‘They could’ve saved our house’: Canyon Zone Fire survivor blames lack of resources
As wildfire smoke surrounded their Del Puerto Canyon home after a power outage, no authorities warned Barbara Kepley-Keeney and her 83-year-old husband to evacuate.
They drove to Frank Raines Park for help around 9:30 p.m. on Aug. 16, only to find two firefighters equipped with shovels and learned the fire would have trapped them if they waited five minutes longer.
The Canyon Zone Fire west of Patterson burned down the 37-year-old house, sparing only their barn and horses, and on Monday Kepley-Keeney described the loss as preventable. She called for more funding for Cal Fire, which is stretched thin by nearly two dozen major wildfires as of Monday, and recalled how firefighters camped in their yard to put out hot spots during previous blazes.
“They could have come up there,” Kepley-Keeney said, adding that all their phone service went out and the couple could not pump water from their electricity-dependent well. “They could have saved our house.”
The house is one of the at least 11 destroyed structures in the canyon, Sheriff Jeff Dirkse said in a Facebook post Friday, which accounts for all but one of the destroyed buildings Cal Fire has reported for the entire Santa Clara Unit Lightning Complex, which has burned 347,000 acres as of Monday.
Stanislaus County family members express frustration
Gina Keeney, Kepley-Keeney’s daughter-in-law who grew up in the house, said warning signs such as helicopters dropping fire retardant or a sheriff’s deputy knocking on the door usually gave her father more time to evacuate.
But now Keeney said Cal Fire personnel she encounters on the way to bring water to the horses apologize for not doing more. The firefighters point to fewer inmate crews after state inmate releases because of coronavirus risks, Keeney said, and have noted the budget cut California state firefighters agreed upon last month that reduces their pay by 7.5%.
Although the couple paid for insurance, Kepley-Keeney, 70, said they do not plan to rebuild the house or outbuildings her husband designed himself. Their age and her husband’s health problems make it unlikely, she said. For now, the couple is staying in Turlock with Keeney, who said future wildfire destruction in Del Puerto Canyon can be prevented with more firefighting resources.
“Every rancher keeps saying all the ranches that burned could have been saved if they had the manpower,” Keeney said. “This is not just something that was out of control and they tried.”
The delayed Cal Fire response prompted Modesto resident Marcus Riley to fight the wildfires near his father-in-law’s house in the San Antonio Valley for about a week. The 87-year-old refused to even evacuate and created fire lines with a bulldozer, Riley said. The house is still standing as of Monday, but Riley said he only saw Cal Fire planes drop water on the area one day last week.
Riley criticized how the state has handled the Canyon Zone Fire, saying it seems more firefighting resources are sent to protect wineries in Napa and Sonoma counties.
“I’m just astonished and I’m upset, angry, furious with the governor and the delayed responses,” Riley said. “People got seriously hurt, are seriously hurt, and some of them are probably financially ruined because that home and that ranch was all they had.”
Another Del Puerto Canyon family home burns
Angela Holbert, her husband and six children found out the wildfire destroyed their home while on a camping trip in Watsonville. Family friend Steve Stoppe told the couple over the phone on Tuesday, Holbert said, two days after they left their home off Del Puerto Canyon Road for the beach. The family saw fire crews when they left Aug. 16, Holbert said, but thought firefighters would prevent the spread.
Instead, the day marked the last time the family, including their 18, 16, 15, 10, and 8-year-old children and almost 3-month-old baby saw the house standing. Because her husband was still building the deck, Holbert said they did not qualify for home insurance. At the same time, Holbert said no loan burdens them because her husband and Stoppe began constructing it themselves about four years ago.
Holbert’s brother and nephew, as well as a friend, grabbed a few essentials from the house before it burned at her request, she said, noting that they saved the family dog and the favorite items such as a stuffed animal and an electric guitar. As she stayed with a family friend in Newman on Friday, Holbert described making the camping reservations far in advance as a blessing.
“It really is the Lord’s blessing in all of it,” Holbert said. “The kids didn’t have to be anxious and feel nervous or scared as the fire was creeping toward the house. God planned this trip for us to be gone a month ago.”
The First Baptist Church community has also supported the family by dropping off food and supplies, Holbert said, and one church friend even set up a GoFundMe to help the family move forward. While Holbert expects hardship while sifting through the charred remains, on Friday she said she was grateful the family was together.
This story was originally published August 25, 2020 at 10:00 AM.
