, but the skies are brown and the air quality horrific. The air smells like burning tires. Personally I am flat out with asthma and using a nebulizer to help breathe. Everyone in Laguna Beach, where I am, is on edge as we lost 478 homes to fire in 1993. Any time Santa Ana winds blow, everyone mobilizes. Fire marshals and volunteers are present in all of the canyons and are ready. The town is backed up with traffic as evacuated people are here looking for hotel space. Many locals are taking them into their homes.
We are hosting two sets of evacuated San Diego friends and their families including six dogs. This is just a small way to help, and we would do more if we could. One nice thing is to see how everyone in the region seems to just want to give and help as much as they can. No contention that we have seen and, thankfully, no ill will. Our next-door neighbor is the chief of the fire department for our town and has helped coordinate some of the battalions. He says the civility amongst all involved has been amazing. Keep praying for the winds to remain calm and offshore. Thanks for the kind thoughts, everyone.
»Patricia Jo "PJ" Amyouny Gerrard CSOM '79
Chula Vista
All is well with us. The family and our home are fine. We had to be evacuated for one night. The flames were within a mile from the house, but luckily didn't get much closer than that. Thanks for taking the time and for all the concern and well-wishes.
»Raul Reyes CSOM '03
San Diego
Thank you for thinking of us while we try to get things back to normal here in San Diego. Thankfully, our neighborhood was safe but unfortunately, very close to the ravaged neighborhoods where many of my friends have lost their homes. Thanks again for all your thoughts and prayers for the fire victims.
»Martha Acosta SON '81
San Diego
We were not required to evacuate our home, but four of our five sons had to evacuate and were allowed back in after three days. There is still a lot of ash and dust being blown around by the winds. The cooperation between the city, county, state, and federal governments seemed to be very good and must have saved a lot of lives. We had firefighting trucks from as far away as Carson, Nevada. Firefighting planes came from North Carolina and other places back East, along with some military planes from our local military airfields. It was a bad week, but we survived and I am sure a lot was learned from it.
»George Gallagher Jr. '54
Riverside
The fires have caused a severe deterioration in our air quality here in Riverside, with a resultant increase in severity of respiratory conditions, but have not otherwise directly affected us.
»Dr. Steve Colucci '65
San Diego
Bryan Dominguez, Class of 2002, is a firefighter in LA and has been fighting these fires. Also, my dad has been at the fires in San Diego. He has been working as a liaison between FD SD onsite and SD Sheriffs.
»Marc Lucero '02
San Diego
Thank you for the concern! My husband and I are safe and truly appreciate the e-mail. Monday day and night was a scary time for us as we housed evacuated friends and were then placed on voluntary evacuation. We packed our things and prepared to leave. Fortunately, a few hours later we were taken off the evacuation list. In the morning we were groggy due to lack of sleep, but our friends were able to safely return home. Both of our homes went untouched!
Throughout the week I was able to work as a sign language interpreter at two of the evacuation sites and was thrilled to have a coworker interpreting the press conferences on TV. Having the information interpreted into ASL is the best way to make communication accessible.
Again, thank you for your concerns.
»Maureen Roan (Shepherd) '00
Del Mar
I am very pleased to have received your e-mail inviting those alumni impacted by the wildfires to offer their stories on how the fires affected them. I think your action is a positive step in establishing a network for alumni communications. The impact of the wildfires on my wife and me was minimal. We are residents of Del Mar, on the northern coastal edge of San Diego. We received the "reverse 911" phone call to evacuate on Monday evening and spent the night and following morning with our daughter and her family in nearby Carlsbad. It was really no inconvenience as we had an excuse to spend the night visiting our grandson. Midday Tuesday, the mandatory evacuation order was lifted, and we returned to Del Mar. Many families located to the east of us were not so fortunate, and it is for them that we offer our prayers for a speedy return to normalcy.
»Pierre Godefroy '56
Escondido
I live with my family in Escondido, California, near Lake Hodges. We were evacuated Monday night and thought we lost our house Tuesday night.
Fortunately, the firefighters made a valiant stand near our home and saved our small neighborhood. We were allowed back in on Thursday afternoon. To make matters worse, we own a cabin in Lake Arrowhead, and at one point, we thought both houses had burned. The Lake Arrowhead house survived, but houses on our street did not.
Thanks for thinking of us. Go Eagles!
»Loreen Collins JD '88
Del Mar
Thanks for your concern! The past week has been a bit hectic, but fortunately it was just a minor inconvenience in our area compared to others. I live in Del Mar, and we were under a mandatory evacuation last Monday. The whole area was engulfed in smoke and ash as I packed a bag and headed south to my girlfriend's in La Jolla. Later that night, we were informed that the voluntary evacuation had been extended to within just a few miles of her apartment. She then packed some bags as well, and, needless to say, we endured a fairly restless night glued to the television wondering if the fires would actually make it all the way to the coast. The next day brought better news as the evacuation for Del Mar was eventually lifted and the weather conditions became more favorable for the firefighters. Returning to my apartment, I realized that in my haste to evacuate I had forgotten to close all the sliding doors leading to the balconies, and therefore the entire interior was covered in a layer of ash. But, like I said, this was a minor inconvenience compared to the destruction and loss in areas that were directly impacted by the fire itself. All of our thoughts and prayers go out to those victims and to the firefighters who put themselves in harms way to save what they could. Thanks for thinking of us!
»Joshua Rollins '01
Fallbrook
It was so nice to hear from the Boston College Community; it was even more fun watching the big win last Thursday! I am copying the e-mail I sent to family and friends below to give you an idea of what it was like for a lot of us; thanks for your prayers:
Hi Everyone,
Thanks for all the e-mails. It is nice to know that people are thinking of us, near and far.
The fire danger has passed, and Fallbrook (at least parts of it) is finally open for people to get back into their homes. We are so very lucky, as we know many people who lost their homes. This is what happened to us:The fire actually came within about a mile of our home. The Santa Ana winds started Sunday morning, which was always so worrisome. By Monday, Patrick called me and said there was a fire in the Rainbow part of Fallbrook (to the northeast of us). He suggested staying close to the house as the winds were unpredictable. (For those of you that don't know, the last fire to threaten us in June was very near the house. Patrick was house-sitting for us as Bob and I were in Northern California at a family wedding. He had to evacuate with the animals.) We watched the progress of the fire from our deck, and it seemed far away. With the wind blowing away from our house, we were concerned but not packing the cars yet.
At 2 p.m. on Monday, we received the reverse 911 call to evacuate. An hour later the wind shifted toward us, so we packed the car and truck, loaded our black labs, Micki and Willi, and joined the thousands leaving Fallbrook. It was bumper-to-bumper traffic and took several hours (that is another story). We ended up at Patrick and Amanda's house around 10:30 p.m.Tuesday morning, I called the answering machine and it was still working! Good sign! We actually drove home Tuesday morning, and the house was there, relief. It was interesting that no one stopped us, as later that day they locked down all of Fallbrook; no one was allowed into the town. We were happy to be home, but as we were in the southern part of the evacuation zone, we could not leave or we would not be able to get back in. Finally last night, they opened up parts of Fallbrook.
Del Rey was shut down on Monday, but Bob talked the sheriff into allowing three full loads of avocados from the harbor to go into Del Rey yesterday afternoon. That was a relief. Of course, it took Bob about three hours to unload the trucks as it has been many years since he has driven a forklift. I'm not sure of the damage to the groves, but I don't think any of the groves we have partnership interests in were burned. We have friends in the business that lost their entire groves. It was not a good year for avocados between the freeze and the fire!
We have not had any active fires since Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. Despite a few hot spots, most of the damage was done Monday afternoon and night. We have some friends who were able to save their own homes (one friend in the construction business brought his commercial water truck. He actually saved a few homes on his street. Another friend used hoses with his dad and friend to save their home; they were actually on the Today Show!) With so many fires burning there just is not enough man power, so the fire fighters pick the areas they think they can have the most impact. It is very frustrating for some homeowners, but what can you do? Ah well, it could be so much worse. We feel very blessed. Hope all is well, and thanks so much for the e-mails, thoughts, and prayers.
»Susan Gilligan Lucy '75
Rancho Santa Fe
I appreciate all of BC’s thoughts and concerns for the victims of the California wildfires. I personally lost a lot this week, but fortunately my home in Rancho Santa Fe is still standing, and my animals and family are just fine. Nevertheless, it is impossible to replace many things that we have lost, and the damage by the fires is ineffable.
As a 2007 graduate from the school of Arts and Sciences, I am proud that BC has been supportive throughout this time. It is great to know that the BC community is always there for alumni and current students. I have returned to work this week and I have begun the long process of attempting to return to a state of normalcy. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.
»Allison Laffer '07
San Diego
Thanks for the e-mail concerned about our safety, only BC would reach out to the left coast alumni caught up in an emergency. Things are almost back to normal here in San Diego. There is still a lot of cleaning up to do with so many people without homes. My Hillsides D-22 roommate Ann (Murray) Buck coordinated the information back to my BC roommates, so I didn’t have to talk to everyone who lived in D-22 and D-23 in 1989. My husband Patrick is a US Naval Reserve officer deployed in Afghanistan, just to add to the confusion and stress. In his civilian life, he is a vice president at WD-40 Company. Here is the e-mail I sent to Ann on Thursday, October 25:
We are fine, back in our house, and the air quality is much better than it has been all week. Most importantly, the Santa Ana winds are gone, and there is only a light breeze.
The fire that was threatening our area was the Witch Creek fire. When we went to bed at 11 p.m. on Sunday night, it was a small fire. My friend Annie woke me up Monday at 6:30 a.m. to tell me it had spread and that the area above California State Route 56 (just north of us) had been evacuated. She wanted to send her husband Mark over to check on me, but we were fine and still sleeping! School was cancelled at 6:45 a.m. That’s when I knew it was serious. The first “do you need help” calls came from WD-40 folks. Andrew (who works with Patrick) and Heidi (who works with Patrick, but is also my friend because our kids go to school together) both called by 7:30 a.m. to see if we needed help getting stuff together and in the car. During the next few hours, a deluge of calls arrived from local friends offering to help. Funny thing, the Navy called at 11 a.m.—the next day! We ended up getting a lot of e-mails from the Fleet and Family Support Center, but honestly, I’m going with local friends and/or the WD-40 folks, if there is ever another emergency!
I was glued to the TV on Monday. You think you are prepared, but then when you have time there is always one more thing. I spent Monday videotaping the house (which I had done a few years ago) and taking pictures throughout the house. I burned both of those to DVDs, and I also did another backup of my files to a backup machine. I staged all of our nonreplaceable things in my bedroom, the family room, and the garage.
By dinner time, it looked like we were staying, and then during dinner, my friend Heidi (who lives a few streets away) called and said that we were being evacuated. I turned on the TV and started packing up the staged items. There was some confusion on the news as to whether our Torrey Hills neighbourhood was being evacuated. The news anchors admitted that they were unsure, but one of them said, “Hey listen, if I lived in Torrey Hills, I’d leave.” Good enough for me!
While I was loading the car, we did get the reverse-911 mandatory evacuation notice (about 8:30 p.m.). We were out by 8:50 p.m., and the whole street was almost gone by the same time. I think that without the reverse-911 call and the confusion on the news, some of us would have stayed—but we didn’t stick around to wait for the police to come through with bullhorns like people did in 2004. The reverse 911 was brilliant. A “get out now” phone call was very effective. I registered my cell phone on it, just in case I am not at home the next time. This fire was worse (size of the fires and number of homes destroyed) than the 2004 fires, yet there had been only four or five direct fire-related deaths. All other deaths being attributed to the fires were of older people that died during or after being evacuated.
We drove north to our friends Mark and Annie’s house. We were really comfortable, very well taken care of, and actually slept really well. And honestly, the kids didn’t want to leave. We were recalled yesterday at 8:30 a.m., but we took our time.
I did load all of my old photos, yearbooks, and negatives into the car first— memories (and blackmail) first I guess! And then I saved all of the kids’ artwork that I have saved throughout the years. Finally, I loaded the computers, cameras, and a bunch of financial stuff. I left behind my Doug Flutie-autographed San Diego Charger’s jersey—and the Beach Boys-autographed surfboard. That was hard. The kids packed the craziest stuff, but I let them chose what was important to them. Madigan did have a big moment of apprehension when she realized her two American Girl dolls were left behind. I assured her that I would buy new ones if they didn’t make it.I still have stuff packed, but the threat is over now that the winds are gone. Here is a map that shows in red and orange where the fire has burned. I put aqua-blue arrows to show the potential route that the fire could have taken. Our house is on the street above the aqua-blue dot. The problem with maps is that you don’t get to appreciate the topography: There is a canyon behind our house that is a fire corridor; meaning, if that fire had gotten into the canyon system behind Santaluz, it would have ripped down the canyon to us. It is very hard for the firefighters to fight in the canyons with a Santa Ana ripping through it. That’s the problem with Santa Ana winds—especially for us when they are sucking the air southwest to the ocean.
We have a lot of work to do to finishing putting things back and a whole lot of ash to clean up. Hopefully we can get back to normal by Monday when school resumes. Everyone asks if Patrick knew what was going on: Yes, I e-mailed his military account, and he called right away. He had to register in Afghanistan that his family had been evacuated. I think that’s why the Navy called to check on us. Apparently if we had lost the house, he would have been sent home to deal with the situation. Hmm… where are those matches?
»Rebecca Wade '89