Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Fire Relief and Support

Last Friday and Saturday, amidst a dramatic storm event in the north end of the Owens Valley, a fire erupted and raced north through the small communities of Paradise and Swall Meadows. The Round Fire has consumed over 7000 acres, flew up the flanks of the Wheeler Crest, and decimated 40 homes. Only chimneys were left standing.

This is an amazing community, full of love and support for all; and even despite disagreements and positions on any myriad of drama-fired issues, we have all come together to offer support, food, clothing, and shelter for those directly effected. I am honored to call this place home.

There are a number of GoFundMe accounts open for fund-raising, efforts which have already topped almost $45,000 in just two days. I would encourage any and all to search for the Round Fire, look at the photos taken by my friends Jerry Dodrill, Jim Stimson, and Cat Connor, and get a sense of the devastation. I am reminded of when Thor's home in SD was destroyed by the wildfire, and how we rallied to his support as we could.

Anything you might be able to contribute is welcome. The Community Center in Crowley Lake has been opened as an emergency shelter, and they are accepting hot food and other donations. Incredibly, enough people have opened their homes such that no one has had to sleep at the shelter. This is the stuff of which these communities are made.

Please join me in giving what you can, even if it's sharing the links on social media to spread the word.

Round Fire Information:
http://cdfdata.fire.ca.gov/incidents/incidents_details_info?incident_id=1073

Bishop Chamber of Commerce Fund:
http://www.gofundme.com/roundfirerelief

Jerry's write-up of the event:
http://petapixel.com/2015/02/09/witnessing-raging-wildfire-lens-camera/

Be kind to one another.

-L

Hi Very high winds and the only thing that saved many homes was the effort of the Fire Crews and the early morning rain.
Now as Laura has posted the next phase is help bring back the community and we can all do something no matter if it is just a prayer that no lives were lost and time to rebuild.

SP Parker is working on a clean up crew list , trucks, trailers labor and when the area is open he plans to start. If you can spare a few hours or a truck please call SP 760 258 6625. Doug and I will head up with 2 trucks and trailers so if you want a ride and are a local climber here's your chance to give some time back to the area. Thanks Doug

So very sad...
I was walking my dogs before work on Friday and I noticed a plume of smoke directly west of us. I thought it was odd because it was far too windy for a controlled burn in the area, but I kept walking. Upon my return, I noticed several plumes of smoke in the same area. I called my husband outside and we tried to pinpoint the exact area of the fires. As 3pm approached, I had to go to work. My husband said that he’d keep an eye out and if it got worse, he’d drive that direction to check it out.
When I arrived at work, I was informed that one of my FedEx Ground drivers, in a regular 4x4 truck, was blown off the road and down an embankment near Mono Lake (thankfully, he is ok) and that CHP had closed Hwy 395 to all high profile vehicles. Our Mammoth driver was stuck up there also, so the manager headed that way to pick the guys up. I asked him to let me know what was going on with the smoke near the highway. When they returned to the office, they said that the fire we saw from home was in the Round Valley / Paradise / Swall Meadows area (15 miles west of us as the crow flies) and it was VERY BAD!!!! Visibility on 395 was terrible due to smoke and they could see flames heading towards the homes in Paradise and Swall…I texted my husband who was already driving that way. He heard that they were evacuating Paradise and Swall Meadows. I was immediately concerned about our friends who live up there, so I called and they were still in the house, but were waiting for the knock on the door. They did not want to leave...they wanted to stay and defend their beautiful home...but she said they had bags and a few valuables packed "just in case". I told her to please be careful and call or text me to let me know that they were ok and settled somewhere if they did have to leave.
As darkness fell upon the valley, the red/orange glow in the sky to the northwest increased. It was absolutely eerie! I left work at 7pm and couldn’t believe the intensity of the glow on my left as I drove home up Hwy 6. When I arrived, I grabbed my camera and tripod and went out back to try to get a few shots with my 200mm lens. What I saw out there just floored me. Most of Wheeler Ridge was on fire and there were several intense orange fire balls down low on the horizon to. I got a few shots and went inside.
At 8:30, I finally heard from Shelly. She and Mike had stayed in the house until 7:37pm when the swirling 100+mph winds shifted and the flames forced them out in a panic…leaving everything but their bags and a few valuables behind.
At that point, they were safe and that was all that mattered to me.
We continued to watch the fire grow at an alarming rate. We could see an occasional intensely bright orange fireball light up the sky on the right side of the fire where the homes are located…likely propane tanks exploding. By 11pm, the entire Wheeler Crest was ablaze from about Pine Creek all the way to the Sherwin Grade. We were deeply concerned for our friends and all of the residents of those communities.
Not much sleep was had that night…
Saturday morning, I got a message from a mutual friend who had heard that Mike and Shelly had lost their home. A few minutes later, Shelly texted me and confirmed what I had just heard. She said that she and Mike had hiked up as close as they could get and, with binoculars, they could see that their property (a 3600 sq ft two story home with a guest house and huge shop with an RV garage) was completely leveled. She used the term “vaporized”… Their home, all of it’s contents, the guest house, the garage with an RV, FJ Cruiser, snow mobiles, bikes, shop equipment…all of it, burned literally to the ground.
Mike and Shelly are absolutely devastated, but glad to be alive.
There were 40 homes and outbuildings lost in the fire and 7,000 acres burned. Small in comparison to other wildfires, but a huge blow to our community. Bishop and surrounding towns quickly pulled together in support of the families who suffered losses. Social media was blowing up with information about the donation sites, so I drove to the fairgrounds Saturday morning with a carload of clothes, blankets, boots, toiletry items, etc. as soon as I saw the postings. I was pleasantly surprised to see the outpouring of generosity from the community. There were at least 15 other people in the parking lot unloading bags of goods and more vehicles streaming in by the minute. A small community showing it's true colors!

Daytime view of Wheeler Crest from the foothills above our house

From our backyard Friday night




11:30pm


Such a beautiful home!


Reduced to this


Please follow Laura's links and do what you can to help these all of these folks...

Thank you.
Stacy

Thank you, Laura, for the links below that allow those of us from far away to share in the support efforts for the affected community.

For those of us who live in or near the foothills or mountains, or heaven forbid those of us who have been through the terror of fire in our neighborhood, this fearsome devastation is what we pray never occurs. TeamBruin's hearts go out to the residents of Paradise and Swall Meadows.

BruinDave

The GoFundMe account for the Bishop Chamber of Commerce has reached over $61K thus far and is growing daily, while other accounts for specific members of the community have also been initiated. Please check out, donate, or share this link to help in any way you can:

http://www.gofundme.com/mvc.php?route=search&term=93514&country=US


I don't know if all will be able to see Jim's photos, as they are posted on Facebook, but here is a link to try and see the devastation:

https://www.facebook.com/jim.stimson.7/m...oto_album_reply

People have been allowed to return and the cleanup begins. There is a great Facebook page that has been started to relay information:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/SwallandParadise/

Thanks to all for any help or support you are able to give! Even sharing the information can be of help.

-L

Thanks for the link! I just signed up with Suzanne for the clean up crew next week...see ya out there Doug!

Stacy

This has to be so devastating to those affected by this fire. I drove to Mammoth on that weekend and saw the smoke from the highway. It rained on the mountain and made for a soaking wet experience but I'm sure that rain helped them battle the fire.

On another note, Laura it's great to see you post a note here again. You are missed by many and I hope you'll take a little of your "online" time here again. Don't be a stranger now, ya hear??

A really nicely written report from Swall Meadows as the cleanup continues. Again, if you have time or a few dollars to contribute, please do so.

http://wildernessexposures.com/round-fire-follow-up-rising-from-the-ashes/

Thanks, Sierra Cement, much appreciated, but I don't think I intend on "coming back" here. Just really wanting to get the word out and try to help as I can (since I can't get time off from work to help with the actual cleanup up there).

Best,
L