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re: In the Eye of the Storm...Escaping the LA Fires. How did so many people end up like this?

Posted on 11/24/25 at 11:14 pm to
Posted by LegendInMyMind
Member since Apr 2019
71178 posts
Posted on 11/24/25 at 11:14 pm to
quote:

CalCajun

Respect, man. That was an impossible situation.
Posted by Cali-to-Death Valley
SF Bay Area
Member since Dec 2004
784 posts
Posted on 11/24/25 at 11:19 pm to
Living in Sonoma County I am very familiar with how fast these fires move. My father who was 92 was living at an asisted living facility in Santa Rosa the night the Tubbs Fire started. Pushed by 60 mph winds and 90 mph gusts. That fire covered the almost 13 miles from Calistoga to Santa Rosa in just over 3 and a half hours burning the facility to the ground.

On a side note, my father was one of 82 elderly people who were abandoned by the staff as the fire approached. An incredible group of citizens driving by the facilty, put their lives on the line by pulling into the facility and evacutating people in their personal vehicles. My father and 3 other folks in their 90's were evacuated by a teenaged Hispanic girl (never found out who she was) and driven to a Catholic church in Cotati.

When we finally tracked my father late in the day on October 9th, he had escaped wearing just his robe, slippers and boxer shorts. The first thing my father said to me was "it was the most scared I've ever been", which is something, considering my dad was in the 7th Infantry Division at Chosin. Miss you Dad.
Posted by LegendInMyMind
Member since Apr 2019
71178 posts
Posted on 11/24/25 at 11:26 pm to
quote:

Thanks LIMM. It's just hard to imagine a fire moving that quickly if you have not lived it. That had to be terrifying, absolutely terrifying to live through.

No problem.

The scale and ferocity of those fires is hard to comprehend.

I found an article that had ages listed for 21 of the victims. I was off a bit in my earlier post, the average age of those listed was 75. The oldest victim was 95.
Posted by LegendInMyMind
Member since Apr 2019
71178 posts
Posted on 11/24/25 at 11:47 pm to
quote:

When we finally tracked my father late in the day on October 9th, he had escaped wearing just his robe, slippers and boxer shorts. The first thing my father said to me was "it was the most scared I've ever been", which is something, considering my dad was in the 7th Infantry Division at Chosin. Miss you Dad.

That's a heck of a story. I think I remember reading some about that facility. Didn't they try to blame the residents or something like that?
Posted by LSUBFA83
Member since May 2012
4042 posts
Posted on 11/25/25 at 12:50 am to
quote:

I found an article that had ages listed for 21 of the victims. I was off a bit in my earlier post, the average age of those listed was 75. The oldest victim was 95.


Sadly, the same is true for the death stats from Katrina. About 75% of those who died were elderly or disabled.
Posted by Figgy
CenCal
Member since May 2020
9720 posts
Posted on 11/25/25 at 1:14 am to
Just wanted to say thank you for all of the work you guys did down there and anywhere else throughout the state. The videos are something else.
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