Holy fire: Relieved homeowners relive close calls

The flames that drove neighbors from their homes also brought them together.

On Saturday morning, some of them told stories of rushed attempts to secure property, last-minute escapes from the encroaching inferno and the camaraderie that grew in the midst of the Holy fire.

The dominant emotion was relief.

James Gassor left his home of 12 years in Lake Elsinore’s McVickers neighborhood on Tuesday. He went to stay with his friend, Glenn Huggins, who has lived in the area since 1978. They used rags and hoses to put out embers that hit Huggins’ home while Gassor kept an eye on his own property through security cameras.

The men debated sleeping in shifts, but decided they were far enough away from flames to feel safe.

But it wasn’t far enough. A day later, Huggins was evacuated, as well.

Both men returned home Saturday as evacuation orders were lifted for the McVickers, Rice and Horsethief Canyon communities.

Gassor returned to find his home painted pink with fire retardant dropped from the air tankers that helped save the neighborhood.

*****

Stephen and Janesa McDonald took their white Maltese, Juicy, and left their home in the McVickers neighborhood Tuesday.

Stephen knew it was time to go when he could see the face of a pilot dropping the retardant in the canyon behind their home.

The McDonalds returned home Friday night to find the fire had burned to within 20 feet of their backyard. Their cars, patio furniture, trash cans and sidewalk were covered in pink from the remnants of the retardant.

Janesa McDonald smiled to see a hummingbird return to the bird feeder hanging on her back patio Saturday morning.

The bird didn’t seem to mind that the feeder was coated in retardant.

As the McDonalds stood in their backyard discussing how good it was to be home, they noticed a spot on the smoldering hillside flare up.

Flames were visible, the sound of cracking brush in the air. Luckily, a firefighter on a strike team was walking the ridge above them. They were able to yell to the firefighter, who navigated down the steep hillside to extinguish the flames with his hand tool.

“I’m gonna have to keep an eye on it all night,” Stephen McDonald said.

He didn’t sleep a wink Friday night. His wife slept in her clothes.

A Cal Fire firefighter drove by and told the McDonalds to let him know if they needed help hosing off the fire retardant. He promised to come back soon to pick up the stacks of yellow fire hose on their sidewalk.

They joked that he could leave it, their nerves still on edge.

Stephen McDonald said a visiting family member had always been nervous about how close they were to the forest. Stephen enjoyed the quiet and the occasional sight of coyotes, deer and bobcats. But he said he’s going to feel more nervous now.

Gassor said he’s actually going to rest easier knowing there’s no fuel to burn on the mountains behind them for probably another decade.

“It’s a little silver lining,” he said.

*****

For other residents, the reality of the fire provided much-needed perspective.

Scott Hunter said he had a dispute with a neighbor.

It started, as most do, over something small.

“It was silly at the time,” the Lake Elsinore resident said.

During the peak of California’s most recent drought, Hunter said, he had a disagreement with a neighbor over how the man was washing his car.

Ever since that moment a couple of years ago, Hunter said, he and the neighbor would stare at each other without saying a word.

Ironically, it would be a water hose that would bring them together three years later.

Tuesday, Hunter and his neighbor ended up in the evacuation zone for the Holy Fire. Both chose to stay to defend their homes. Soon, they were watering down each other’s roofs, hitting spots where their own hoses couldn’t reach. They also worked together to help other nearby residents.

“At the end of the night, we kind of compared photos and talked and shared stories and shook each others’ hands,” Hunter said.

“We became what we should have been all along, which is good neighbors.”

The entire neighborhood has talked more in the past three days than they have in the past three years, Hunter said. Even a man up the street, whose barking dog drives Hunter crazy, got support as the flames flared right up to his backyard.

“I think there’s a newfound respect for all of us neighbors,” he said.

Other residents were still awaiting the opportunity to return home.

Emma Joyce and her teenage daughter, Maddie, had a good three-week trip to Southern California to visit their friend, Ceri Dowsett. They’d been to Palm Springs and Big Bear and Vegas.

“We couldn’t top Vegas, so we decided to end with an evacuation,” joked Dowsett, who’s been evacuated from her home in Corona’s Sycamore Creek community since 2 p.m. Wednesday.

“We like a bit of drama,” Emma Joyce joked.

Their spirits were high considering they were lugging heavy suitcases down the road in 92-degree heat Saturday afternoon. Though their neighborhood was still under evacuation orders, with flames visible in the hills behind nearby Glen Ivy Hot Springs, law enforcement gave them a ride up to their home so they could get the Joyces’ suitcases for their return trip home.

Dowsett, who moved to Corona from Wales nearly three years ago, said she’s been floored by how helpful and kind the community has been through these nerve-wracking times.

“I’m proud to say I’m a Corona person now.”