Homeowners share tense experiences of fleeing Oak Fire near Yosemite. ‘It is very scary’

Richard G. Perez and his wife Leonor Perez have watched wildfires come close to their Bootjack home in recent years, but they’ve never had to evacuate.

That all changed for the couple last Friday, shortly after the Oak Fire ignited near Midpines in Mariposa County.

When the Mariposa County Sheriff’s Office issued a fire advisory, Richard, 74, and Leonor, 57, started packing their belongings and preparing their animals. They bought the property in 2001 and the home was built in 2002.

“We’ve had several fires come through Mariposa and they usually all end up going through Triangle or close by and they were close, but we always were on advisory, we never had to actually leave our house,” Leonor Perez said.

This week, the couple was among the families staying at a shelter set up by the Red Cross at Mariposa Elementary School.

They looked into renting a room, but all three hotels they checked were booked. When a room did become available due to a cancellation, the $300 price tag was too steep. “The Red Cross has been very helpful with us. I mean, can’t really complain,” Richard Perez said.

There, the couple was able to get three meals a day and have access to showers and nurses.

Like many people staying at the shelter, all the couple could do was just wait and hope for the best. According to the couple, one of Richard’s close friends lost his house in the fire.

“There’s so many people here at the shelter that, you know, we’re all stressed about what the condition of our homes are and we’re all hoping for the best,” Leonor Perez said. “We all talked to each other and try to learn a little bit from each other.”

According to the couple, the fire hadn’t reached their home as of Tuesday, but came as close as a quarter-mile away. “You know the wind can shift, and once it shifts, it just goes,” Richard Perez said.

The Oak Fire, which started not far from Yosemite National Park just after 2 p.m. July 22, has destroyed 77 homes, according to the Cal Fire Thursday morning report. Another 39 outbuildings have been destroyed and there are 676 structures threatened by the fire.

The blaze was reported to have grown to 19,156 acres and was 39% contained as of Thursday morning, according to Cal Fire. “The scariest part for me was watching those air tankers going over our property to go drop that fire retardant,” Richard Perez said.

‘We just kept moving’

Aubrey Brown and Lynda Reynolds-Brown, both 70, moved to Lushmeadows in Mariposa County from the San Francisco Bay Area about a year and a half ago.

The couple said they could see plumes of smoke from their home when the fire started. They spoke with others in the community and checked on elderly neighbors before safely evacuating their home.

The Browns have also been staying at Mariposa Elementary since last Friday.

One of the hardest parts for the couple was being without a working cell phone. They initially couldn’t get in touch with loved ones, including their daughter who also lives in Mariposa County, in an area not far from the Oak Fire.

“That was one of the hardest parts because if we didn’t know where we were going, you didn’t have GPS or anything, I mean your phone just didn’t work,” Aubrey Brown said. “Luckily I had been running all over the place around here, you know, and finding different directions to go and all of that.”

The couple said they tried to remain focused and kept a pamphlet they had received after attending a meeting a few weeks earlier about fire preparedness.

The couple said they attended a class about three weeks ago in their community about fire prevention which included Cal Fire personnel, Sheriff’s Office personnel, other members of the community and a local dignitary.

Reynolds-Brown called the meeting “powerful and meaningful,” saying it was short, direct and easy to follow.

Brown said that since moving in to his home he has been watching what his neighbors do and making sure to keep his lawn mowed short. He also trims hanging tree limbs so if a wildfire happened, that might help save their property.

They became frightened as the plume from the Oak Fire moved closer and closer. “We just kept moving, getting stuff together. It is very scary, you keep looking over your shoulder to see where the fire is and all of that because you knew it’s moving fast,” Brown said.

“I think we both were in the state of mind that, ‘If I lose it, he’ll lose it,’ and he’s doing the same,” added Reynolds-Brown.

They didn’t know the status of their home as of Tuesday. Still, they want to stay close and see whether they can help others.

“So we’re just waiting for the next official direction to make decisions,” Reynolds-Brown said.

“I can’t help around here if I’m sitting in a hotel somewhere in another city,” Brown said. “This is the reason that I stayed because I want to be sure I can help, do whatever they wanted me to do.”

“We’ll see how bad we are, and if we’re not that bad we’re just going to start helping and talking to other people,” Brown added.

Areas still under evacuation orders

The National Interagency Fire Center’s nationwide situation report shows the estimated cost to fight the Oak Fire so far at $15.3 million.

As of Thursday there were 3,758 personnel working on the Oak Fire, in addition to more than 300 engines and two dozen helicopters.

No injuries have been reported. Cal Fire has estimated the fire will be contained by Aug. 6. The cause remains under investigation.

Highway 140 was reopened through Mariposa County to Yosemite National Park, the U.S. Forest Service said Tuesday.

Cal Fire asked drivers to be extra cautious on the highway as fire equipment may be on or near the roadway.

Areas still under evacuation orders due to the Oak Fire include:

Carstens Road, Buckingham Mountain Road, Plumbar Creek Road, Jerseydale Road and all side roads, Lushmeadows subdivision, Triangle Road from Highway 140 to East Westfall including all side roads, Darrah Road from Quail Ridge to Triangle Road including all side roads, East Westfall Road from Triangle to Oliver Creek including all side roads, Silva from Van Ness to Triangle, Highway 140 from Triangle Rd to Ponderosa Way (on Midpines Market side of Highway 140), Ponderosa Way including all side roads, Sweetwater Ridge/Mine area, Feliciana Mountain Road, Ferguson/Apperson Mine Road area, Savage Lundy Trail, Carter Road including all side roads, Hites Cove Road, Footman Ridge Area and Devils Gulch area.

GoFundMe verifying Oak Fire fundraisers

GoFundMe established a centralized hub that will identify all verified fundraisers created to help those who have lost their businesses, homes, and have been displaced by the Oak Fire.

GoFundMe has a dedicated “Trust & Safety” team to review fundraisers related to the Oak Fire.

As new fundraisers are created and verified by the GoFundMe Trust & Safety team, the fundraisers will be added to the hub.

The purpose is to ensure all funds raised are safely transferred to the right place, GoFundMe said.

The hub can be found at gofundme.com/c/act/wildfire-relief/california/central.

This story was originally published July 27, 2022 at 6:21 PM with the headline "Homeowners share tense experiences of fleeing Oak Fire near Yosemite. ‘It is very scary’."