Dear Reader,Unfortunately our comment platform isn\'t available at the moment due to issues with our paywall and authentication vendor By: 5:00 am on July 19 Sonoma County has approved plans for a residential infill at 175 Airport Boulevard in Larkfield. The project will bring several dozen homes to a vacant 4.8-acre parcel near Highway 101. Lafayette-based Lenox Homes is the project sponsor The application uses the State Density Bonus program to increase residential capacity above the 43-unit base zoning The 57 homes’ sizes will vary from 1,322 to 3,414 square feet Housing types will include single-family and duet homes Twelve homes will be designated as affordable to low-income and moderate-income households The combined parking capacity will be 136 cars including 100 covered garage spaces and 36 guest spaces Each home will include an elective vehicle charging outlet and bicycle storage hook inside the garage WHA, based in San Ramon The illustrations show familiar architectural types to be used across the site with five building plans featuring facades stylized with cottage Larkfield-Wikiup is a census-designated area outside of Santa Rosa The unincorporated community is located in northern Sonoma County and was within the path of the deadly Tubbs Fire in 2017 The fire was among the most deadly wildfires in State history and the most destructive ever The site is about a mile and a half from where Gallaher Homes recently filed plans for 1,464 apartments with the Builder’s Remedy Subscribe to YIMBY’s daily e-mail Follow YIMBYgram for real-time photo updates Like YIMBY on Facebook Follow YIMBY’s Twitter for the latest in YIMBYnews Good to see single-family homes done with high density in an area that so desperately needs more housing to replace what was lost and to support growth etc.) integrated into developments like this but looks like it’s surrounded by existing mixed development And the grassy “commons” in the middle should be a great “frontyard” for people living there so long as there is a mechanism to continue to maintain it in the future ga('send', 'event', ‘Robert ‘Becker, 'Impression', 'https://sfyimby.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/desktop-ad.jpg', { nonInteraction: true }); ADVERTISEMENT ga('send', 'event', 'SF YIMBY', 'Impression', 'https://sfyimby.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/sfyimbyadnews.jpg', { nonInteraction: true }); ga('send', 'event', 'SF YIMBY', 'Impression', 'https://sfyimby.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/sf-yimby-dot-com-graphic.jpg', { nonInteraction: true }); Follow on Instagram © COPYRIGHT New York YIMBY LLC Sonoma County residents just got a new gem: a 30-acre woodland preserve now protected by the county for wildlife and community enjoyment Sonoma County’s Ag + Open Space and Sonoma Water have acquired the 30-acre Mark West Wikiup Preserve in Santa Rosa's Larkfield-Wikiup area The $5.1 million purchase from the Jackson family (of Jackson Family Wines) ensures permanent conservation Sonoma Water will manage public access under a conservation easement and recreation covenant held by Ag + Open Space “Conserving our natural resources is critical across the county but uniquely important within our cities and towns,” said David Rabbitt Chair of the Ag + Open Space and Sonoma Water Board of Directors “The conservation and restoration of Mark West Wikiup Preserve will help Santa Rosa be more resilient and provide a place for neighbors and visitors to enjoy.” Katie Jackson emphasized the family’s commitment: “We aimed to develop Wikiup responsibly Partnering with conservation agencies was the best way to protect it forever and align with the environmental goals of Sonoma Water andAg + Open Space.” while Mark West Creek provides essential habitat for salmon and steelhead trout “The Mark West Wikiup Preserve shows how land conservation can enhance the health and resilience of our watersheds Identified as a priority stream system by the California Water Action Plan Mark West Creek supports several threatened salmonid species including Central California Coast coho Salmon and steelhead Sonoma Water General Manager Grant Davis added “As one of five streams identified by the State of California we’re thrilled to steward this land along Mark West Creek This project will create positive outcomes for the neighborhood and the threatened species in the creek.” remains committed to environmental stewardship and sustainability reflecting their long-term vision for responsible land use and ecological preservation Sonoma County Ag + Open Space permanently protects agricultural, natural resource, and scenic open space lands for future generations. The agency protects over 124,000 acres of land, funded by a quarter-cent sales tax approved by voters in 1990 and reauthorized in 2006. For more information, visit www.sonomaopenspace.org either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content California's Kincade fire has covered 55,300 acres so far and a statewide emergency has been declared with the evacuation of nearly 200,000 along with millions affected by preventative power cuts and several school closures in place Evacuation orders were issued across Zones 1 through 10 in Sonoma County including "Markwest/Larkfield Wikiup area due to a fast moving wildland fire. If you are still in this area, you need to evacuate immediately," the official Sonoma County Emergency website (SoCo Emergency) states Evacuations were ordered "on Faught Rd from Shiloh to Old Redwood Hwy in Larkfield-Wikiup. If in this area, you need to leave immediately!!," the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office added in an alert on its official website following a fire reported in the area of Shiloh Ridge and Faught Road A full listing of all zones issued with evacuation orders and warnings, evacuation centers and road closures can be seen in this official report posted by California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) on its official Twitter account The official Sonoma County website has also posted an incident map outlining the areas under mandatory evacuation road closures and other relevant information The city of Calistoga and its surrounding area in the Napa Valley have been issued with an evacuation advisory, with a public safety power shutdown in place until Monday 8 a.m. (local time), according to the official Napa County website Cal Fire confirmed an evacuation warning for the areas north of Diamond Mountain Road to Dunaweal Lane east of the Sonoma County/Napa County border and south of the Lake County/Napa County line as well as well West of Pickett Road Five percent of the Kincade fire has been contained so far, with full containment expected by November 7. A Red Flag Warning (which indicates critical fire weather and fire danger conditions exist) is in place, with 40-50 mile per hour wind gusts possible through Monday evening due to narrow roads and steep terrain making access to the fire areas difficult, according to Cal Fire The Red Flag Warning is in place until 11 a.m. on Tuesday, according to a post by the official Twitter account of the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office All 40 Sonoma County public school districts are closed Monday and will be closed on Tuesday "due to the uncertainty around the availability of power, evacuation of students and staff, fire threat, and air quality concerns," the Sonoma County Office of Education (SCOE) confirmed on its official website The following independent charter schools will also be closed through Tuesday: and juvenile detention center classes will also be closed" and "Sonoma County school districts will reassess the need to be closed Wednesday-Friday based on individual circumstances and changing conditions Any updates on school closures for the week will be shared by SCOE each afternoon at 4:00pm," SCOE added Nearly 80,000 structures are under threat from the Kincade fire There have been no reported fatalities or injuries so far "All evacuation centers are small animal friendly No identification is needed to stay at an evacuation shelter English and Spanish-speaking staff will be there to make these safe supportive places for all," SoCo Emergency notes SoCo Emergency also notes the following shelters are reported to be at capacity: Santa Rosa Police will also be on alert through Monday night "with extra patrols in the mandatory evacuation zones and by monitoring the #KincadeFire. Be alert, stay safe and keep your phones nearby," the police warned in a post on its official Twitter account Potential public safety power cuts by Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) may be in place for Tuesday in Santa Rosa, according to a Tweet by the police on its official account. "PG&E has indicated that it will work to restore power to as many customers as possible who are currently blacked out due to the October 26 shutoff some customers who don't have power now may remain dark throughout the duration of the next potential shutoff event "PG&E has not yet made a definitive decision to shut power off on October 29 and will continue to monitor weather conditions and provide additional information regarding affected areas," the department added Between 20,000 and 50,000 customers in the northern part of California were expected to have their power turned back on by last night (Sunday) but PG&E warned there may be further widespread power cuts following potential dangerous wind conditions later this week "There is a potential that there will be people that will currently be interrupted as part of this PSPS [public safety power shutoff] event that we do not get to restore before the weather becomes unsafe again," Mark Quinlan Residents are being advised to check the PG&E website to check if your area may be impacted A smoke advisory has also been issued across the Bay Area for Monday following air quality concerns. The Spare the Air alert warns residents that "concentrations of ozone, or 'smog,' are expected to be unhealthy, the official alert website states warmer temperatures and longer days can cause ozone to build up to unhealthy levels the Air District will issue a Spare the Air Alert "On Spare the Air Alert days, Bay Area residents should consider limiting outdoor activities. There are everyday behavior changes, such as taking public transit, carpooling, or biking, that can improve air quality year round. These actions are particularly important on days when a Spare the Air Alert is called," the website notes Newsweek has contacted the Sonoma County Office PG&E and the California Department of Education for further comment on the impact of the Kincade Fire any further planned school closures and safety power cuts and other updates on the developing situation Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground Newsletters in your inbox See all Plus find out where to meet and greet your local firefighters this December Station 2 – Larkfield will be the home of 7582 and is the first Fire Engine we have purchased since our consolidation in 2019 This new Pierce Enforcer Pumper has rollup doors to improve firefighter safety when responding to calls in tight areas like on freeways and narrow roadways The rear short engine will store extrication equipment comfortable crew cab seats that can recline for added comfort Thank you to all that came out to Coffee with Your Firefighters at Station 10 – Bodega Bay on Nov We enjoyed meeting everyone and all the great conversations on that beautiful sunny Bodega Bay Saturday! Throughout the month of December SCFD will be participating in many holiday celebrations spreading cheer we would love to meet you and wish you a happy holiday season To stay in the know of all things and happenings at Sonoma County Fire District Did you know half of all home heating fires occur in December Check out these tips to make sure your home stays fire-free this winter: we have pre-cut trees from a sustainable farm in Oregon they are being kept in water so they are safer and last longer for you The tree farm is open Tuesday through Sunday from 9am to 5pm and all sales support our fire department Pull saws and measuring sticks are available as well as help to cut There are fire badges for the kids and cider and candy canes for all Thank you for supporting Graton Firefighters Come by the “Bucket Brigade” at the Graton Fire Station CA 95472 and donate blood alongside your Graton Firefighters Making an appointment at (vitalant.org) to donate ensures the blood bank schedules enough staff Our annual toy drive begins the week of Thanksgiving and continues through Wednesday Graton volunteer firefighters work with Oak Grove School and local charities to determine families in need in our district unwrapped toys for at least 30 children of all ages Thank you to everyone who donated last year and helped make Christmas a reality for other families We look forward to your support again this year By: 5:00 am on February 23 A new Hyatt hotel project has been proposed at 3750 North Laughlin Road in Santa Rosa The project proposal includes the development of an 85-foot tall hotel with guest amenities an amendment to the Airport Industrial Area Specific Plan Landmark Hotels LLC is the project applicant The project site is a parcel spanning an area of 3.52 acres the hotel will span a built-up area of 114,472 square feet The six-story restaurant will be able to seat 150-176 guests Parking space with a capacity of 212 vehicles will be provided on the site The hotel will employ an estimated 45 employees and the rooftop restaurant an estimated 30 employees 3750 North Laughlin Road View via Lowney Architecture The project site is located at the southeastern corner of the intersection of North Laughlin Road and Airport Boulevard The project area is surrounded by the Town of Windsor to the north the unincorporated communities of Larkfield-Wikiup to the east the City of Santa Rosa to the southeast and Charles M Schulz Airport (Santa Rosa Airport) to the west The fire caused about $150,000 in damage to the one-story home Two Larkfield-Wikiup residents were displaced Saturday night following a residential structure fire Sonoma County Fire District was dispatched at 10:52 p.m after a neighbor called to report smoke coming from the home in the 300 block of Manka Circle Sonoma County Fire Marshal Cyndi Foreman said When firefighters arrived on scene they saw smoke rising from the attic vents of a one-story house The two occupants of the home had evacuated Firefighters attacked the fire by cutting holes in the roof to allow smoke and heat to escape and by pulling down the ceiling to better extinguish the flames They also covered some of the residents’ belongings with tarps to protect them from fire and fire-extinguishing practices The fire caused about $150,000 in damage to the house The home was determined to be uninhabitable and the occupants found a temporary place to stay Fire investigators determined the fire was accidentally caused by hot coals from an outdoor barbecue The coals ignited combustible materials outside and then the fire spread up an exterior wall into the attic You can reach Staff Writer Madison Smalstig at madison.smalstig@pressdemocrat.com Policies approved in the aftermath of the October 2017 firestorm to help kickstart Santa Rosa’s recovery will be made permanent making it easier for displaced residents to find temporary housing and rebuild their homes Development policies approved in the aftermath of the October 2017 firestorm to kick-start Santa Rosa’s recovery will be made permanent The updated zoning regulations will make it easier to put up temporary housing for displaced residents and property owners whose homes are damaged or destroyed will benefit from streamlined review processes The city also is expanding over-the-counter planning approvals for certain types of housing as part of a broader effort to meet future housing needs City planner Christian Candelaria said the proposal will help Santa Rosa better meet community needs in a disaster reducing homelessness and promoting economic development The fires destroyed more than 5,300 homes across Sonoma County about 5% of the city’s housing stock when housing options were already in short supply City officials quickly mobilized to adopt policies to expedite development reviews They also waived certain development fees and opened a center dedicated to processing permit applications for fire rebuilds and brought on additional staff to help with the workload were critical to the city’s quick recovery About 90% of the parcels that were damaged or destroyed have been rebuilt or are being redeveloped which were expanded to include areas affected by the 2020 Glass Fire Candelaria said planning officials over the past 18 months met with other city departments and solicited feedback from residents developers and members of the Design Review Board and Planning Commission on potential updates The new changes to zoning and building regulations will codify components of the temporary measures into city code The City Council approved the changes earlier in November as part of the city’s effort to address critical housing needs. The council at the same meeting approved waiving some development fees for affordable housing projects The new regulations outline a streamlined review process for rebuilding damaged or destroyed structures citywide following a local state or federally-declared emergency like a fire supervising planner in the Planning and Economic Development Department The planning director will have discretion to approve various types of rebuilds including those on hillsides and along creeks as long as the rebuild is the same footprint and height as the prior structure and plans comply with zoning such projects would require approval by the city Zoning Administrator The amendment also sets guidelines for rebuilding structures within the city’s eight historic preservation districts Alterations to damaged or destroyed buildings that contribute to the historic character of a district will be approved by the Zoning Administrator while construction of non-contributing structures can be approved administratively The streamlined development standards will apply to affected properties for six years or until a primary structure is built on the property The revised code also will allow temporary housing such as an RV manufactured home or tiny home to be placed on properties with a temporary use permit for three years Property owners also will be able to set up a storage unit or shed on their properties for up to three years with a city permit while they rebuild Planning officials said the relaxed regulations helped residents return more quickly to their homes after the 2017 fires About 70% of affected properties pulled building permits within four years there are just 261 parcels destroyed in the Tubbs Fire where no permits have been submitted to the city property owners within the fire zone that have yet to rebuild have until Dec to submit a building permit application to be eligible for the rebuilding provisions That deadline is extended a year for property owners affected by the Glass Fire The city sent notices to property owners within the fire zone to notify them of the changes Planning staffers don’t anticipate a rush of applications Property owners that have yet to be rebuild face challenges from high construction costs to insurance issues Some owners who want to create custom homes may not qualify for streamlined review The code amendment also will expand over-the-counter planning approvals to some new housing projects citywide and allow for streamlined design review for certain types of developments in corridors where the city is trying to drive growth The code amendment will allow the planning director to approve permits for duplexes and half-plex units rather than requiring a hearing before the city Zoning Administrator child care facilities and lodging facilities that typically require Design Review Board approval can be approved by the Zoning Administrator if they’re within the city’s priority development areas Those areas include the central part of the city and the Sebastopol Road Mendocino Avenue and Santa Rosa Avenue corridors Deed-restricted affordable housing projects for residents earning 60% or less than the area median income also will be eligible for streamlined design review citywide Some of those measures were first adopted as part of a separate housing measure in 2018 intended to spur development citywide after the fires and later updates to address impacts of the COVID-19 health pandemic City records show 30 projects took advantage of the new regulations and those resulted in the approval of nearly 2,850 residential units including more than 1,100 affordable units A staff analysis found the reduced review requirements cut the timeline for project approvals by about half from 10 months to five months Nicholson said staff sought to incorporate aspects of the temporary regulations which also were set to expire at the end of the year into the city code to continue boosting efforts to create housing You can reach Staff Writer Paulina Pineda at 707-521-5268 or paulina.pineda@pressdemocrat.com Travis Hann thought videoing his flight from the fire was a good idea When residents evacuated the Mark West Springs area Monday some drove through gauntlets of wind-whipped flames and sparks as a deadly firestorm rained down They escaped in the pre-dawn darkness with only the glow of burning embers and their headlights to guide them One such harrowing experience was captured in a video by Travis Hann who with his parents fled the burning Heights Road home they shared Hann rolled his cellphone camera for 21 seconds until realizing the perilousness of the situation He made it out with his life and a few possessions “I knew that if I didn’t do things well and didn’t hurry up out of there I was going to die,” Hann some residents returned to the Larkfield-Wikiup area northeast of Santa Rosa to find neighborhoods of ash-covered foundations and burned-out cars Hundreds of homes in Mark West Estates and the neighborhood immediately south of it lay in smoldering ruins with devastation stretching east through the hills and south along both sides of Old Redwood Highway An area normally home to thousands of residents was deserted except for a few who returned to his Mark West Springs Road home to find it reduced to rubble he shook his head at the extent of his loss “The more I look at it the more thankful I am that we left when we did,” Nunley said He was among a handful to come back to the area in the wake of the Monday morning firestorm that has burned 27,000 acres and claimed 11 Sonoma County lives more than half along Mark West Springs Road and in Larkfield It raced over the hills from Napa County to Highway 101 an oak-studded section north of Santa Rosa Subdivisions on both sides of Old Redwood Highway were decimated but not the Larkfield Shopping Center and areas to its north a leafy neighborhood of expensive homes behind Cricklewood had only chimneys and charred trees remaining James and Julie Wolter returned to the Brighton Court home they bought three months ago to find it leveled who with her husband is a Sonoma County probation officer It was a request from one of her four small kids “We didn’t think they would survive but they are all there,” she said a Santa Rosa firefighter injured Monday in Fountaingrove He feared it would be destroyed when he fled Monday morning and reported to work He said he was among at least eight Santa Rosa firefighters to lose their homes “You have moments when you’re sad but mostly I’m just glad everyone is OK,” White said firefighters continued to battle small blazes Old Redwood Highway was strewn with downed poles from Cardinal Newman High School to River Road Ranchers were mostly able to escape with horses and other livestock but some stragglers remained At least two horses died in the fire at Cloverleaf Ranch and a horse rescue group Tuesday picked up a singed stallion and a pony Rescuers struggled to load the frightened horse onto a trailer on Mark West Springs Road “He’s just so freaked out,” said Betsy Bueno of Lost Hearts and Souls Horse rescue a front desk supervisor at the destroyed Fountaingrove Inn was still recovering after his ordeal that began about 12:30 a.m He feared gusting winds would blow a tree onto his house or car He fell asleep at one point only to be awakened by his mother shouting “I threw on a T-shirt and my slippers when I was heading out the door.” his parents and their dog piled into three separate cars and sped down the road He instinctually made a video but soon realized the fire was bigger than he first thought and threw his phone down but his father’s truck broke down and his mother could no longer drive so they all escaped the neighborhood in one car His video shows sparks flying sideways across his car’s hood and a huge ball of flame reaching the road You can reach Staff Writer Paul Payne at 707-521-5250 or paul.payne@pressdemocrat.com A small team of workers is setting up the forms for the foundation of a Larkfield Estates home signaling the slow but steady rebuilding effort progressing in the unincorporated community north of Santa Rosa The lowlands of Larkfield-Wikiup remain scarred by barren lots on streets where homes used to stand and filled with scores of blackened trees five months after last year’s wildfires but Jim Dickey’s lot is quickly showing strong signs of rebirth A small team of workers was busy Friday constructing forms for the foundation of Dickey’s new house in Larkfield Estates who received his building permit from Sonoma County in mid-February said he hopes to have the foundation’s concrete poured this week and his new Dorchester Drive home built by the end of the year “I’m excited that we’re moving forward and that there’s progress happening in the neighborhood,” Dickey said has been instrumental in getting their home’s rebuild up and running She informed the couple’s decision to move forward with a new craftsman-style home that will be a bit larger than the one they had before though it will fit within the same footprint since their two children’s bedrooms will be placed upstairs and they used to have a one-story home Dickey and Basinger’s home was among nearly 740 residences destroyed by the Tubbs fire in the greater Larkfield-Wikiup and Mark West Springs area The county has issued at least nine building permits for Larkfield-Wikiup alone - including Dickey’s - and another 45 permits for the unincorporated areas are in progress As a land surveyor for Cinquini & Passarino Inc. Dickey has been heavily involved in the county’s fire recovery He said his firm has surveyed nearly 50 fire-ravaged parcels in Larkfield Estates alone Dickey has been involved with about half of those “I now get a few hundred more emails every day than I’m used to We’re doing what we can to keep everybody moving forward helping with the rebuild effort in whatever way we can.” Among the Larkfield Estates residents helped by Dickey are Joel and Tina Chandler who enlisted his land-surveying skills as they started on their own rebuild too: They’ve gotten a building pad laid down and installed temporary power poles though they’re still working on getting a building permit from the county more sunshine - people’s moods will pick back up and everybody will be hopefully just jazzed to move forward.” The residents who lost homes in Larkfield-Wikiup are now scattered elsewhere but they’ve forged close connections in the wake of the October disaster their most immediate local elected representative spearheaded a network of block captains - of which Dickey is a member - who continue to meet regularly with government officials to guide their community’s recovery Larkfield residents also have their own rebuilding website and distribute information via social media channels and email The community is making important connections at the state level hosted an informal “meet-n-greet” at Riebli Elementary School Friday evening a Sonoma County Water Agency spokesman who lost his Larkfield Estates home in the fires said he invited McGuire to talk about the rebuilding work with the community and give residents an opportunity to catch up with one another ‘These extra expenses and extra stresses aren’t helpful There are days that I wish I was in Coffey Park where all was dealing with was the rebuild,’ said one Wikiup resident Like nearly every other person who owns property on Wikiup Bridge Way Janet Leisen's rebuilding costs extend far beyond her home that was destroyed by the Tubbs fire nearly one year ago she had to help pay to replace the privately-owned bridge connecting her neighborhood to Mark West Springs Road The total price tag for the project was more than $317,000 she will likely have to contribute for a new retaining wall in a landslide area That replacement cost is currently estimated at between $144,000 and $175,000 Leisen thinks most of those who own property on the private Wikiup Bridge Way will also collectively pay at least $300,000 to replace culverts and repave the road 'These extra expenses and extra stresses aren't helpful where all I was dealing with was the rebuild.' including two south of the bridge between it and Mark West Springs Road with the disaster's first anniversary fast approaching just three homes — including one on the other side of the bridge — are under construction who lost both the home she and her husband lived in and a neighboring rental Her daughter and son-in-law account for another Wikiup Bridge Way was among the last Sonoma County neighborhoods to have its debris fully cleared this spring Subcontractors had difficulty figuring out how to get their equipment in and out of the area due to the loss of the old bridge which was replaced about six months ago with a new concrete and steel structure The cleanup delay postponed the rebuild for property owners on the rural private street Leisen has been able to make significant progress on reconstructing the rental where she plans to live first before moving into the main house and Lesien expects the structure to be fully enclosed in November with completion targeted for sometime in March 'It's all the peripheral stuff that just compounds the stress of trying to deal with what is already kind of traumatic,' Leisen said Some Wikiup area property owners faced another expensive complication they only recently overcame with help from the Board of Supervisors County officials told owners of 56 fire-ravaged properties earlier this year they had to complete geologic studies before rebuilding due to their proximity to the Rodgers Creek Fault although some fire survivors said they were quoted much higher figures 'It more than doubled our engineering costs just to put it in perspective,' said Fernando Mora a Wikiup Bridge Way property owner whose rebuild came to a standstill because of the earthquake study requirement The county's requirement had its roots in a 1972 state law called the Alquist-Priolo Earthquake Fault Zoning Act which was designed to prevent new construction on top of active faults While the state exempted single-family homes from the geologic study requirement Sonoma County supervisors decided to lift that exemption as part of an update to the county's general plan in 1989 County officials wrote the change into their zoning rules in 1993 the current supervisors voted unanimously to devise a way for fire survivors to rebuild without completing a costly geologic study County staff members will study their options for the three to four months the vote finally gave his family the necessary certainty to finally move forward 'We're truly like kids in a candy store now.' Throughout the greater Larkfield-Wikiup and Mark West Springs area 245 homes are currently under construction and eight have been completed The Tubbs fire wiped out more than 1,700 homes in the vast unincorporated region which starts north of Santa Rosa and runs east into the Mayacamas Mountains two group rebuilding efforts have continued to make steady progress around Mark West Springs Road and Old Redwood Highway which has manged three other group rebuilds after earlier fires in California is rebuilding 78 homes in the devastated Mark West Estates subdivision The company announced last week it has now secured county permits to rebuild 15 homes in Larkfield Estates located opposite Mark West Springs Road from the other subdivision Stonefield anticipates pouring its first foundations in Larkfield Estates on Wednesday with completion targeted for both communities by the end of summer next year The first move-ins in Mark West Estates could happen as early as January Fairfield-based Silvermark Construction Services also continues to make progress on rebuilding a crop of homes in Larkfield-Wikiup A home the company constructed on Willow Green Place became the first rebuilt home finished in the unincorporated county in June members of the family behind the Kendall-Jackson wine empire have decided to scale down a proposed housing development at the former Wikiup Golf Course The total number of homes envisioned for the project has been reduced from nearly 100 down to 64 amid blowback from some people who live nearby After hosting a series of community meetings this year the developer will now need to seek permits from the county planning department PG&E has now finished about 4 miles of trenching to replace underground electric lines the firestorm destroyed in Larkfield Estates and Mark West Estates Contract crews hired by PG&E have also completed installing underground utility boxes to store transformers Crews are done pulling the electric conductor through the conduit in Larkfield Estates but still need to finish that work in Mark West Estates Workers will continue repaving and replacing concrete on curbs where they dug through the end of the year Morris at 707-521-5337 or jd.morris@pressdemocrat.com Four months after the wildfire tore apart their Santa Rosa neighborhoods residents say the fire has brought them together neighborhood leaders were selected to keep their blocks informed and residents gathered to mark the holidays and plot their rebuilding A recap of the recovery late last year and early this year in Larkfield-Wikiup and Mark West Springs: once a tranquil neighborhood of around 140 homes just a few minutes’ drive north of Santa Rosa remains nearly unrecognizable four months after the wildfire leveled every residence in sight and burned the subdivision’s lush greenery to a crisp But signs of progress are unmistakable: Lots have been cleared of debris Joel and Tina Chandler are getting their land ready for reconstruction as soon as possible The couple never imagined their home of 17 years could be destroyed by wildfire - even when they fled in flip-flops as flames raged uncomfortably close in the early hours of Oct The Chandlers made sure the front door was locked when they left because they instinctively believed their home would survive like thousands of other Sonoma County residents Since Joel Chandler is a general contractor they’ve been able to move ahead with reconstruction faster than most “Best Valentine’s Day ever,” said Tina Chandler Joel Chandler said he’s gotten to know many of their neighbors better than before as they’ve conferred about recovery He enlisted help from a fellow Larkfield Estates resident who works as a land surveyor and Chandler’s also planning to rebuild two of his neighbors’ homes in addition to his own The prospect of securing a building permit from the county and starting reconstruction is the next big benchmark for the Chandlers.“We finally feel like we’re heading the other way,” he said The Chandler home was one of nearly 740 residences destroyed in the greater Larkfield-Wikiup and Mark West Springs area The unincorporated area at the western foot of the Mayacamas Mountains was scorched during October’s fires Half of the 24 people who died in Sonoma County lost their lives there “A blowtorch came out of that canyon that night,” said county Supervisor James Gore “They said the fire was coming out of there with such ferocity that it was like a whip spraying left and right and just incinerating everything.” Gore is the area’s lone elected official in local government serving as a de facto mayor guiding the community’s recovery He directed Larkfield-Wikiup and Mark West Springs residents to organize themselves into a coalition of “block captains” who now meet weekly with officials from the county and state or the Federal Emergency Management Agency and report back to their neighbors The system has been crucial to the recovery effort “I couldn’t imagine doing it without this,” said Mike Holdner a block captain who lost his longtime home in Mark West Estates The idea was born out of Mark West and Larkfield-Wikiup town halls held in the days and weeks after the wildfires erupted Gore showed up with a map and used markers to designate the vast region into five smaller locales: Michele Way Gore asked neighbors to appoint leaders who were willing to follow up with him on a more regular basis Gore met with a few of the new block captains over beers at the Vintners Inn Toward the end of the discussion about the long recovery road ahead Gore asked if they wanted to keep the conversation going on a more regular basis about 14 to 18 people meet each Wednesday morning to speak directly with officials who are involved with some aspect of the recovery process including county planning leaders and FEMA officials The block captain network has expanded since its inception to include some representatives of Coffey Park “It is by far the most inspiring thing that I’ve been a part of,” Gore said When Barry Hirsch moved into the Michele Way house he built more than three decades ago They could easily get to downtown Santa Rosa but they loved the privacy of their rural refuge They had a couple of neighbors they’d have dinner with maybe two to three times a year After the Tubbs fire claimed Hirsch’s home and he became one of Gore’s block captains especially getting involved in this block captain thing and communicating with these people which has been a silver lining,” Hirsch said “I feel a sense of community that I really never felt before.” The camaraderie has manifested in other forums A December tree-lighting ceremony at Molsberry Market - a Larkfield community hub where neighbors frequently bump into one another - saw its largest attendance ever the local school superintendent and Wikiup resident And a New Year’s Eve party at the Luther Burbank Center for the Arts attracted about 450 attendees marking perhaps the largest community gathering in recent memory who described the residents as having “a bond of family and friendship forged by fire.” some here are looking to make development changes where possible Larkfield Estates residents are considering installing a sound wall to provide a buffer from traffic that has increased substantially after Sutter Santa Rosa Medical Center opened down the street Discussions are also ongoing about bringing sewer service to the septic-dominated neighborhood replacing burned trees with native vegetation installing systems to reuse water for landscaping and more a spokesman for the Sonoma County Water Agency “One great thing that’s come out of all of this is that neighbors have met each other relationships have been built and we’re dreaming big,” Sherwood said The magnitude 4.4 quake and 4.3 aftershock that jolted Santa Rosa immediately unleashed higher flows in Mark West Creek The earthquake that jolted Santa Rosa last week apparently shook loose a water source beneath Mark West Creek boosting the drought-depleted stream level by about six inches in the hours following the temblor and bumping the current flow to more than seven times its previous rate John Macaulay witnessed it happening through a window from the second floor of his home in the Larkfield-Wikiup area north of town He walked down to the creek behind his house where he was surprised to see the creek swell as he looked on What had been a shallow stretch of stagnant water was surging the water rushing over a chain of rocks slightly upstream like waves coming ashore on the coast “I actually saw it moving up,” said Macaulay whose home stands well above the creek bed across from John Riebli School A chunk of tree limb that had lain in the creek bed all summer Submerged as well were some flat rocks on the far bank that had been a frequent resting place for a fox family with four kits that Macaulay and his wife Neighbors and others who are as far as 9 miles upstream Helena Road down the west slope of the Mayacamas Mountains also saw the creek had risen about 6 inches in the aftermath of the Sept “I recall this exact same thing occurring during the (2014) Napa earthquake,” Diaz said “My girls and I had gotten used to skipping across the creek on some steppingstones during that summer and they all vanished underwater after that quake.” Geological Survey describes ground- and surface-water sources as features of an intricate “plumbing system” set within the earth where shifting rocks and sediments can spur hydrogeologic changes even thousands of miles from an earthquake’s epicenter The effect of an earthquake on a region’s hydrology also can take many forms springs or wells discharge more water than they did previously Or there may be sudden turbidity that renders a water source unusable Diaz said a friend just told him of a cousin in Humboldt County who had been reliant on a spring that stopped producing after an earthquake The Aug. 24, 2014, Napa quake was a magnitude 6.0 and dramatically increased flows in at least six creeks two in Napa and Solano counties and Mark West Creek — not all of them for the first time What the creek looked like before the earthquake: resulted in fractures in the bedrock that allow water to move around within it a key salmon and steelhead trout stream that feeds into the Russian River has many seeps and springs that contribute to the base flow year-round All the shaking last week either loosened up microfractures that normally hold water or changed the pressure gradient somewhere allowing water to flow more freely into the creek conducted a recent creek flow study under the direction of the Coast Range Watershed Institute Those who live along the creek are accustomed to observing its response to changes in the environment Many say they generally notice increased flow beginning around late September when autumn sets in and the surrounding trees are using less water After the 2020 Glass Fire swept through the St decimating the area and killing thousands of trees And after the Napa quake and the Santa Rosa temblors last week several residents said they were watching to see what happened to the water levels “I checked it the next day,” said Marcel Siegle Helena Road about a half mile from Calistoga Road “One thing we’ve figured out is that we can hear the creek better.” The Mark West Creek water gauge near Michele Way showed the creek’s flow rate at about 0.40 cubic feet per second in the days before the Sept it rose to about 2.87 cubic feet per second where it stayed spiking slightly during the weekend rain before returning to 2.87 Macaulay and Dickinson built their house with the creek as a focal point after losing what had been their home of three months to the Tubbs Fire in 2017 The newly rippling stream adds to the serenity of their natural surroundings including a creekside spot beneath the trees from which Macaulay recently watched river otters play “The last couple weeks before the earthquake,” Dickinson said “There was hardly any flow,” Macaulay said You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 707-521-5249 or mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.com Larkfield-Wikiup may get a couple of new neighborhood parks and possibly its own recreational organization to manage them if the efforts of some October fire survivors and others prove successful This story is part of a monthly series in 2018 chronicling the rebuilding efforts in Sonoma County's four fire zones: Coffey Park the greater Mark West area and Sonoma Valley Read all of the Rebuild North Bay coverage here here Park advocates say the unincorporated community north of Santa Rosa has long lacked enough green open spaces for families to enjoy the outdoors within walking distance of their homes a few opportunities have emerged for new parks namely a burned property in the Larkfield Estates subdivision and part of the former Wikiup Golf Course Fire survivors have formed a committee to discuss the issue regularly Supporters are contemplating a few different organizational structures to help create and maintain the new parks any of which would require a public vote if they decide to fund the effort through new taxes who lost his Larkfield Estates home in the Tubbs fire “There is a movement moving forward to better organize parks and recreation in Larkfield-Wikiup,” Sherwood said “We want to leverage the fire recovery opportunities along with development opportunities.” One of the potential park locations is the Brighton Drive site where Jack Symons' former house was destroyed in October and his 75-year-old wife built the home five decades ago back when they had only one neighbor and there was still an orchard growing nearby Symons and his wife bought a home in Cloverdale because “it's gonna be years before the neighborhood gets back to halfway normal,” he said and there's never been a park,” Symons said “I just thought it would be an asset to the neighborhood.” Another potential park location is the old Wikiup Golf Course which is owned by the family behind the Kendall-Jackson wine empire The family bought the property in 2015 and only recently revealed itself as the owner viewing the site as an opportunity to help the Larkfield-Wikiup and Mark West area recover from the fires' devastation The Banke-Jackson family has envisioned a combination of uses for the 31-acre property with a possible park or open space on about 16.5 acres and homes on the remainder But the family hasn't decided exactly what the park should look like as part of the project which the owners are calling Wikiup Commons “That's not something that we are going to dictate or mandate,” Korman said The proposed development has already encountered resistance from some homeowners in the area particularly where construction of new homes is being considered on land that's now de facto open space White and red signs with “NO” painted on them were hung on parts of the property in apparent opposition to what the Banke-Jackson family has proposed But the family is trying to work through its plans with the community at multiple neighborhood meetings the community's rebuilding continues to show steady progress particularly around Mark West Springs Road and Old Redwood Highway where entire neighborhoods were reduced to rubble in October The county has issued 315 building permits for homes in the greater Larkfield-Wikiup-Mark West Springs area which stretches all the way into Knights Valley Numerous homes are rising in the Mark West Estates and Larkfield Estates subdivisions One of the builders leading the effort is Orange County-based Stonefield Cos. which is rebuilding 77 homes in Mark West Estates and 15 in Larkfield Estates Stonefield has secured about 50 building permits so far and is in varying stages of construction on the properties The company expects to have its first home completed in late January or in February and finish 10 to 12 homes each month after that “It's falling in line very nicely,” Pack said “It's really nice to see the homeowners seeing their neighborhood being revived.” Stonefield has an office set up in the Larkfield Center near Molsberry Market the company's vice president of business development and land acquisition moved from Southern California to Sonoma County to help with the rebuild and company officials said they're open to taking on more customers as well led by Fairfield-based Silvermark Construction Services ushered in completion of the community's first rebuilt home two months ago While rebuilding is moving along clearly in the lower-lying areas progress appears to be going more slowly in the community's higher-elevation neighborhoods a former Sonoma County planning commissioner who lost his home in Wikiup during the fires has the only property on his block where the skeleton of a rebuilt home is already coming into place Lamberson joked he encourages his neighbors “every day to get started,” saying he doesn't want to “be the only one out here.” But he got a quick start on the rebuilding process and he's all too familiar with the various complexities that lie between losing a home and building a new one “You have to hurry but be patient in this rebuild,” Lamberson said “You got to really push it to get all your different testing done but then you have to be patient because there's a lot of people ahead of you.” has also made more progress on restoring the electrical systems in Mark West Estates and Larkfield Estates Crews with the utility's contractor focused in August on installing underground utility boxes where transformers switches and phone equipment will be stored according to PG&E spokeswoman Deanna Contreras The utility has finished trenching more than 3 of the nearly 4 miles of underground electrical work planned in both subdivisions Work is on track to be finished by the end of the year Morris at 707-521-5337 or jd.morris@pressdemocrat.com.On Twitter @thejdmorris This is an official website of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Learn More about Adventists after fire swept through the campus on Oct 2017 Photo sourced from Northern California Conference Facebook page the Tubbs Fire swept into the Larkfield-Wikiup area of Santa Rosa and destroyed Redwood Adventist Academy No students or faculty were on campus at the time and historical landmarks suffered the same fate but nobody knew for sure what had happened Principal Angie Weems and Northern California Conference associate Education superintendent Albert Miller attempted to visit the property and took photographs of the burned-out school buildings “It’s a huge loss to look at the pictures and see everything totally gone,” said Weems who still hadn’t been able to reach the campus as of Wednesday morning.  Weems was alerted that the fire was heading toward Santa Rosa She decided there was too much uncertainty to hold classes for her 128 students “If we’d had to think about getting kids out of there The news of the school’s destruction spread through social media and word-of-mouth to shocked teachers “It just hit me really hard,” said sophomore Diego Velis “I’ve spent so many hours at the school and have so many memories.” Several of the students lost their homes to the fire Grades 7/8 teacher Jessie Michel grieves for her students “I’m just so heartbroken for the kids,” she said Redwood has played a large role in the local Adventist community “Some families have had generations attend here — grandparents “Everybody is going to go through the grieving process in their own way.” Weems’ immediate goal is to make sure the students don’t lose valuable time “Our plan now is to have the school open as soon as possible at another temporary location next week,” she said The close-knit Redwood school community is supporting each other through this challenging time and we’re all really concerned about each other,” said Michel Christian Record Services (CRS) is thrilled to announce the appointment of Tandi Perkins as the new Director of Development Perkins brings a wealth of experience in the non-profit sector having served with distinction for over five years as the director of development for the Alaska Conference of Seventh-day Adventists a team of 19 students and five nursing faculty and staff from Pacific Union College provided physicals and regular physician office and dental care to 311 patients in Mana It was oboist Afonso Bittencourt Brito’s first time back in his native Brazil since leaving 18 months earlier to study at La Sierra University he toured the South American nation and visited his hometown as a member of a La Sierra University Chamber Winds quintet that gave performances and master classes The last Sabbath of March 2025 marked the Disabilities Ministries Annual Conference hosted this year by the Living Hope Seventh-day Adventist Church in Haymarket Representatives from across the country joined forces to share insights with the event live-streamed for those unable to attend in person This was a historic meeting with record-breaking attendance signaling the church’s increasing emphasis on inclusion Diné Adventist Radio's first full-power FM station—KDHH 89.5 FM—went live and the Western Agency of the Navajo Nation It was a quiet but powerful breakthrough for a project years in the making The wildfires that ripped through Northern California this month destroyed at least 8,400 homes and buildings, according to state officials Using satellite imagery and data released by Cal Fire we’ve mapped over 7,500 damaged and destroyed structures The scope and scale of damage is among some of the worst from wildfires in state history.The bulk of the destruction can be found in Santa Rosa where the Tubbs fire ripped through major residential areas on Oct California is susceptible to fires year-round but fires that occur in fall can be especially dangerous dry temperatures during the summer worsen in later months due to winds from the Great Basin Known as Santa Ana winds in Southern California and Diablo winds in the north these powerful warm winds cause fires to spread faster and quicker Documenting the destroyed and damaged structures requires coordination across government agencies who must not only identify these structures before evacuees can return home but must assess the loss in property value as well The estimated total insured losses for the Northern California fires stood at $1.045 billion, according to preliminary figures released Thursday by State Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones Here's what we know about the destruction in the Northern California fires so far: Satellite image analysis by The Times combined with data collected by Cal Fire and Sonoma County shows the Tubbs fire destroyed or damaged at least 5,500 structures alone More than 1,500 homes were destroyed in the mountainous area north of Santa Rosa but the fire hit the city and surrounding area the hardest Most of the damage occurred in three areas: Coffey Park; Fountaingrove located in northern Santa Rosa; and Larkfield-Wikiup which quickly went up in flames in the early morning of Oct was one of the most densely populated areas in Santa Rosa affected by the fire About 1,500 homes were destroyed in the small neighborhood Structures that appear to still be standing may have fire or smoke damage that could prevent homeowners from moving back in Almost 1,800 structures were destroyed in the Fountaingrove area, located in the northernmost part of Santa Rosa. The fire also destroyed a new, $4-million firehouse, according to the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat The fire also tore through the Larkfield-Wikiup area an unincorporated community about five miles north of Santa Rosa burned 17,537 acres and was 90% contained as of Tuesday The fire broke out in a sparsely populated area near Geyserville and there were no fatalities in the Pocket fire out of the close to 100 structures within the perimeter six were destroyed and two were left damaged The Atlas fire burned 51,624 acres and was 96% contained as of Tuesday. It began on Oct. 8, racing down Atlas Peak mountain and killing six people. Mapping from Cal Fire and Napa County estimates that over 800 structures were destroyed or damaged Much of the destruction was concentrated in areas northeast from the city of Napa wreaking havoc on nearby small communities The fire caused the most concentrated destruction in area north of Vichy Springs, a few miles north of Napa, near the Silveardo Resort and Spa. This area is surrounded by vineyards and large golf courses, which may have prevented the fire from spreading further became the largest of the wine country fires and burned over 56,000 acres Damage assessment estimates from both counties show that close to 1,000 structures have been destroyed or damaged in the fire but impacted several smaller communities and wineries Some of the most concentrated structure damage occurred right outside Annadel State Park The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection along with agencies in Sonoma and Napa County are continuing to document the total number of structures that have been destroyed and damaged in the Northern California fires This page will be updated as more information becomes available 2:00 p.m.:This article was updated to include information about the Pocket fire 2:30 p.m.:This article was updated to include information about the Atlas fire and Nuns fire Credits: Additional reporting by Lorena Iniguez Elebee the new director of operations at the Wikiup Tennis & Swim Club will serve as Team USA's clubhouse manager at the World Baseball Classic next month Ted Walsh moved to Santa Rosa last year to help a relative learn a new business and settle down with his family who is helping his father-in-law run Wikiup Tennis & Swim Club spent a total of 35 years as a 49ers equipment staffer and Major League Baseball clubhouse manager He will reprise the latter role in March when he serves as clubhouse manager for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic Walsh’s preparation for this sort of task began when he was still attending Concord High School A friend had a dad who worked for the 49ers and the dad was looking for a couple of helpers for training camp at Santa Clara University “I thought it would be one-and-done,” he said recently Walsh was invited back to work with the Niners’ equipment manager and the next year passed up enrolling at St Mary’s to take a full-time position with the team He would spend 16 years helping to keep the 49ers’ equipment in working condition and their uniforms freshly laundered Though admired for his attention to detail and fondness for practical jokes Walsh is perhaps best remembered as the guy who taught Jerry Rice to catch left-handed throws As the Niners were transitioning from Joe Montana to Steve Young the ever-vigilant Rice wanted repetitions catching the opposite spin of a lefty’s passes “Ted saved my arm,” Young told the Los Angeles Times in 2010 “Jerry wanted to catch four million passes a day and I needed Ted to throw 3½ million of them or I wouldn’t have made it.” Walsh started helping the Milwaukee Brewers in spring training He loved baseball and wanted to run his own department Cleveland Indians manager Mike Hargrove came through with a job offer who had grown up in Santa Rosa and attended Ursuline High had owned at least a part of the Wikiup club since 1978 Ted Walsh took a job with the Seattle Mariners in 2003 partly so Cybele would have an easier time getting home for visits Walsh was the Mariners’ home clubhouse manager for 10 years and their visiting clubhouse manager for three until the team dismissed him in October of 2015 It didn’t take Walsh’s father-in-law long to make a proposal Lamonica wanted him to move to Santa Rosa and gradually take over operation of the club Walsh gave it a trial run last summer and decided to give it a run “It’s something a little bit out of my box.” Walsh found a little gem of a club with six tennis courts three pools (they open April 21 for swim season) and a private picnic area on four woodsy acres Walsh invited former 49ers Ronnie Lott and Harris Barton All of that will be hold for at least a couple of weeks as he handles the clubhouse for manager Jim Leyland and Team USA didn’t see this coming a year and a half ago when MLB called him out of the blue It came on the recommendation of Lou Cucuzza Jr. who manages the New York Yankees’ visiting clubhouse and is also the head of the Major League Baseball Clubhouse Managers Association In the fall of 2015 he recommended Walsh to work the World Baseball Classic “He was the home guy for a number of years in Cleveland and then he moved to the visiting clubhouse if you’re having an event like an all-star game or the WBC where you have players from many different teams coming together as one team I told them your best resource is a visiting clubhouse manager We see a ton of different managers and GMs and team presidents Walsh has only a mild acquaintance with Leyland but he already knows many of the American players he’ll be working with at the WBC “Adam Jones I had as a young player coming up with Seattle before we traded him to Baltimore,” Walsh said “I was his first big-league clubhouse manager There’s a lot of guys on the roster I’m familiar with.” where the Americans will work out at the Boston Red Sox’s spring facility They will play exhibitions against the Minnesota Twins on March 8 and the Red Sox on March 9 and take the field for their WBC opener against Colombia on March 10 Colombia and the Dominican Republic; their round-robin pool play will take place at Marlins Park in Miami Two of the four teams will advance to the second round in San Diego The championship round of the World Baseball Classic will be in Los Angeles Walsh will help the American players in countless ways The clubhouse manager is equal parts equipment rep the wives would drop the players off at the ballpark every day and you became the daycare,” Walsh said The “clubbies,” as the clubhouse men are known routinely work 12-hour days during the season They are responsible for everything from washing pants and filling Gatorade jugs to stocking pine tar rags and They lay out three meals a day for the players they create a good atmosphere for a team when they come in there,” said Leyland winning one World Series and three pennants And Ted is one of those who always went above and beyond the call of duty If you can create an atmosphere where it feels like home If something is stolen from a locker or left behind when a team moves from one city to the next shortstop Omar Vizquel showed up at Wrigley Field in Chicago one day and announced he had left his glove in Cleveland His leather was the equivalent of a magician’s hat and he found the glove still hanging in Vizquel’s locker The assistant drove it to the airport and put it on a direct Continental flight and a Cubs visiting clubhouse attendant was there to pick it up at O’Hare was in the on-deck circle when Walsh popped into the dugout to let him know the mitt had arrived It was five hours after Walsh had made the initial call The World Baseball Classic could be especially challenging for clubhouse managers Walsh will be working out of a storage unit as he separates uniform components by size and makes a stack for each player on the roster He won’t be able to get into the clubhouse in Fort Myers until March 6 with teams having to clear out after each game and make room for somebody else Even if Walsh executes his job to perfection In three previous installments of the World Baseball Classic the Americans have finished no better than fourth With standouts like catcher Buster Posey and shortstop Brandon Crawford of the Giants third baseman Nolan Arenado of the Rockies outfielder Giancarlo Stanton of the Marlins and first baseman Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks this year there is hope that the home team can finally conquer the world and hopefully they can pull it out this year,” Cacuzza said You can reach staff writer Phil Barber at 707-521-5263 or phil.barber@pressdemocrat.com 2020 at 6:44 pm PT.css-79elbk{position:relative;}The crash occurred on Wikiup Drive just east of Carriage Lane in the unincorporated Larkfield-Wikiup area just north of Santa Rosa in Sonoma County in a solo vehicle crash late Friday night just north of Santa Rosa the California Highway Patrol said involved an allegedly drunk driver Friday on Wikiup Drive just east of Carriage Lane in the unincorporated Larkfield-Wikiup area just north of Santa Rosa in Sonoma County A Nissan Versa driven by 18-year old Aileen Vigil-Hernandez of Santa Rosa was unable to negotiate a curve and drove off the roadway and into a tree Vigil-Hernandez and a 17-year-old passenger in the front seat were both taken to a local hospital with "non-life-threatening by major" injuries Vigil-Hernandez was arrested on suspicion of felony DUI Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News The shock among residents and firefighters are still too plain to witness in communities north of Santa Rosa LARKFIELD - The broad bay door of the firehouse was open Thursday evening and the engines and trucks inside moved out so more than 200 people could sit and stand through the emotional night that would unfold Almost four weeks after the Tubbs fire bore down Mark West Springs Road and decimated large parts of this bedroom community tucked against the hills north of Santa Rosa voice their thanks and ponder together what comes next The wind-driven firestorm obliterated almost 1,500 homes here in the Rincon Valley Fire District which suffered the greatest toll outside of Santa Rosa Eleven of the 21 people reported killed in the Tubbs fire lived in a relatively narrow corridor of this 94-square-mile rural and suburban fire district The victims were caught by flames and smoke in their homes or outside as they tried to flee One visiting couple took shelter in a backyard pool The shock among residents and firefighters and terrible toll of that night are still plain to witness here Two neighborhoods at the main entrance to Larkfield at Old Redwood Highway and Mark West Springs Road with hundreds of hillside homes farther east also destroyed Landmarks including Cricklewood restaurant and Willi's Wine Bar are gone and campuses including Cardinal Newman High School were badly burned Rincon Valley Chief Jack Piccinini said on Thursday that a small number of local firefighters evacuated many people that night last month and made key stands And I can't be more proud,” the tearful fire chief said in his introductory remarks But this was the first opportunity for many residents to confront authorities responsible for public safety and while the majority said they were grateful for their efforts some had biting questions about the events of that night “Who is the man who left me to die?” yelled resident John Smihula He told of a locked gate across Michele Way blocking his escape from his burning neighborhood He said a resident on the other side saw him but left so he and his large dog tried to hike to safety as fire closed in “I watched my dog go up in flames,” he yelled Piccinini said fire officials would look into the gate issue as well as other concerns raised by residents the fear and the frustration,” Piccinini said where more than 5,100 homes were destroyed and at least 23 lives were lost in the fires enough time has passed so that questions posed in the earliest hours of the disaster are now reaching officials in public settings They concern the emergency alert system that failed to reach many people that night the government-funded cleanup effort underway and the long rebuilding process in store for many communities Mark West Springs and Riebli roads say they feel their losses have been overshadowed by the near-complete destruction in Santa Rosa's Fountaingrove and Coffey Park neighborhoods comprising a quarter of the Rincon Valley Fire District Many residents said they had little to no warning about the fire's advance on their homes warn neighbors,” said Lisa Tierber Nielson “How are you going to fix the communication problem?” told of how a fire dispatcher about 10:30 p.m 8 told her the smoke she smelled in her Riebli Road neighborhood was from a fire far in the distance Don't worry,'” she recalled the dispatcher saying on a hillside that was less than 8 miles away It would be in northeastern Santa Rosa before 2 a.m. She and her son were awakened by pounding on their door Three of Kutzer's neighbors died in the fire “I'm mad I was told ‘Don't worry about it.' We lost three people and I'm mad at myself for going to bed.” residents voiced hearty cheers and gave standing ovations to firefighters for their efforts during the three-week battle to protect lives and property Two dozen Rincon Valley and Windsor firefighters stood at the back and around the side of the room “I'm just so proud of all of you,” Tierber Nielson told the firefighters Piccinini said many Sonoma County sheriff's deputies and firefighters risked their lives driving into areas engulfed in flames to save people pounded on doors and threw people into their vehicles to get them out But they couldn't get to every street and he acknowledged breakdowns in communication with residents which was affected by power outages and wrecked cellphone towers “We're already trying to figure out where some of the pitfalls are,” said the veteran fire official He called the unprecedented event “a litmus test” for the county's emergency alert system “Every piece of the fire is going to have its own story,” Piccinini said Retired San Francisco firefighter Jeff Myers “What they did was nothing short of a miracle They could have put 500 firefighters on the line (and) they wouldn't have stopped that monster,” he said faces an estimated $1 million budget cut from the loss of property tax revenue tied to the burned homes and that's what's going to be reflected in the budget who is meeting with other officials to hammer out a solution Displaced residents within the firehouse crowd wore borrowed clothes or brand-new ones board president of the Rincon Valley Fire District he didn't get an evacuation notice and escaped just before his house in the flats of Larkfield burned Firefighters saved the home of Anna Richmond are “living like gypsies,” moving from place to place until smoke damage is eliminated and they can go back She is gripped by a sense of guilt that her rental was spared while many neighbors are now homeless “We'd take walks and now those neighborhoods don't even exist,” Richmond said the family-owned store and cornerstone of Larkfield's shopping center “About one-third of our customers have lost everything,” said co-owner Brian Molsberry a lifelong Larkfield resident whose home survived The business employs 65 people and since the evacuation orders were lifted People are coming in here almost like its some sort of normalcy You can reach Staff Writer Randi Rossmann at 707-521-5412 or randi.rossmann@pressdemocrat.com The burns are slated for Shiloh Ranch Regional Park through February to create a firebreak between the park and nearby Mayacama homeowners Jonathan Wilhelm had to quickly evacuate his home in the remote Larkfield-Wikiup area when the 2017 Tubbs fire threatened to torch his property When he and his neighbors were cleared to go back to their houses the devastation could be seen around their small Mayacama community Wilhelm and a group of others serving on the Mayacama homeowners association worked over several months to educate neighbors and prepare the area for future wildfires Part of their efforts to reduce potential property damage from future blazes is participating in an ongoing collaboration with Sonoma County Regional Parks and Cal Fire to conduct regular brush pile burning The first burn at Shiloh Ranch Regional Park is set for today from 10 a.m “We all recognize we live in an area where wildfires are a fact of life,” said Wilhelm managing partner at the Mayacama Golf Club “After Tubbs when a lot of us were repairing our property we had to ask ourselves The brush pile burn is the first of several slated for the park through February with the goal of creating a firebreak - a strip of open space to hopefully block the spread of a blaze - on the boundary between the Shiloh regional park and the nearby Mayacama homeowners regional parks spokeswoman Meda Freeman said are all opportunities for firefighters to control a wildfire in the future,” said Hattie Brown natural resource manager for the regional parks it will help to keep fires out of the high canopies of the trees and instead keep the fires low Mayacama encompasses 675 acres and has 29 homes with an additional 20 villas for golf club members “We are a small and remote residential community,” Wilhelm said Another option to clear brush is to turn it into mulch but because the Mayacama area and Shiloh Ranch Regional Park are in a remote “This is one small step towards building a safety and resiliency to future wildfires,” she said fire prevention specialist for the Cal Fire Sonoma and Napa unit said brush pile burns have been happening for years in the area It is a way of disposing of a high volume of materials and removing invasive brush that does not belong The greatest threat surrounding Mayacama is the prominence of Douglas fir trees part of the intent is to remove smaller firs that tend to be killed in wildfires anyway but can help spread fires “You just have to make sure you do as best as you can to prepare and if and when it happens again you are hopefully prepared,” Wilhelm said You can reach Staff Writer Alexandria Bordas at 707-521-5337 or alexandria.bordas@pressdemocrat.com The farm lender this summer is downsizing its Santa Rosa headquarters by 93% as more employees work remotely or visit the office infrequently Even as American AgCredit has been expanding across the country over its 108-year history the farm lender plans to shrink the physical footprint of its Santa Rosa headquarters by 93% this summer for some companies to downsize how much office space they occupy if employees can work efficiently elsewhere that means relocating from its 121,700-square-foot two-story building at the entrance of the Sonoma County airport industrial area to an 8,000-square-foot single-story building in Larkfield-Wikiup north of Santa Rosa American AgCredit on May 8 purchased the former AltaPacific Bank headquarters and shuttered Banner Bank branch at 4845 Old Redwood Highway for $1.975 million The goal is to be up and running at the new location by the end of August according to an American AgCredit spokesperson “This space offers flexibility for our employees no matter where and how they work,” Chris Carter said Of the 920 employees the agricultural lender has across its service area in California only about 10 are at headquarters on any given day was a former bank office with related improvements and higher-end finishes needing only minor cosmetic upgrades before move-in It’s a building American AgCredit already knows well The lender had occupied it before the modern steel and glass structure at 400 Aviation was completed in 2016 at a cost of $68.5 million The institution’s roots go back to the beginning of the Farm Credit System in 1916 with National Farm Loan Association of Santa Rosa established that October The first of a number of mergers over the decades came in 1948 when Farm Land Bank Association of Santa Rosa was formed from similar organizations in Santa Rosa The name changed to American AgCredit in 2000 amid mergers with other California farm lending institutions The past 15 years have seen the company expand outside California and Nevada to the heartland the latest being a merger with Farm Credit of New Mexico late last year The company had $21.5 billion in total assets as of March 31 Vineyards and wineries had the largest share of lending represented American AgCredit in the 4845 Old Redwood Highway purchase transaction Reach him at jquackenbush@busjrnl.com or 707-521-4256 At least two dozen empty lots are now listed for sale in Coffey Park A growing number of property owners are deciding not to rebuild The choice was easy for Warren and Lori Luke As their belongings accumulated from 37 years of marriage still smoldered inside the ruins of their Coffey Park home the Santa Rosa couple decided they would not stick around to rebuild the Lukes decided to put their lot on Kerry Lane up for sale and accelerate long-held plans to move back to Oregon where they will be closer to family and avoid both the headaches and heartaches ahead as their neighborhood attempts to recover from the most destructive wildfires in California history “I told her as soon as this happened that I wanted to move up there now,” said Warren Luke Two months after the October wildfires leveled more than 3,000 homes in Santa Rosa “For Sale” signs are popping on vacant lots in Coffey Park and other fire-ravaged neighborhoods as a growing number of property owners reach similar conclusions At least two-dozen empty lots are now listed for sale in north Santa Rosa and are often a quarter of what they would have cost with a home still standing Some sellers don't want to wait the two years or more it could take to rebuild their homes Others want to make a fresh start elsewhere using proceeds from the sale of their lots and their insurance settlements to pay off the mortgage on their former homes and buy a new house in another community the vacant lots provide the unique chance to build a custom home in an established neighborhood that already has public utility hookups They include real estate developers and land speculators - Cash 4 Houses signs offer to buy properties “in any condition” - who are prepared to make a bet on the resiliency of Sonoma County is offering $105,000 to $125,000 for lots in Coffey Park The program - which guarantees full payment within two weeks of the property being cleared - isn't for everyone but the company believes it has priced the lots fairly president of Santa Rosa homebuilder APM Homes said the value of the Coffey Park lots could exceed $125,000 if the properties are exempt from city impact fees which can amount to more than $50,000 per parcel he suggested the lot prices are still being established “It's kind of the Wild West in determining the value of these lots,” he said Local real estate agents anticipate a growing number of property owners who lost homes in the fires will place their lots on the market in the coming weeks and months many are baffled by how to appropriately price vacant properties “Right now we're just trying to figure out what the hell the price is going to be,” said Mike Kelly real estate agent for Keller Williams Realty in Santa Rosa a cleared lot off Crimson Lane received multiple offers in a single day selling for $160,000 - about a quarter of its estimated value when it still had an intact home The Lukes' residential lot on Kerry Lane was the first of a handful of similar properties to hit the market according to several local real estate agents the Lukes returned to the ruins of the home where they had lived for 15 years to sift through the rubble There was no evidence of the antique bed where Lori's grandfather was born Their washer and dryer set melted over onto itself and the remains of their Mini Cooper rested in the driveway They found pieces of a vintage Avon nativity set and the beer stein collection they built over three decades - and then they dialed a real estate agent I had over 100 calls on this property from agents and people who saw it on the internet,” said Cindy Wise part owner of Rohnert Park-based Safer Properties and who worked as the Lukes' broker “It sold so quick - we went into contract within 48 hours.” a fraction of the $550,000 other homes in the neighborhood were valued at before the fire The Lukes put the lot on the market quickly because they wanted to beat the onslaught of empty lots expected soon “We decided we wanted to price to sell,” said Lori who plans to transfer in her position at First Tech Credit Union north to Oregon knowing that we would rather sell it now and it would be gone than to price it out of anyone's range Added Warren: “I didn't want to haggle price I wasn't going to take less than what we originally asked for With rebuilding costs as varied and wide-ranging as the asking prices for fire-scorched lots more owners may choose to list sooner than later and just move on people getting mixed messages for what contractors will charge to rebuild,” said Wise whose firm is preparing to list two more fire-stricken lots “This is going to be a crazy ride to see how all of this plays out.” Staff Writer Robert Digitale contributed to this story You can reach Staff Writer Kevin Fixler at 707-521-5336 or at kevin.fixler@pressdemocrat.com EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been revised to correct the number of homes that burned in Santa Rosa in October's wildfires The landmark family-friendly diner in the Cleveland Avenue fire zone closes for good on Tuesday evening It’s about to get tougher to find a simple Forty-five years to the day after Carrows opened on the north end of Cleveland Avenue The chain restaurant narrowly avoided destruction by the 2017 Tubbs fire only to see its patronage decline in the wake of the inferno when the Texas firm that then owned Coco’s and Carrows shut down dozens of what it called underperforming restaurants - including the Coco’s on Santa Rosa’s Farmers Lane Although Carrows survived that round of closures The Cleveland Avenue restaurant’s doors will be locked for good this evening Employees said they’re not authorized to speak to the press but one said the restaurant will shut down at 6 or 7 p.m A 1973 Press Democrat article said Carrows opened for business that Dec The chain was founded in Santa Clara in 1970 by David Nancarrow the Texas firm that owned the Carrows and Coco’s chains sold them to the Oregon company that owns Shari’s Cafe and Pies Santa Rosa earlier lost its Marie Callender’s and Bakers Square Carrows was so narrowly missed by the Tubbs fire that part of the restaurant’s ornamental shrubbery burned The restaurant is just south of the incinerated Kmart and just north of the damaged Trader Joe’s that reopened less than three weeks ago Carrows also is a short walk from the storefront that was Lucy Gustafson’s Recherche du Plaisir a gourmet chocolate shop that closed last May Gustafson cited a steep drop in sales for the closure You can reach Staff Writer Chris Smith at 707-521-5211 and chris.smith@pressdemocrat.com SANTA ROSA, Calif. — State officials announced Friday that the wildfires across Northern California have destroyed at least 5,700 buildings An analysis by The New York Times using satellite images in combination with its own ground surveys found that one fire in particular incinerated at least 5,100 structures which would make it the most destructive wildfire in the state’s history was not expected to be fully contained until next Friday The homes and structures that it destroyed are shown in red in the map below About 2,800 buildings in Santa Rosa were destroyed The Coffey Park neighborhood and Fountaingrove area were among the hardest hit There was another concentration of incinerated homes in the Larkfield-Wikiup area About 1,300 destroyed homes are visible in this satellite image of the Coffey Park neighborhood of Santa Rosa A ground survey of the neighborhood found almost no homes that sustained partial damage The homes were either seemingly untouched or completely burned to the ground Fire officials are going “foundation by foundation” to document each damaged structure so it will take at least another week until a fuller count will be available Virtually all the homes in this image of the Fountaingrove area — more than 500 structures — appeared to be destroyed About 1,700 buildings were destroyed in heavily forested or largely undeveloped areas north of Santa Rosa Much of that area is inside a zone called the wildland-urban interface — an area where homes and businesses are close to or intermingled with otherwise undeveloped wildlands Sonoma County was forever changed by the 2017 wildfires the scorched neighborhoods and landscape are slow to recover Take a look at aerial photos from a year ago and today Sonoma County was forever changed by the 2017 October wildfires the Tubbs and Nuns fires ravaged Sonoma County destroying 5,319 homes and taking 24 lives Aerial photos taken shortly after the fires began reveal entire neighborhoods reduced to ash and beloved landmarks gone the rubble has been cleared and structures are beginning to pop up in devastated neighborhoods Click through the gallery above to see the transformation Food from Southeast Asia comes to Larkfield Halo halo at Tambayan Filipino restaurant in Larkfield Pork sisig at Tambayan Filipino restaurant in Larkfield Meat lumpia at Tambayan Filipino restaurant in Larkfield Fresh roll at Tambayan Filipino restaurant in Larkfield Pork adobo at Tambayan Filipino restaurant in Larkfield Glass noodles at Tambayan Filipino restaurant in Larkfield If you’re jonesing for some lumpia, halo-halo or adobo chicken, there’s a new spot in Larkfield offering up authentic cuisine from the Philippines. Tambayan which means “hang out” in Tagalog (the native language of the South Pacific island chain) opened in April the family-run restaurant has been quietly serving up both familiar and “what exactly is this?” dishes to neighborhood diners we fell in love with their rib-sticking breakfasts (silog) noodle bowls beef satay and off-beat specialties like pan-grilled milkfish and mayonnaise) or laing with dried taro leaves It’s best to go in with an open mind and hungry belly because some of the best dishes require a bit of trust if you’re not familiar with the eclectic cuisine of the Filipino culture Trade and settlement have brought together traditional island flavors (taro fish) with influences from China (egg rolls Spain (adobo) and America (Spam — you’re welcome) There are frequent off-menu additions that sometimes need a little explanation but it’s worth having an adventure trying something like mung bean cookies or lechon belly (rolled pork belly that’s much like porchetta) Other favorites include fried spring rolls with ground meat (Lumpia Shanghai) Pork Adobo — fall-apart meat cooked in soy sauce and vinegar with rice) and banana sauce on everything Condiments are definitely part of the experience This traditional dessert combines crushed ice gelatin and a scoop of purple yam ice cream Just trust us that this is the most surprisingly delicious dessert you’ve never had before Tambayan: 600 Larkfield Center, Larkfield-Wikiup, 707-843-3824, restaurantji.com/ca/larkfield-wikiup/tambayan-filipino-eatery-/ fanning flames and sending Kincade fire roaring like a freight train into Shiloh Estates and toward Wikiup Larkfield and the Mark West Springs corridor Each day since the Kincade fire ignited nearly a week ago deep in the Mayacamas Mountains in northern Sonoma County and tore down steep slopes has been a fight to save homes There already had been painful losses and significant saves four days into the firefight at historic ranches and vineyard properties in the Alexander Valley the eastern banks of the Russian River near Healdsburg and on the northern edge of a dense Windsor subdivision abutting Foothill Regional Park the firefight became a deeply personal battle for Sonoma County firefighters fanning flames and sending the Kincade fire roaring like a freight train into Shiloh Estates and toward Wikiup Santa Rosa communities still rebuilding from the 2017 Tubbs wildfire The threat triggered an “all call” tone Sonoma County’s main dispatch center never had used before The call was for every fire district to send whatever it could to join the already enormous firefighting force preparing to make a stand we were going to throw everything we had at it,” Sonoma County Battalion Chief Fire Marshal Cyndi Foreman said Foreman was among the ranks of firefighters and law enforcement evacuating residents from the neighborhood already ablaze during the terrifying siege of the Tubbs fire Larkfield-??Wikiup and Mark West Springs lost more than 1,700 homes mostly on that first night in October 2017 The differences this time were profound: Residents had warning and were ordered days ago to get out and most had And the firefighting commanders at war with the Kincade fire had time to plan Studying weather models and fire behavior science they anticipated where the fire would go when the winds picked up again after dark And they had access to some of the thousands of firefighters dispatched from across California and beyond to join the local force they already had led an exhausting daylong mission to protect the dense neighborhood near Foothill Regional Park in Windsor They saved all but two homes plus several other properties damaged and prevented the fire from setting into a neighborhood that could have built enough fiery momentum for the blaze to shoot across Highway 101 and west The exhausted crews - many deployed at the fire line since the blaze ignited Wednesday - were sent back to the Sonoma County fairgrounds or local stations to get some rest a team of firefighters were building firebreaks with bulldozers and lighting strategic fires to burn up some of the most fire-prone fuels in the hilly wooded area on Santa Rosa’s northern outskirts and a flank of the fire jumped Leslie Road and headed toward Shiloh Ridge getting more intense and setting tall trees ablaze changing the mission from back fires to protecting homes and buildings amid the roaring Sonoma County fire apprentice Billy Leuenberger began putting out spot fires with a hand tool but fire began erupting all around making what had been effective against smaller spot fires a futile effort “It was pouring ember casts like pouring rain,” Leuenberger recalled and my partner jumped in and we went down the hill as fast as we could.” That eruption was just one part of the fire growth Sunday night that triggered the “all hands on deck” order about 10 p.m The direct threat led authorities to broadcast a redundant evacuation order for Wikiup Larkfield and Mark West - emphasizing the urgent request that people get out The mission was to keep the fire out of Shiloh Regional Park and north Santa Rosa and protect as many Wikup Larkfield and Mark West residents from being traumatized a second time by fire’s destruction The wind and the embers it cast were the enemy that night Parts of the fire blew up along Faught Road north of the Larkfield-Wikiup community burning up a large metal barn full of hay at Stonefield Farms at East Shiloh Road a historic wooden structure that could have generated even more intense heat and thrown embers into the nearby neighborhood Crews staged around Shiloh Ranch Regional Park forest a key tactical mission to keep the fire from feeding off the park’s forests edging the community But as soon as the winds lessened sometime around 1 a.m the advantage shifted from the fire to the firefighters they began sending crews back to their stations or the Sonoma County Fairgrounds to get some desperately needed sleep before the next firefight The firefighting force working the Kincade fire numbers more than 4,300 bodies fire behavior analysts and weather experts at its command to bring the Kincade fire to a halt And they can bring a singular focus to firefighting in neighborhoods that have been evacuated reducing the need to rescue people from fire But what they can’t control is what will happen once the winds kick up again Tuesday We’ve got another wind event,” Foreman said The 60-year-old supermarket survived the flames that destroyed the homes of hundreds of its customers and the downturn in business that followed This story is part of a monthly series in 2019 chronicling the rebuilding efforts in Sonoma County's four fire zones: Coffey Park, Fountaingrove, the greater Mark West area and Sonoma Valley. Read all of the Rebuild North Bay coverage here. it was a huge relief to discover their Larkfield store still standing after initial news reports on the radio and from a police officer that it was lost to the Tubbs fire The 60-year-old supermarket survived the flames licking at the back fence of the Old Redwood Highway store But with thousands of homes lost in the October 2017 mega-fire - including more than 700 in the surrounding Wikiup Larkfield and Mark West neighborhoods - the Molsberry family wasn’t certain they could keep the market open that you’re going to be able to survive,” said Dean Molsberry the youngest of three brothers who are part of the third generation to run the grocery store “But the community has really stood behind us.” Even though many residents relocated to other parts of the county while awaiting the rebuilding of their homes “they’ve made a point to come in and still support us,” he said With homes steadily being built in the area and loyal customers and construction workers coming to the market for breakfast or lunch the Molsberry brothers express confidence the market will rebound to its pre-fire revenues by the end 2019 more than $250,000 worth of perishable goods had to be thrown away according to elder brother Brian Molsberry “People started coming here because they knew we were struggling,” he said “We’re still under double digits (less than 10 percent) as far as loss Lunch hours are slammed these days with new business but evenings are slower than they used to be when people would get off work and load up on groceries on their way home people don’t have houses anymore,” said Joe Molsberry The Molsberrys say they have endured in large part because of the relationships they built with customers over the years The owner-brothers work not only behind the scenes pricing and handling incoming freight shipments but are also on the floor of the 17,000-square-foot market sometimes bagging groceries and ringing up items including a dozen Molsberry family members They know the stories of loss and even the deaths of some customers who didn’t make it through the fire a retired nurse whose Wikiup Drive home was heavily damaged but survived in the burn zone had to move seven times before settling back into her repaired house six months later She is still dealing with compensation issues and an insurance company that she says refuses to return her calls On a recent Wednesday morning Waters paused from shopping to get a hug from Joe Molsberry “I came in one day and was at an extremely low point,” she said Waters said they talked for about 15 minutes “and he was so great It was kind of like a mutual support session The Molsberry bond to the community began in 1959 when the brothers’ grandparents built the market off Old Redwood Highway next to prune and walnut orchards that later would sprout homes The family story is that grandpa Milt was calm and kind But he didn’t put up with grandma Tress as a cashier because she was too big-hearted and gave away too many items to struggling families dad and two uncles had a total of four stores: one in Larkfield including the site of current Oliver’s Market on Montecito Avenue and the Whole Foods Market on Yulupa Avenue Over the years they’ve made donations to countless school parties and picnics showing off the different departments of their Larkfield store “Things their kids have done we’ve supported,” Dean said of the customers But some of those longtime customers have been forced to move on after the fire telling the brothers they could no longer afford to stay in Sonoma County Others have started to re-appear as their homes begin to rise on cleared lots “It’s nice to see people that are coming back giving you updates on where they’re at: ‘Hey or we’re all closed in and we should be in by whatever month it is,’” said Brian Joe said customers pull out their phones to show him pictures of what is being built The Molsberrys say they try to stay competitive with Safeway and belong to a nationwide grocery group of thousands of stores that provides buying power They may not be able to compete with Walmart or Target on an item like paper towels But those stores don’t provide a deli department gourmet cheeses or salad bar like Molsberry’s The market is doing a couple of new things this year including launching online shopping that allows customers to select their groceries ahead of time and have them ready for pick up when they get to the store The brothers also expect to have a meals-to-go program by mid-year with entrees prepared in the kitchen and ready to go a retired land surveyor who has been shopping at Molsberry Market for 30 years or more said he now goes there about four times a week As he stood in the aisle with his shopping cart chicken and what he claimed was “the best meat department in town” for its selection and freshness of ground beef The family that owns the Kendall-Jackson wine empire has proposed building nearly 100 homes on the site of the former Wikiup Golf Course The family that owns the Kendall-Jackson wine empire has unveiled plans to build nearly 100 homes on the former Wikiup Golf Course converting half of the 31-acre property into a housing development would be dedicated to open space or parkland including a possible trail along Mark West Creek The development would place 39 homes and eight secondary housing units on 5 acres in the northern part of the property or “granny units,” would accompany a single-family home there would be 59 homes and three secondary units on about 10 acres The homes would range in size from about 1,000 to 2,800 square feet according to an open letter to neighbors by Katie Jackson vice president for sustainability and external affairs at Jackson Family Wines “The diversity of housing proposed would offer first-time home buyers the chance to enjoy our beautiful community while providing those wishing to downsize a perfect opportunity to be a part of our neighborhood,” Jackson wrote after introducing the proposed plans at a July 11 meeting While there's a desperate need for housing in Sonoma County many Larkfield-Wikiup residents expressed opposition at a June meeting to high-density housing in the area Several say the current proposal tries to squeeze too much housing into the neighborhood north of Santa Rosa has lived in Larkfield-Wikiup since she was 3 when her parents bought a Larkfield Estates home - which burned in down in October She bought her Pheasant Lane home in 2016 with her husband to raise their young children When she heard about housing proposed on the site of the former Wikiup Golf Course “We get that Sonoma County needs housing,” she said But she and her husband became upset when they saw there could be nearly 40 homes on 4.74 acres directly behind her home with potential new neighbors parking alongside Carriage Lane They view the proposal as high-density housing and suggested that half the number of homes with more green space would be a better fit the issue isn't that they're proposing development it's that they're trying to put 40 houses on such a small lot,” said her husband who was director of real estate for Kendall-Jackson Wine Estates from 1996 to 2002 and now leads WBR and Korman Development said the proposed plan is not final and he expects to revise it he disagrees with residents on one contentious point “I do not consider this high-density housing,” Korman said in an interview Tuesday “What we're trying to do here is provide an attractive Korman and Jackson held an open meeting in June to get feedback from the community on potential ideas to develop the former Wikiup Golf Course The 31-acre property currently has “K zoning” for recreation and commercial use and residents nearly unanimously opposed that zoning would have to be changed for residential use a process which Korman says could be started by the end of the year Homesites on Wikiup Drive are priced around $300,000 to $400,000 and larger homes in the neighborhood can sell for $800,000 to nearly $2 million “Housing is a big issue and it's getting worse People can't afford to live here,” Korman said “The fires have only made it so much worse.” most residents trying to leave the neighborhood through Wikiup Drive and Carriage Lane were backed up for about 40 minutes Mandy Brattin says she is worried about escaping a future emergency if more cars are parked on Carriage Lane “Our community is traumatized from evacuating that night,” she said An added emergency access route is also proposed for the new development along with a pedestrian bridge across Mark West Creek Larkfield resident Brad Sherwood has started a committee to coordinate the maintenance of future parks in Wikiup Commons Sherwood lost his home in the October wildfires and he plans to rebuild on his old homesite “We all want to rebuild our community better There's no better time than now,” said Sherwood who rents a home in Windsor with his wife and two kids Jackson and Korman have consulted with National Marine Fisheries Service biologist Bob Coey about the restoration of Mark West Creek by addressing bank erosion and animal habitats It's an important watershed for coho salmon and steelhead trout Korman said a third community meeting about Wikiup Commons will be held some time in August at San Miguel Elementary School and residents are welcome to email their input to info@wikiupcommons.com We will continue to evolve this site plan,” Korman said You can reach Staff Writer Susan Minichiello at 707-521-5216 or susan.minichiello@pressdemocrat.com EDITOR'S NOTE: The rezoning process for a proposed housing development on the site of the former Wikiup Golf Course could begin by the end of the year and homes in that area can sell for close to $2 million An earlier version of this story contained an incorrect timeframe and figures A developer working for the Kendall-Jackson wine family announced plans Wednesday to downsize a housing project proposed for the former Wikiup Golf Course drawing mixed reactions from about 130 community members at a neighborhood meeting The new plan would cut the number of houses by almost 40 percent in a move to address concerns from neighbors that the development could convert what was once a lush golf course to high-density housing with additional traffic “We went back to the engineers and the architects,” Tony Korman told the crowd gathered at San Miguel Elementary School on Wednesday afternoon “We went back to look at the plan and make some revisions.” The new plan is a scaled-back version of the project pitched to residents in July nearly 100 homes would have been split between two locations on the property a cluster of 39 homes - eight of which would host secondary or “granny” units - would have been placed on the northern end of the property near Pheasant and Carriage lanes The new plan cut the number of houses there by 10 and included provisions that would keep the homes to a single story Revisions also included downsizing a second collection of 59 homes envisioned for the southern part of the property moving units further away from the Mark West Creek where several residents enjoy a trail near the water’s edge could be converted into a neighborhood park if the plan is approved Korman told the crowd he intends to remove a small pond on the property near Carriage Lane resulting in audible disapproval from some audience members “This is the first time he casually mentioned getting rid of the pond,” Sandy Steele “That’s part of the tranquility and the peace of the area.” said the revisions are a “step in the right direction,” but expressed concerns about the impact of additional traffic in the area Many residents had trouble evacuating during the October wildfires because of the number of limited exits from the neighborhood saying her house nearly caught fire when the flames crept near her Vista Grande Drive home saying additional homes in the area would make it even harder to evacuate if another emergency were to arise “I know that we need to rebuild in this community but I’m more worried whether all of us can get out of here if another fire happens,” she said Wednesday’s gathering was the last of three community meetings held by the project’s organizers to gather input from residents though they’ve met with smaller groups on three additional occasions a company owned by the Jackson family of Jackson Family Wines purchased the former 9-hole Wikiup Golf Course in 2015 for $4.5 million who was director of real estate for Kendall-Jackson Wine Estates from 1996 to 2002 The land is currently zoned for recreation and commercial use zoning would need to be changed for residential use “This is the plan that we’re presenting tonight and this is the plan that I’m intending to take .. to the planning department towards the end of this year,” Korman said You can reach Staff Writer Nashelly Chavez at 707-521-5203 or nashelly.chavez@pressdemocrat.com Lenders are offering relief to distressed homeowners Brett Gripe said he wants to rebuild after losing his house in Larkfield’s Mark West Estates neighborhood to the Tubbs fire a retired police officer who teaches at Santa Rosa Junior College’s police training academy and referees youth sports He and his dog escaped from the fast-moving fire thanks to a family friend who knocked on his door at 1:30 a.m Gripe has had several phone conversations with officials at his insurance company He’s also been in touch with his mortgage lender where he had just recently refinanced his home loan Mortgage lenders are urging the thousands of displaced homeowners like Gripe to reach out to them in the aftermath of the devastating wildfires so fire victims can begin the process of either rebuilding or moving on “Most of us haven’t been through anything like this before,” Gripe said “I have lived in Santa Rosa most of my life While homeowners do reach out to their insurance agents right after natural disasters But those banks also play a critical role in the recovery process and can aid loan holders as they start down a path that will be new and foreign to the vast majority of them the homeowner is still responsible for their mortgage and property taxes as they go through the claims process we want to help people,” said Diane Berthinier senior vice president of lending at Redwood Credit Union Mortgage holders could be eligible for immediate relief is willing to defer mortgage payments if borrowers are financially strapped as a result of the fires “There are a lot of people living just paycheck to paycheck,” she said Wells Fargo Bank is offering a 90-day relief period for its mortgage customers in areas where residents are eligible for individual assistance by the Federal Emergency Management Agency Homeowners outside those areas could be eligible for relief and should contact the bank The company has 53,000 home lending customers in Northern California who could have been affected by the wildfires Wells Fargo will suspend all negative credit bureau reporting collection calls and foreclosure referrals and sales during this post-fire period Those who are still unable to make payments after the 90-day period will be evaluated for further assistance Bank of America will offer assistance based on a customer’s specific need which could range from waiving fees on its credit cards to temporary forbearance of home loans according to a statement by spokeswoman Colleen Haggerty Borrowers who have loans backed by government-regulated mortgage holders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac also are eligible for certain relief Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has granted a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures of mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration HUD also has a 203(h) loan for disaster victims a mortgage that provides 100 percent financing for the reconstruction of their homes and a 203(k) loan program that allows the displaced to finance the purchase or refinance of a house and its repair through a single mortgage the homeowner will come to a settlement with his or her insurance company resulting in a payout for the cost of replacing the destroyed structure most do not realize the check from the insurance company will be payable to both the borrower and the lender and that the bank controls the payout a mortgage advisor with ACM Investor Services loan agency in Larkspur The lender controls the payout until the borrower pays off the loan in full Any monies remaining can be used for rebuilding or buying another property they will still own the land on the vacant plot if they choose to move they can be placed in a new loan tailored for construction of the new house vice president for residential mortgages at Exchange Bank The Santa Rosa bank has 694 home loans worth $279 million in its portfolio but Smart said it has not determined how many of those homes were damaged or destroyed Those building loans are structured for a specific time frame and have slightly higher interest rates than a traditional mortgage Money from the insurance settlement will be combined in a pot with the new loan to cover the cost of the rebuilding The reconstruction money will be allocated to the contractor in phases as the construction reaches certain mileposts That piecemeal process is done to ensure the contractor is adhering to the overall budget as well as performing quality work president and CEO of the Sacramento-based American Pacific Mortgage lending company you see fraudsters pop up doing this unpermitted work and trying to take advantage of a horrible situation,” Lowman said “I would be wary of out-of-town folks … You want someone who is reputable and licensed.” most lenders use a funds control company to handle payout to contractors These companies have expertise in weeding out unscrupulous contractors and analyzing accounts for runaway costs protecting both the borrower and the lender Such fraud was rampant in the aftermath of the 1991 Oakland Hills fire and has continued in subsequent disasters director of business development for BuildZig let’s vet this contractor,’” Bohannon said He also noted that annual inflation for construction labor and materials is about 6 percent a figure that he said is likely to double because of the North Bay fires which will add to the overall construction costs Once the construction for the new home is completed any remaining debt can be wrapped into a new home mortgage experts cautioned there is no way to predict how many displaced homeowners will want to go through the rebuilding process given the hurdles ahead a number of Exchange Bank mortgage holders chose not to rebuild Even homeowner Gripe said he realizes the long road ahead He considers himself lucky because he has long-term temporary housing moving into a vacant house in Bennett Valley that his late parents had owned “I’m just trying to live day to day,” Gripe said but it just can’t bog down for too many people.” You can reach Staff Writer Bill Swindell at 707-521-5223 Home construction is gaining momentum this summer in the greater Larkfield-Wikiup and Mark West area with newly framed houses now a familiar sight here here Joel Chandler is rebuilding the Larkfield home he lost to the Tubbs fire more than nine months ago his new residence with cutting-edge technology and building it with the most up-to-date structural standards One thing about his Larkfield Estates neighborhood is poised to remain the same: the PG&E power poles providing electricity to him and his neighbors on Brighton Court He wants the utility to be held to “2018 standards” and views the above-ground poles as a possible safety hazard should future fires ignite “It’s like they’re doing the bare minimum,” Chandler said “Why isn’t PG&E being held to the same standards we are?” Chandler wants the utility to put its power lines underground just as they are along some other streets in his area He’s talking to other Larkfield Estates property owners about possibly signing onto a petition PG&E already is working on replacing underground power lines in Larkfield - but only where they already ran below the surface prior to October’s fires The utility says that doesn’t rule out expanding underground lines later “We are doing what we call ‘like for like,’ and we’re replacing what was previously overhead and then re-trenching what was previously underground,” said spokeswoman Deanna Contreras “The conversation about what needs to be underground and where it makes sense to underground is a much larger issue that needs to be approved by all parties: the counties the (California Public Utilities Commission).” Contreras said putting power lines underground is “not a panacea.” Underground power lines are still vulnerable to weather-related damage and they can also be damaged by third-party excavation work Underground lines also can take nearly twice as long to repair when damaged and it costs about $2.3 million per mile to put overhead lines in the ground PG&E has already finished trenching 2.5 miles of the nearly 4 miles planned in Larkfield and is on track to finish reconstructing those underground lines by the end of the year rebuilding in the greater Larkfield-Wikiup and Mark West area picked up some steam over the past month Fairfield-based Silvermark Construction Services celebrated completion of the first rebuilt home on Willow Green Place in June and the company has sold many of the 14 homes it’s rebuilding nearby over the past month “People came in and were able to see a finished product and boom: the houses started flying off the shelf,” Hosking said “It’s hard for somebody to go buy something and it’s just dirt but every one of these have framing or some sort of something going on Hosking expects occupancy approval on another home by the end of the month and one more in early August Silvermark’s initial focus was buying lots from fire survivors who didn’t plan to rebuild and then selling them to others the company has seen an uptick in fire survivors looking to rebuild homes they will move into “It feels like a lot of people are going like we better make some decisions,” Hosking said Hosking said he signed up four “design-builds:” one in Coffey Park and three in Larkfield Throughout the area around Old Redwood Highway and Mark West Springs Road - a region once dominated by charred rubble and empty lots - the sight of newly framed homes is now familiar “It’s starting to feel real again,” he said The county also held a fire recovery community meeting for the Mark West area July 10 at the Sonoma County Office of Education near Airport Boulevard About 70 people showed up to provide feedback that will inform a disaster recovery plan being developed by the county government the deputy county administrator heading the Office of Recovery and Resiliency compared it to a similar meeting held recently in Sebastopol which had a higher share of fire survivors focused more on improving the county’s alert and warning capabilities criticized by many in the area as insufficient during the fires “I think it’s because of the number of survivors in that area and how close they were to the fires,” Gossman said “We’re all at risk for some type of disaster but I think people who either went through it or lived near it in (supervisory) District 4 are going to feel a little more sensitive to the next one.” The county has another community meeting planned for Thursday at 6 p.m at the Finley Community Center and another on Aug The recovery plan is expected to be presented to the Board of Supervisors in September 'The worst is behind us,' said an owner of the family-owned Molsberry Market that survived the Tubbs fire What’s a neighborhood supermarket without its neighborhood The past 13 months have taught the family that operates the landmark Molsberry Market that absent a hugely heartwarming display of loyalty and caring from its customers it would be a business with big trouble in store “The worst is behind us,” said grateful co-owner Brian Molsberry The worst encompassed witnessing the death and wholesale destruction the Tubbs fire dealt to the Larkfield Mark West Springs and Wikiup neighborhoods just northeast of Santa Rosa For a time in the midst of the historic disaster the Molsberrys believed their market on Old Redwood Highway had burned The worst of the experience included having shellshocked hollowed shoppers drift in and tell what had happened to them “This became a meeting place for the people who lost their homes,” said Molsberry who’s 56 and a grandson of late market founders Milt and Tress Molsberry his sibling partners and employees heard from fire survivors that a trip to the market “was the only normalcy in my life.” Flames incinerated homes just on the other side of the fence behind the market The store and the shopping center it anchors might well have been lost had neighbor firefighter and former Molsberry Market bagger Sid Andreis not pulled a fire hose from his Honda and saturated the market and neighboring businesses Early on in the week that Molsberry Market was closed fire crews gathered in the parking lot at the shopping center on Old Redwood Highway just north of Mark West Springs Road who at one time had operated two other markets in Sonoma County invited firefighters to go in and take whatever they wanted Joe Molsberry will never forget seeing them walk past food and beverages and gather up wet wipes talcum powder and other personal hygiene and comfort items but this is what we really need right now.” Before the Molsberrys reopened the market after the Tubbs fire raged through Fountaingrove and Larkfield-Wikiup-Mark West Springs and on to and beyond Coffey Park they had to get rid of a massive amount of perishable and briefly thawed frozen foods “We dumped a quarter million dollars of product,” Joe Molsberry said He and his three sibling partners and their managers tried to give food away but amid all that was going on then no organizations were able to take it The Molsberrys did find a taker for much of the produce: the operators of the then-isolated Safari West wildlife preserve on Porter Creek Road took it for their animals The market reopened the third week of October 2017 The fire had killed 12 people in the Larkfield-Wikiup-Mark West Springs area and incinerated more than 700 homes “I’d see these customers hugging each other and crying,” Brian Molsberry said said they and the eight relatives and 55 employees they work with all stopped whatever they were doing to be present with their mourning and stunned customers and to hear their stories But the Molsberrys didn’t have to lay off any employees because a couple of veterans staffers took medical leaves and were not replaced “We didn’t want to cut people,” Joe Molsberry said not requiring the market to order a minimum amount of foods that had to be tossed out if they weren’t quickly sold Some Molsberry customers who moved to other areas of the city or the county made a point of coming back to shop And there were new customers who mentioned they wanted to support the market through a most difficult time Joe and Brian Molsberry said business dropped by about 20 percent Workers involved in the vast post-fire cleanup effort began showing up in the store for hot breakfasts and lunches members of construction crews involved in rebuilding the area’s homes stream in for meals With the neighborhoods just starting to come back its grocery store still isn’t seeing a solid return of shoppers who come in and buy a week’s worth of food But Joe Molsberry said the recovery is happening and the store’s relationship with its community has deepened He said that prior to the fire there were many customers he recognized and enjoyed speaking to but didn’t really know Now he knows their names and what they experienced in October 2017 “And we know where they live,” said his brother Joe Molsberry said there’s now a wholly different sense in the market “We were always a friendly store; we were always known for that,” he said You can reach Staff Writer Chris Smith at 707-521-5211 or chris.smith@pressdemocrat.com Larkfield-Wikiup resident Justin Brown is giving Sonoma County a place to smash objects with his mobile rage room northbayblackout.com There aren’t many places where it’s acceptable to smash a TV with a jackhammer or take a golf club to a car door But Larkfield-Wikiup resident Justin Brown is giving people a place to let out their rage with his mobile Blackout Rage Room Brown parks his mobile rage room at Santa Rosa’s Luther Burbank Center for the Arts and has hosted private pop-up events over the last year inviting Sonoma County residents to relieve stress by engaging in a bit of sanctioned destruction holiday parties and even people finalizing their divorce “It’s an interesting way of seeing human behavior,” Brown said There’s no exact date when rage rooms, also known as smash rooms or break rooms, were created but Vice reported that the first rage room opened in Japan in 2008 Its popularity of being a place to throw an adult tantrum expanded across the globe and eventually hit the U.S people looking for a place to unleash their anger or relieve some stress in a controlled environment There are a handful of these smash rooms throughout the Bay Area but the concept is a new one for Sonoma County traveling up and down the California coast playing live at wineries the New Jersey native became inspired after watching his wife work with her students in schools in Napa County He said kids were picking up unhealthy habits because they “had nothing else to do” and no proper way of relieving stress in a safe environment He first had the idea to open his rage room in a brick-and-mortar location but felt a lot of pushback because not many people knew the concept of a rage room “People every once in a while would be like ‘this is just going to bring out more aggression,’” Brown said The search turned into a two-year-long process Brown was preparing to give up on until a friend suggested putting his concept on wheels He had a special trailer custom built in Utah big enough for people to comfortably fit inside brought it back to Sonoma County and started to gather TVs abandoned appliances — anything that could be demolished with a blow Brown inspects each piece to make sure glass inks or liquids that could cause additional harm are removed Smashers can also bring items of their own but they must be approved by Brown he has rules in place to also ensure customer safety gloves and goggles that customers must wear at all times and makes sure customers wear closed-toe shoes Customers under the age of 13 must be accompanied by an adult and only a limited number of people are allowed to be in the rage room at once Once a customer has smashed something to pieces Brown sweeps it all up and properly disposes the remains working with e-waste Sonoma to ensure disposal is done correctly and safely “It’s very interesting because I’m kind of creating the blueprint (for rage rooms) and navigating as I go,” Brown said Those who participate in Brown’s rage room vary He said 85% of customers are just there to have a good time destroying things are really going through something like a break-up or loss of a loved one One customer brought in things of their own that reminded them of a childhood trauma Another customer had just lost their 2-month-old baby and needed to let it all out Brown emphasizes that he is not a therapist and his rage room should not be used as a replacement for therapy or anger management but I just want people to know that hammering is not therapy at all.” You can reach Staff Writer Sara Edwards at 707-521-5487 or sara.edwards@pressdemocrat The former 72-unit Estancia Apartment Homes complex north of Santa Rosa that burned down in the 2017 firestorm is now the site of Sonoma Ranch Apartment Homes The garden apartment complex at 4450 Old Redwood Highway north of Santa Rosa that burned down over three years in the Tubbs Fire is back The 72-unit Estancia Apartment Homes development in the Larkfield-Wikiup area was destroyed along with surrounding homes in the early-morning firestorm. Marin County-based developer Broll Investments on Wednesday announced the opening of the new 96-unit complex, now called Sonoma Ranch Apartment Homes two- and three-bedroom luxury apartments ranging in size from 760 to 1,350 square feet and priced from $2,295 to $3,395 a month Instead of the former triangle-shaped community with three long buildings the 5.5-acre site now is a low-density development with modern farmhouse-style architecture All the apartments are corner units in eight-unit and the flats include central smart air-conditioning The cost of the project is not being disclosed is the project architect and general contractor The project owner is RMB Real Estate Investments 2 LLC Sonoma Ranch is offering up to four weeks of free rent for immediate move-ins San Diego-based Sunrise Management oversees day-to-day management and leasing At least 15 families have moved into Larkfield Estates since rebuilding began marking an influx of new life among those who returned after the Tubbs fire For more stories on the rebuilding efforts in Sonoma County, go here. when Michael Saccheli’s wife called him about a fire he thought she was talking about the one he was actively fighting as a captain with Cal Fire – the Redwood Valley fire that would eventually consume 36,500 acres in Mendocino County Angela Saccheli was talking about the Tubbs fire which was screaming down the Mark West Springs canyon toward the family’s rented home in Larkfield Angela and the couple’s two kids evacuated the Saccheli family moved into a neighborhood that was nearly leveled part of an influx of new residents that has pushed recovery of the fire-scarred are closer to completion “We liked the area even before the fires happened,” said Michael adding that they were looking all over for a home with more space “It was spacious and we knew the neighborhood The Saccheli family is among 15 families that have moved into rebuilt homes in the 144-lot subdivision near the mouth of the Mark West Springs corridor that funneled the Tubbs fire as it crested the mountains dividing Sonoma and Napa counties Among this patchwork of subdivisions and rural estates Sonoma County lost 1,700 homes in the flames where the rebuild is nearing 90% completion The residents who remember fleeing for their lives that October night are welcoming new faces with open arms the Sonoma Water spokesman who lives with his family in Larkfield Estates said it’s “beyond exciting” to have new people moving in even if they miss the neighbors who chose to move on He said every one of the new families is aware of the neighborhood’s history and he’s confident they feel they’ve moved into a close-knit area “What we’ve all learned is that when the next disaster happens it’s going to be your neighbor that saves your life,” Sherwood said “It’s going to be your neighbor that you have to rely on.” Apart from the sights and sounds of construction there are other reminders about what this neighborhood has gone through A portion of their fence line along Old Redwood Highway was rebuilt as part of a nearly half-million dollar charitable effort called “Rise Up,” providing the neighborhood with a new barrier from traffic along the highway The project was a partnership of Rebuild NorthBay and Habitat for Humanity (Rebuild NorthBay was founded by Sonoma developer and lobbyist Darius Anderson managing member of Sonoma Media Investments Anderson has not been involved with the nonprofit since January 2019.) The residents who went through the fire have been eager to bring their new neighbors into the fold “We want to do our best to include everyone because that is a healthy neighborhood,” said neighbor Gena Jacobs Angela was invited to join a neighbors-only Facebook group and she was overwhelmed with the outreach and welcoming feeling though forced to keep their distance due to COVID-19 neighbors wear warm smiles behind their masks and great each other with waves and happy banter socially distanced gathering place every other Friday with a dream home in a new neighborhood for her children Dylan really wanted to try to move into,” she said The recovery in Larkfield Estates has come with another new addition: hookups to the municipal sewer system that will make septic tanks and leach fields in this subdivision a thing of the past for many lots The $4.8 million upgrade overseen by Sonoma Water included more than 10,000 feet of sewer main Sixty-seven of the property owners have signed onto the project 20-year loans to finance the $50,000-per-home cost of the system Other homeowners can buy in at a later date the next steps involve a construction permit to install the sewer line from their home to the main line a septic tank destruction permit to destroy the existing tank below ground speaking in his role as a Sonoma Water spokesman said the work was completed a month ahead of schedule “Anyone who is participating in the program who has already purchased and paid for their connection fees can now technically physically connect to the sewer system,” he said Eagle Scout project aims to alert residents of fire risk When the Tubbs fire roared through the Mark West Springs area and his plans for an Eagle Scout project ― a collection of heirloom books he intended to assemble into free neighborhood libraries As his family and neighbors picked up the pieces He heard about another Scout’s project in Geyserville Cal Fire Battalion Chief Marshal Turbeville’s son is building signs to indicate fire danger ― the iconic color-coded signs we’re so used to seeing for national forests and other public lands and has two more in production for West Dry Creek meaning quite a bit of the north county will be covered thanks to Boy Scouts Marshal Turbeville credited Healdsburg Signs and Stewart’s Point Woodworks for supporting the projects figured his neighborhood could use one of its own signs salvaged from burned redwoods on his family’s Wikiup property The plan is to place the sign at Mark West Springs Road and Old Redwood Highway the main crossroads of the Mark West Springs The sign will be managed by the Sonoma County Fire Protection District Frazee said that in addition to indicating fire danger the signs will have swappable metal signs at the bottom with warnings about changing smoke detector batteries After first requesting permission to install the signs in March Frazee said he has learned a lot about the inner-workings of government and bureaucracy The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors helped him clear a final hurdle Tuesday waiving a variety of fees related to the sign that added up to more than $1,300 the Mark West Advisory Council endorsed the project the Larkfield Resiliency Fund provided guidance The Turbevilles and Sonoma County Fire Battalion Chief Cyndi Foreman assisted and Andrew Somawang You can reach Staff Writer Tyler Silvy at 707-526-8667 or tyler.silvy@pressdemocrat.com The Kincade fire made no major push during the night and one fire official Wednesday said the threat to Wikiup and Larkfield in northern Santa Rosa now is minimal Here’s the latest information to know about the Kincade fire: Growth on the Kincade fire slowed measurably overnight near the border of Sonoma and Lake counties challenges include steep terrain and narrow roads The Red Flag Warning will remain in place until 4 p.m Cal Fire also reported that more homes and other structures have burned with 206 destroyed up from 189 reported Tuesday And more help continued to arrive Tuesday and as of Wednesday morning the firefight involved 5,001 people Equipment Wednesday included 27 helicopters Gusts in the North Bay Tuesday night to early Wednesday morning peaked at 60 mph in the Healdsburg hills and winds at higher elevations tapered off since midnight dry conditions prompted PG&E to cut power to parts of Sonoma County four times this month including a shut-off conducted Tuesday that affected about 87,000 customers here The utility has said it would wait for the weather to clear before it inspects its lines and restores power A PG&E representative did not immediately return a phone call Wednesday asking about any changes or updates to plans to turn restore power to the North Bay Temperatures plunged into the low 30s and the 20s in some parts of Sonoma County like the Sonoma Valley The red flag warning in effect since Tuesday morning expires at 4 p.m The weather service has said it expects several days of calmer weather though rain remains absent from the forecast The Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit train will begin operating on a limited schedule starting Wednesday offering free rides to help those in need of transportation during the fire SMART service will be free of charge on its 34 trips a day from the Santa Rosa downtown station to downtown San Rafael and all stations in between out of Santa Rosa and northbound service begins 5:59 a.m Because of power outages and losed railroad crossings in northern Santa Rosa the Sonoma County airport and north Santa Rosa will remain closed until further notice SMART advises checking its website before traveling: www.SonomaMarinTrain.org While there were a few flare ups and hotspots that needed attention from firefighters no issues out of the Mark West area,” Heine said A backfire lit in the Mark West Springs area late Tuesday afternoon was key to help defend the area “That put a good perimeter for that piece of the fire It took a lot of the threat for Larkfield and Wikiup out of the picture.” The overnight effort caught a break as gusting northeast winds peaked early and then diminished through the night toward dawn “It was fortunate that the wind event that came through yesterday decreased as went through the night,” said Chris Harvey a Sacramento firefighter working as a Cal Fire public information officer “According to the National Weather Service it looks like the next 10 days the wind is going to be significantly lower Unfortunately there is no precipitation in the forecast.” Cal Fire was expected to put out new statistics Journey’s End in north Santa Rosa saw 117 homes destroyed in the Tubbs fire and two residents killed Ex-residents remain in limbo as rebuilding plans inch along Read all of the PD's fire anniversary coverage here Michelle Trammell and her nearest neighbors can't go home lets herself in through the chained gate at what remains of Journey's End the north Santa Rosa mobile home park that was mostly leveled by the Tubbs fire She looks about to see what more has been looted from her yard and those of her neighbors Then she unlocks the door of the aged mobile home that she shared with her mother “It just makes me feel like I'm home when I'm there,” she said She puts out food for the cats that reside still among the 44 coaches that she and her boyfriend and a small team of genuinely heroic neighbors and firefighters saved - and as a result are credited with halting the fire's spread toward the neighboring Kaiser Permanente campus ‘I know I could be living here right now.' It's sad that we're never going to live there again.” Though her simple but beloved residence survived the firestorm deeply layered conundrum that agonizes her and the other people who lived at the affordable and for the most part happy oasis that was the Journey's End Mobile Home Park But varying shades of misery are endemic to the scattered former Journey's End residents who lived in one of the 117 homes that burned or one of the 44 that can't be reoccupied because the 13.5-acre park is shut down “It's like we've been abandoned,” said Theresa Udall who is 84 and had lived 14 years in a mobile home that survived the fire but can't currently be lived in The Tubbs fire killed two Journey's End residents incinerated its electrical and gas systems and irreparably contaminated the well supplying water to the community a co-owner from the family that owns the site at Mendocino Avenue and Fountaingrove Parkway told residents they would work with nonprofit Burbank Housing to explore the feasibility of redeveloping the property into a mixture of affordable and market-rate apartments - long-term plans that have many fire survivors in a state of limbo they aren't well off and they planned to live out their lives at the park because they liked it and it was one of precious few places in Sonoma County they could afford Louise Smith had lived since 1980 in a Journey's End mobile home that survived the fire but is off limits to her Today Smith is sharing a Rohnert Park apartment with a nephew and his wife and she has no idea if she'll ever be able to once again live independently The bind that entangles her and her 30-some neighbors whose homes still stand is that their insurance companies won't pay for residences that didn't burn but the coaches can't be inhabited in a shut-down park and they most likely can't be moved Inger Simonsen at first thought it a miracle that her home on the southern end of the park's Sahara Street was saved “But as time went on it was like the biggest nightmare that never ends,” she said had expected to live out her life at Journey's End I loved my little house that I had made the way I wanted it But today she still owes $20,000 on a home she can't live in and almost certainly can't afford to move “I don't know what's going to happen,” she said many don't know how or where in the world they will continue on “Pretty soon you won't have anyone poor living in Santa Rosa,” said Robert “Priest” Morgan Morgan took up a fire hose last October and with four firefighters took a stand between the wind-crazed inferno and the homes at the park's south end - and the Kaiser Permanente Santa Rosa Medical Center Several former residents of the mobile homes Morgan helped to save have told him but they'd probably be better off had they burned “All of us are so stressed out,” said 82-year-old Dorothy Hughes who at the time of the fire was adjusting to the death eight months earlier of her husband of 59 years we can't start over like young people,” Hughes said was not destroyed but she can't live in it and can't afford to move it or to purchase another coach elsewhere Echoing a common grievance among evacuees of Journey's End Hughes said one of the worst parts of the limbo is the not knowing Are she and her former neighbors likely ever to live again on the nearly 14 acres that for decades was Journey's End “We've just been kept in the dark,” Hughes said the nonprofit which has partnered with Journey's End owners to redevelop the land with 500 low-income and market-rate apartments “The frustration you're hearing is the frustration we share.” Hogan said it's true that former park residents have received little information about what assistance they can expect from Burbank Housing and the landowners “It's not a lack of sharing of information Hogan said the shuttering of a mobile home park because of fire damage is so unusual that affordable housing law offers little guidance regarding the responsibility of the Journey's End owners or Burbank Housing to relocate the displaced residents The new partnership is waiting for state and federal officials to lay out what must be done for those former Journey's End residents whose homes burned “That's not helpful when your coach didn't burn down and you can't live in it and you're still paying a mortgage on it.” Hogan said the vision for new development at Journey's End includes multi-level senior apartments and also market-rate apartments Burbank Housing would build the senior units and a partner would build the others no builder has stepped forward to take on the market-rate portion of the envisioned development Essential to the vision for the successor community to Journey's End is the promise that residents displaced by the Tubbs fire will receive priority as tenants But when those apartments might be built is impossible to say goes often to her undamaged home at Journey's End But she can't help but doubt that she and many of her former neighbors will ever accept the keys to new apartments on the site “We'll have a mansion in the sky before they're built,” she said Udall is among the former park residents who've gone to Legal Aid of Sonoma County for help navigating the legal maze A common obstacle is the refusal by insurance companies to enter into pay-off negotiations with those seniors who didn't lose their mobile homes but can't live in them or move them “Those are the folks who are having the worst time with their insurance companies,” said Legal Aid chief Ronit Rubinoff “We think this is the ultimate act of bad faith.” Rubinoff said one position of the insurance companies is that they aren't responsible for assisting their Journey's End clients whose homes still stand because the park was shut down by government action Legal Aid maintains that fire damage closed the park Rubinoff said her agency is trying to persuade the insurance companies to help out the owners of mobile homes not destroyed last year Many of those people “are teetering on homelessness,” she said If the insurance companies don't start talking with those policy holders Legal Aid and a private law firm will file suit She added that her agency stands ready to accompany and advocate for low-income fire survivors who prepare for mediation with their insurance companies Several ex-Journey's End residents sing the praises of Kendall Jarvis the Legal Aid attorney who's advocating for them They're also largely positive about the aid they've received from the international Buddhist relief agency Staffers from its regional office in San Jose came to Sonoma County shortly after the fires broke out one of the world's largest nongovernmental organizations looked into purchasing or leasing the Journey's End property restoring it as a mobile home park and purchasing coaches for all residents who lost theirs to the fire leader of the Tzu Chi long-term recovery team in Santa Rosa Tzu Chi assumed responsibility for acting as case managers for former Journey's End residents Workers with the foundation provide money to those seniors in need of help with housing and also advocate for them and refer them to counseling and other services Yao has seen what the fire and the ensuing housing and financial crisis has done to many of the former neighbors Those who have received help say they appreciate it but they can't help but feel that so far the great recovery from the firestorms of 2017 has passed them by who loved Journey's End and the home that was saved but is off-limits You can reach Chris Smith at 707 521-5211 and chris.smith@pressdemocrat.com Larkfield and Wikiup residents who lost 1,729 homes two years ago scrambling to evacuate ahead of another massive Gary and Lynda Bayless bought too much food for their house warming party The couple who moved July 18 back into a home that was destroyed by the Tubbs fire a year and nine months earlier had planned to host a “thank you” party Saturday for family and friends But the firefighters were busy battling the Kincade fire The fire came within a mile and a half of their new home Sunday night “In some ways it was more impactful than it was the night we fled the (Tubbs) fire,” Lynda said taking on a reflective tone while she worked to water plants under smoky skies at her home Monday afternoon “It’s because I had more time to think about what was happening.” Residents in this sprawling neighborhood north of Santa Rosa have watched for days since the Kincade fire sparked Wednesday night 30 miles north in The Geysers It chewed through another 12,000 acres overnight Sunday destroying homes a mile and a half from the Baylesses’ new home and charring property within the Mark West Springs canyon - at Safari West and in the Loch Haven neighborhood that lost four homes to the Tubbs fire Just 59 homes have been rebuilt in Mark West Springs their fresh wood gleaming amid charred trees as far as the eye can see in the Mark West Springs Road corridor “This used to be my Tahoe view,” said Melissa Frediana Firefighters battled hard Sunday night to spare further destruction whipping up a southern flank of the Kincade fire into a roaring blaze that began churning through stands of trees and oaklands east of Windsor and north of Santa Rosa The fire leaped across roads and other fire breaks making runs down Faught Road toward Wikiup and into Shiloh Estates on the northern edge of Shiloh Regional Park Fire officials mustered a massive force and kept the fire out of the park and the neighborhood losing some homes but preventing a worst-case-scenario of fire burning into a densely populated community with fresh memories of the 2017 fires the Mark West Springs Road neighborhood was quiet and tense in the aftermath of that battle Dozens of fire crews staged at the Mark West Springs Lodge More trucks idled at the entrance to the Loch Haven neighborhood The Kincade fire grew by 8,000 acres Monday Monday felt like the calm before another storm as the National Weather Service predicts strong winds again Tuesday Homeowners took the opportunity to check water pumps and other equipment and clear potential fire fuels away from homes A two-man crew of private tree trimmers was out along Mark West Springs Road looking for hazardous trees to clear He’s been cutting down trees for more than two decades and has a three-year contract with Cal Fire for his services Gonzalez said it’s usually pretty easy to keep emotion out of the work “You feel for all the people in the neighborhoods revealed new territory the Kincaid fire had conquered overnight and grasses still smoldered Monday morning along hillsides too steep for firefighting crews None of the sanctuary’s animals were burned reminiscent of friendlier morning fog that regularly rolls into the area 30 miles from the cool Todd Frediani gunned the ATV up a steep hill rakes and shovels rattling in the back just in case three water towers loomed over the Loch Haven neighborhood - two of them made of redwood So Todd got up on the wobbly ladder to check before turning to the east to admire the smoky panorama The smoke was left over from the Kincade fire’s overnight activity destroying two homes and a granny unit in the tony Shiloh Estates subdivision just over the ridge from Mark West Springs Road Ed Nessinger’s daughter Nicole and her husband lived in the granny unit They’re still waiting for their Fountaingrove home to be rebuilt after it was destroyed in the October 2017 fires “It’s just - this is gonna be a tough deal,” Nessinger said Nessinger guided a tour through the roughly 60-home private neighborhood smoldering embers raised tiny smoke signals around the house Nessinger grabbed hold of the top of the wall and pulled “It’s kind of a miracle because fire burned around the houses but for the most part the houses were protected,” Sonoma County Supervisor Shirlee Zane said where you drive through these wastelands and it looked like we had been bombed.” Nicole’s new house will be done in a couple of months Nessinger should know; he’s building it with his company “There’s no sense in getting excited about it When the Baylesses abandoned their home Oct grabbing a couple of photo albums and hoping for the best the couple was evacuated with plenty of warning They have spent the past two days in San Francisco sounds and food of the world-class city while the Kincade fire raged in northern Sonoma County having breakfast at The Buena Vista … we tried to be cheerful,” Lynda said “But all we wanted to do was watch the television They came back Monday morning just to be home for a little while and once again we’ll say goodbye,” she said “I’m just growing weary of saying goodbye to something I love so much.” Staff Writers Kevin Fixler and Julie Johnson contributed to this report You can reach Staff Writer Tyler Silvy at 707-526-8667 or at tyler.silvy@pressdemocrat.com It's Tubbs all over again,” said Sid Andreis a Sonoma County fire captain who grew up in Larkfield amid neighborhoods just now rising from the ashes of a deadly fire two years ago 90 local firefighters again prepared for battle Tuesday All volunteered for the critical assignment waiting for yet another yawing pulse of wind expected to arrive in the darkness and last into the daylight hours Wednesday And it was again threatening Mark West Springs Wikiup - north Santa Rosa neighborhoods just now rebuilding from the 2017 wildfires the Tubbs fire howled down Mark West Springs corridor The fire destroyed the Fountaingrove and Coffey Park neighborhoods as well The October 2017 firestorm killed 24 people in Sonoma County Tuesday night was a chance “to make amends for the Tubbs,” Sonoma County Fire Battalion Chief Mark Dunn said When asked about the importance of the firefight that loomed ahead “That's what this is - a second time around.” far beyond the homes taking shape in the neighborhood surrounding the firefighters people will lose hope in our recovery,” Sonoma County Supervisor Shirlee Zane said While the battle would be fought in the darkness to come the fight to preserve this sprawling neighborhood started early Tuesday with hiking and sweat dozens of firefighters were expanding a bulldozed north-south fire line Tuesday afternoon by back-burning brush Blackhawk helicopters swam through the sky in slow watching for any fires sparking on the Mark West Springs side of the fire line An incursion would bring flames directly to Safari West and potentially send them racing down the canyon into Larkfield as they did two years ago during the deadly Tubbs fire to come roaring down the Mark West Springs corridor into Santa Rosa,” said Sonoma County Supervisor Susan Gorin who lost her house in the North Bay fires two years ago a strategy to burn away vegetation that could fuel a fire Others were using drip torches or grenade-style devices that sent showers of sparks into the underbrush still more firefighters kept vigil over unburnt brush beyond the fire line with shovels in hand ready to stamp out any misplaced embers Not far from the Luther Burbank Center for the Arts where the crew of local firefighters were staged Santa Rosa Assistant Fire Marshal Paul Lowenthal lost his house in the October 2017 fires He wasn't the only firefighter who lost a house in the fires local fire leaders made sure everyone knew how important these once-burned neighborhoods are to the community “It's not just another fire,” said Sonoma County Supervisor David Rabbitt who attended the briefing and described the tone of the message delivered to 1,000 firefighters Lowenthal said he was concerned about another round of 60 mph winds forecast to rake the area Tuesday night and Wednesday and the threat of embers entering the neighborhoods Firefighters have already done battle once with this beast intent on destroying homes in the Larkfield-Wikiup area dispatchers triggered the county's first ever “all call” tone asking every fire district in the area to send any available firefighters as flames moved into Shiloh Ridge Lowenthal wanted engines and firefighters on scene at the start There are 4,500 firefighters tasked with battling the Kincade fire which by Tuesday night had reached 76,138 acres That means the all-Sonoma County crew assembled to defend Larkfield-Wikiup on Tuesday was also an all-volunteer crew “Everybody has volunteered time to give up rest periods lunches and dinner - and sleep - to keep working just because it's Sonoma County Santa Rosa Deputy Fire Chief Scott Westrope said the main team fighting the Kincade fire is well staffed but they brought in more local resources because it's important to “protect home turf.” who was with the Rincon Valley Fire Department responsible for this area during the Tubbs fire said his team has been pushing harder than normal since the Kincade fire erupted Wednesday night “We'll give it everything we have,” Andreis said “When you're fighting a fire that's essentially in our backyard with all of your neighbors' and friends' houses Rabbitt paused when asked about the all-local crew protecting Santa Rosa again he acknowledged the thought gave him comfort “It's fitting that our own firefighters are there to take that stand and not just to save one house Staff Writer Randi Rossmann contributed to this story Some have chosen to stay in Sonoma County and rebuild Others have decided to move away and start all over again in a new town And some have moved into a region that many wanted to escape here Read all of the PD's fire anniversary coverage here The first urge is primal - should I stay or should I go You wake to the smell of smoke or someone banging on your front door That was the nightmare-turned-reality as people awoke in the dead of night on Oct There was no warning as the Tubbs fire screamed down the canyons from Calistoga to Santa Rosa where it jumped Highway 101 in a sea of airborne embers nearly two dozen fires had sparked across Sonoma The blanket of smoke was so massive it appeared as ghostly plumes in satellite images taken from space more than 5,300 homes had burned to the ground in Sonoma County leaving chimneys as tombstones and many victims with little more than what they wore to bed There are the neighbors who stayed to fight the flames armed only with garden hoses But there’s another fight-or-flight decision that comes many months later: Should I stay and rebuild after everything was destroyed Or cut ties and move away to start all over again in a new town They see an opportunity and have moved to a region that many wanted to escape the challenges are daunting: finding temporary housing in some cases even paying for earthquake hazard studies Today many are still coming to terms with those decisions Here’s a look at two families - the Sherwoods and the Leetes - and an outside developer from New York who chose very different paths at a catastrophic crossroads Their lives will be forever defined as “before the fire” and “after the fire.” But how they’ve picked themselves up and charted a new course that may prove the most impactful decision of their lives Standing where he stood in awe more than nine months ago Brad Sherwood holds up his cellphone to show the fiery image he snapped just before the Tubbs fire roared through his Larkfield Estates neighborhood after midnight A hellish orange glow silhouettes the trees in his neighbor’s yard across the street his neighbor’s house would catch fire as he and his family sped away from their home for the last time Sherwood flips back a few photos on his phone picking out pumpkins at Punky’s earlier in the evening of Oct The electric orange jack-o’-lantern T-shirt he’s wearing is the same one his neighbors would wake up to as he raced from house to house banging on doors in the dark while propane tanks exploded in the distance There’s a photo of his kids putting up Halloween decorations hanging a giant spider in the walnut tree in the front yard the goldendoodle who would later beg for a walk to relieve himself around 11 p.m. so much in these images is gone - the 120-year-old walnut tree and the house they moved into five years ago half of it crumbling into their backyard pool pushed over by tornado-force southwesterly winds and flames But the dead silence they returned to only days later has been replaced by the sweet sound of bulldozers and nail guns “There was never any question of if we would rebuild “We were dead set on not letting the fire get the best of us.” the Sherwoods nevertheless wanted to stay in Larkfield Estates because “this is the community we fell in love with,” Sherwood said It’s where they walked the kids five minutes to school at Riebli Elementary Brad and Brandy both commuted five minutes to work Grant learned to ride his bike on the track at nearby Cardinal Newman High School they could hear the football crowd cheering from their house When the circus comes to the Luther Burbank Center every year they can hear the big-top music and applause Brad coaches soccer and baseball on nearby fields at Mark West Elementary “My wife and I used to joke that we never escaped this 5-mile bubble,” Sherwood said “Everything we needed has always been here.” A neighbor across the street often brought over apple pies she baked from fruit harvested from a Gravenstein tree in her backyard (which didn’t survive the fire) Another neighbor often left bags of vine-ripe tomatoes from her garden on their doorstep There was the neighbor who would warn them of any suspicious activity And another who kept beehives in their yard you can’t take away the people,” Sherwood said When the Sherwoods hosted “the first annual Larkfield Estates Rebuild Barbecue” at their lot on a Thursday in early August along with the Rincon Valley Fire District crew that responded the night of Oct their new foundation will be poured in a few weeks But getting to this point has been a daily grind forcing Brad and Brandy to take on roles they’ve never played: negotiators drawn-out negotiations with their insurance adjustors all that remains is compiling the final contents list “We were definitely underinsured,” says Brad who works as a spokesman for the Sonoma County Water Agency “We were so loud and vocal that they had a full customer crisis team come meet with us They asked us to come to their tent (a temporary site at the Airport Business Center) you’re coming to our lot.’ I wanted them to see the damage firsthand every time.” They quickly learned the importance of keeping a paper trail and a written record of interactions with insurance agents “I’ve been telling all my neighbors to write letters there’s more of a trail of evidence showing their lack of response they got full dwelling coverage and 20 percent overage for the rebuild After helping reunite their neighborhood under the banner “Larkfield Strong,” the Sherwoods teamed up with 14 other neighbors for a discounted group rebuild with Stonefield Homes a father-and-son crew out of Orange County they all had to agree on the same floor plan there is of course talk of dollars and cents and floor-plan dimensions but transcending all numbers is the rebuilding of family “We haven’t slowed down at all since the fire,” Sherwood said “I think part of that is a coping mechanism just to keep busy There’s not a day goes by that the mental trauma isn’t still there.” The Sherwoods were lucky to land a three-bedroom rental house in Windsor but stress and upheaval still lie just under the surface If they’re watching a movie with baby animals thinking of their chickens Heihei and Roxy and box turtle Raphael The pain of seeing a toy they once owned at the store is often too much Brad still gets choked up as he talks about how Grant has looked after his younger sister since the fires Even though their rental has three bedrooms the kids insist on sleeping in the same room the Sherwoods took a spontaneous trip to Mexico just to “get away from it all.” They splurged on things “we probably never would have paid for,” Sherwood said which means they not only swam with the dolphins they’ve tried to preserve reminders of a time before the fire mementos that won’t get lost in the mad dash to rebuild The only monuments left standing after the fire were a wrought-iron gate and the chimney The towering walnut tree burned and had to be cut down - but they saved the wood and are working with an artist to repurpose it as a new dining-room table Brad plans to replant a foot-high walnut seedling that sprung to life from ashes in the front yard part of a walkway he built from the driveway to the backyard a year after they moved in You can still see where the kids pressed their hands in the wet cement but we’ll find a place for it in the new house,” he said along with boxes of photo albums and a bird cage they crammed in the car before escaping the fire Nearby are several dirty buckets filled with charred jewelry Grant’s rock collection and the barrel of Brad’s grandfather’s 12-gauge shotgun - all treasures they found while sifting through the ruins Brad hasn’t told the kids their handprints survived It will be a surprise to present once they move in “It’s so crappy that something horrible like this had to happen to us We’re going to take advantage of this horrible situation to make something good out of it.” Ron Ferraro still remembers the insurance scam artists who moved in weeks after Hurricane Sandy nearly destroyed his Long Island home in 2012 they tried to talk him into signing quick contracts to elevate his house and prevent future flooding “They wanted to see my insurance policy and see how much I was covered for,” he remembered Armed with a thick New York accent and rapid-fire delivery he knows that’s exactly how he would come across if he went from neighborhood to neighborhood chatting up families looking to rebuild after the Sonoma County fires “That’s why I’m not going out there soliciting business,” Ferraro said “You hear about these contractors going out and signing up 100 people to rebuild I can see it now - who’s this guy from New York coming in here trying to take our money?” It’s an age-old scenario: Opportunists seizing the moment after catastrophic events from the carpetbaggers heading south after the Civil War to the outside contractors looking to profit after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans he’s purchased seven lots in Fountaingrove and will start building at 1912 Fountainview Circle While he’s waiting on permitting for the rest of the lots he’s finishing a rebuild on Franz Valley Road When he first arrived in Sonoma County in 2015 Ferraro was looking to invest in the emerging cannabis market Renting a house on South Fitch Mountain Road in Healdsburg typically staying about two weeks in Sonoma County and then three or four weeks back in Long Island helping them build four marijuana gardens and grow facilities in Sonoma County Ferraro distributes their product to dispensaries around the state It was a challenging new business model for a guy who started out in the Long Island granite business in his early 20s and began buying up foreclosed houses on the cheap in 2012 and flipping them he moved on to building new houses under his company Ferraro found himself racing to one of the marijuana farms to rescue workers in his van Soon after the wrenching events of that week he began to formulate a plan to move Sunset Developers to the West Coast and see how he could help rebuild Sonoma County “I saw what happened with Sandy and I saw how the community came together,” he said And that’s the same thing happening here now he’s relocated nearly 40 workers from Long Island Others live in temporary work-site housing he imported from China He’s paid to move his right-hand man and general contractor and his family to the region His foundation guy is relocating once they get through the first round of permitting “I was looking at the insurance thing (the idea of approaching victims with insurance claim settlements) In every one I’m gonna do a different kitchen so I can show the homeowners - you want this cabinet The way Ferraro explains it comes across with all the confidence and personality of an HGTV show host (think “Flip or Flop: Long Island”) he said he’s always been driven to look for the next business venture he’s hoping to put down roots as he builds dozens of homes over the next five years “I’m injecting a lot of money into this community because I believe in it,” he said “I love this place - it’s where I want to live.” one of Gary Leete’s darkest memories was of “walking point” in the Vietnam War It involved walking out in front of a combat patrol in the jungle with a scout dog this fire hit me harder than my Vietnam experience,” Leete said The loss of refuge to me was the biggest thing.” His sanctuary for more than 30 years was perched on a Wikiup hillside and redecorating with her family’s heirloom antique furniture the Leetes were able to stay at a friend’s summer vacation house outside Calistoga Months passed before Gary Leete felt ready to consider their options and plan for the future “It took a while to regain confidence and start making decisions and moving forward,” said Leete who retired several years ago as deputy director of the California Department of Rehabilitation they knew nothing about its origins in Calistoga and I looked out and saw the orange glow and saw our neighbor’s house behind us on fire.” and his wife’s computer bag before they heard someone on a bullhorn yelling “Our initial response like most people was to rebuild,” he said They were drawn to the sleek and simple architectural lines but more importantly the short assembly and build time At first they felt lucky to have updated their insurance four months before the fires But they still had to battle with adjustors going back and forth on numbers before eventually settling most of their insurance claim five months later when they learned the county was requiring earthquake hazard studies before homes near fault lines Permit Sonoma Director Tennis Wick said the requirement applied to those living in what is known as a Geologic Hazard Combining District which mandates “specific geological studies before development to avoid active fault areas.” “We couldn’t even move toward rebuilding until they gave their approval,” Leete said “And that’s when we moved to try to battle this requirement as we learned more about it.” Leete and other neighbors met with Sonoma County Supervisor James Gore’s staff to see if the county might suspend the requirement in order to streamline rebuilding efforts and from a geological standpoint a number of geologists will tell you it’s not even applicable to that area It’s not the kind of (earthquake) faulting they’re even talking about.” the Board of Supervisors agreed to come up with a way for fire survivors to rebuild without the expensive studies After going round and round with the county the Leetes began to realize it might be at least three years before they could move into a new home “The real frustrating part is you keep hearing ‘Sonoma Strong,’ ‘Sonoma Strong.’ But at some point you just get into these mindless platitudes I was at the point of referring to the county and this geological survey as ‘Sonoma Wrong’ because it was ticking me off so much.” That’s when the Leetes began to think about moving They even thought about relocating as far away as Edinburgh But after weighing the logistics of relocating to a foreign country they rented a cabin near Red Lodge and began looking at the local real estate market they put in an offer on a secluded house at the end of a long They looked at a half-dozen other houses from the outside “It was really a leap of faith,” Leete said they were moving to the picturesque mountain town with a population of 2,237 The house they bought is worth just a little more than the appraised value of their Wikiup house providing full disclosure of county-required earthquake hazard studies Now they have a creek running through their backyard in Montana three of their favorite pastimes - downhill skiing But their new home is not without its own set of challenges the couple and Lulu the dog returned home to find a mama bear and cub ransacking their house The scavengers took an apple off the kitchen table and broke into the dog food in the pantry “We’ve definitely learned to shut the windows before we leave now,” Leete said he was still looking forward to catching his first trout in the 1,000 feet of creek that run through his backyard “I’ve already located a place where I think I’ll catch a fish once the water slows down I fully plan to barbecue it and have a ceremony here with my wife and we’ll celebrate with some Sonoma wine.” ‘Without him part of our neighborhood would have gone up Our neighborhood market would have gone,’ one neighbor said With 400 feet of fire hose and hydrant tools in the trunk of his Honda off-duty Rincon Valley Fire Engineer Sid Andreis put on his brown turnouts and went looking for a firefight He found it one block from the Larkfield fire station - an inferno fanning out in three directions consuming Pacific Heights and Mark West Estates neighborhoods as well as Cricklewood restaurant Flames also burned along a wooden fence edging the Larkfield shopping center and Andreis - a lifelong Larkfield resident - made that his first stand of the night “The heart of Larkfield is the shopping center,” said Andreis lives with his wife and two young children on the street where he grew up blocks from the firehouse where he’s worked for 17 years after his family and the rest of Larkfield were evacuated Andreis returned to find his community burning It’s so sad,” he said on a recent destruction tour which starts at Larkfield’s crossroads entrance where fire wiped out whole neighborhoods and continues miles along the area’s rural roadways for a staggering loss of 1,500 homes “There was nothing we could do but pick and choose what we could save.” He first chose to save the shopping center extinguished the flames and soaked the area and he was alone - one of the night’s many unprecedented situations as hundreds of off-duty firefighters countywide rushed in and often found fire before they found firefighters Rincon Valley’s two engines and water truck from Larkfield were scattered to the immense firefight evacuating people and making their own stands Andreis moved to the west side of Old Redwood Highway where flying embers sparked landscaping fires threatening businesses put out the fires and moved into the adjacent Ramsgate Court neighborhood “Everybody took a section to do what they could,” Andreis said Burning homes were ignored for those still ahead of the fire’s path was “what house to choose and where to make a stand.” The effort halted that finger of fire pressing west toward more homes and Highway 101 When the hydrants failed Andreis returned to the station for hand tools and met up with Vic Acosta They headed for the next challenge: a burning ridge of homes in Wikiup Most of Carriage Lane’s homes were afire or gone and they picked a threatened but unsinged house on nearby Greenview Court and just enough pressure from a garden hose they saved the house and slowed the fire’s progress Andreis got a call from a friend whose parents live there “Everything was on fire except for one house,” Andreis said Acosta cut and cleared and Andreis climbed a ladder and peeled steaming roof shingles away trying to put it out with my hands at this point,” he said through the thick smoke appeared two Gold Ridge firefighters in a water truck Additional resources followed and firefighters halted the fire’s push further into Wikiup and to hundreds of homes in subdivisions beyond credited the two with stalling the fire from taking her family home “It’s definitely burned on the side but it’s still standing,” said Klein who by Monday’s end suffered from a bulging back disc He posted online that he’d take people into evacuation areas to retrieve medicine For the next 10 days he ferried dozens of people inside the fire zone “They called me the ‘fire Uber,’” Andreis said “I met all these people and heard their stories.” “Without him part of our neighborhood would have gone up Our neighborhood market would have gone,” Henry said a Santa Rosa resident whose family owns Larkfield Shopping Center Slayton expressed “utter disbelief” at the devastation to homes in the community which showed her what might have happened without multiple efforts to protect the center Andreis says he was doing what all of his colleagues countywide were doing that night and many in much tougher situations In his district all Rincon’s off duty firefighters responded including new recruits on their first firefight as well as 20 volunteers joined by Windsor and Santa Rosa firefighters Many risked their lives saving people along the Mark West Springs Road corridor tackled difficult situations and successfully saved St Montebello subdivision and much of the Luther Burbank Center as well as many other small and larges saves that slowed the fire and stopped the spread But the losses were tremendous and along with all the homes part of Cardinal Newman High School and most of Redwood Adventist Academy a longstanding private school on Mark West Springs Road “Every time we turn right” from the Larkfield fire station onto Old Redwood Highway Andreis comes from a firefighting household is a retired Rincon Valley battalion chief and his older brother Spencer who also lives with his wife and children on the street where the brothers grew up is a volunteer Rincon Valley fire lieutenant and a Sonoma Valley fire battalion chief Spencer Andreis led a Rincon Valley engine crew that night and fought fire in Glen Ellen and Larkfield giving him a keener sense of loss and a closer sense of community “After watching a quarter of our whole district burn it has definitely changed my whole perspective,” he said “It’s more than just putting fires out and helping people on medical aids.” “Now I really feel the community is all banded together,” Andreis said