Return to fire evacuation site is both shocking, rewarding

    Fleeing the Nunns Fire in California Monday, Oct. 9, was heartwrenching for 2011 HHS graduate Preston King and his girlfriend, Courtney Carver.
    It meant abandoning 200 chickens, 100 turkeys, 11 bore goats (including three bottle babies that they’d raised) and one pig that were in their care on the farm where they were working. They were terrified for their own safety, as well.
    Watching fire maps for over a week while they stayed in the town of Napa, California, left the couple and the people they work with in despair as they could see that their property was completely engulfed in flames.
    “My stomach was turning when we headed back to the property,” said King, telling of when they were able to venture back 10 days later Wednesday, Oct. 18.
    It’s impossible to explain their delight in finding every single animal survived, including 30 baby chicks in the barn that survived the fire.
    All of the goats and turkeys were in the garden, eating the winter crop, and it was a fine reunion as they greeted King, Carver and their boss, Farmer Jack, when they returned.
    
Property includes vineyard, as well as farm
    King and Carver work on a 40-acre property between Sonoma and Napa counties in northern California.
    Called Mt. Veeder, the property includes 25 acres of four types of grape vines, which is not part of their responsibility.
    On the farm where they work for Farmer Jack, in addition to caring for the animals in the acre of animal paddocks, King and Carver are responsible for a 1-acre garden, 1 acre of olive groves and 1 acre of fruit orchards. Forest surrounds the property.
    Multiple fires
    complicate evacuation
    A call to leave their property due to the consuming fires was received by King and Carver at 1 a.m. Monday, Oct. 9. Farmer Jack stayed on as they fled to the town of Napa.
    Winds were raging at 70 mph as the couple left their home on the farm. In fact, they grabbed a chainsaw in case trees were falling on the road as they evacuated. King explained there are only two ways to get out of the Sonoma Valley, and they knew the one road was consumed by fire.
    The early morning call that prompted King and Carver to leave indicated the fire was in Sonoma County. What they saw when they were leaving was that there was a different fire in Napa County.
    Nine fires consumed the area that week, causing much devastation and loss of life.
    Farmer Jack left the farm Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 10, when the whole mountain was evacuated. “He just opened all the gates for the animals and wished them well,” said King.
    
Lack of cell service adds to devastation
    For three days, from Oct. 9-11, there was no cellphone service as towers had burned down. Power was down, and it was terrifying, according to King and Carver.
    “People were literally in the dark,” said King, noting that people in Napa didn’t know about the fires in Sonoma and vice versa.
    Carver’s parents live in Massachusetts, a three-hour time difference, and her dad was just waking up to go to work when the couple was evacuating in the early morning hours. They still had cellphone service at that point, and he was using the internet to get news for them.
    King was able to text his mom, Tancy, in Holyoke, and he was in contact with his grandparents, Dave and Linda Williamson, who also called during the time they were evacuating.
    “It was terrifying,” admitted King as he described the fires all around, watching the hillsides burning. Then when they lost cell service, they felt extremely isolated, as the world has become so used to having communication service in one’s pocket at all times.
    Fraught with worry for an entire week, King and Carver acknowledged their thanks for continued prayers from the Holyoke community in the turmoil of it all.
    
Animal reunion is sweet
    Returning to the farm Oct. 18, they found much to be thankful for, in the midst of extensive devastation.
    Being greeted by their animals was a sweet homecoming, and the fact that the barn survived the fire was an added bonus.
    On the farm, King and Carver live in a platform tent that’s built on to a deck. They had let the goats eat the brush around their tent to keep rattlesnakes away.
    Since there was no brush to fuel the fire, their tent also survived, and they credit the goats, as the fire burned 10 yards in front of it where there was brush.
    “While it was exciting and relieving, the trip back to the farm was also shocking in terms of the destruction,” said Carver.

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