Editor’s note: A postscript on the So Cal Fires notes from last week, a note from Cindy Snow, pitcher Russ Snow’s wife. We are sorry to report that Russ’s home and business was in the path of the fire, but grateful to report that he and his family are fine. Somewhere in my batch of old photos are some of the Vista Bomber team BBQ on his ranch, amidst the the fish, firewood and Russ’ familiar trailer. It was a special place, an oasis amidst the city life. Sad to hear of the news, but knowing Russ, he will bounce back. A number of you had asked if/what we had heard, and so, with their permission, we have posted this note to family and friends:
Dear Friends and Family,
Here is the update on the Snow ranches. Wonderful news! John and Nancy Snow’s beautiful home is safe. We are so very happy and are counting our blessings. Several of the houses near their home, including one on their private ranch road and four on their old ranch, across the street, are gone. We feel very fortunate. Russ’ situation is different. Tuesday morning, We waited until about 10am and then headed back up to his ranch in Highland Valley. Roadblocks were everywhere, but with Russ’ local knowledge and ability to charm Cal Trans employees, we got to his ranch about noon. There is no other way to put it, but “we took a hitâ€. Russ’ home is gone; his mobile home caught fire and melted. With it went most of his personal items, he will miss among other things, his grandfather’s tackle box, a lifetime collection of reels and poles, his golf clubs, a Rolodex with his entire wood client list, his baseball card collection, photos and his wedding and world championship rings.
He has retained his sense of humor and has told me that now he doesn’t have to go through his clothes and filing cabinets, this being the fastest “sort out†he has ever done. Business wise he is counting his blessings, despite the fact that the fire and the wind did do damage. On the plus side all of his vehicles and tools are safe. On the down side, he lost all his wood for this season, about 200 cords piled and waiting to be sold, are ash. The fish also died, due to water pipe damage. The prospect of repairing the hundreds and hundreds of irrigate pipe leaks is almost beyond my comprehension. Any PVC pipe that was above ground melted. I asked him how many leaks he thought were out there and with a laugh he said, “somewhere between 300 and 1,000. I’ll be busy next week.†The grove was on fire when we got there, but only in spot flash areas. There were literally hundreds of ash fires still burning on the mountain. The big firestorm had gone through the night before. Russ lost about 30% to 40% of his trees and probably about 80% of this year’s crop. The wind did equal damage to the fruit as the fire. Thousands of pieces of fruit were on the ground. Still, there were fruit and trees to save so we went to work putting out fires, clearing leaves and building firebreaks. We did our best to stop as many of the fires as we could, both on Russ’ ranch and on the properties bordering his land. When we left around 8pm ash fires still dotted the mountain but we had done our best. We returned “home†to our neighbor, Kim, who was feeding our children and my father, plus feeding and housing three other families who had been evacuated from the Fallbrook fire. Her kindness and care will never be forgotten. Russ went out to his ranch again this morning, accompanied by buddy, Craig Heber. (Thanks Big Guy, we love you.) Much to Russ’ grief, he found that his nearest neighbor, Andy, whom he had woken the first night of the fire, lost his house during the night. When we left the evening before, the house was still standing with no sign of fire anywhere close. It only goes to show how dangerous those ash fires continued to be. As Russ drove up Highland Valley Road, he realized that somewhere between 20 to 30 homes, many of them historic and part of his childhood memories were gone. High school friend Steve Olsen, lost everything, his entire wood business, several big rig logging trucks, two family homes. Absolutely everything on the Olsen estate was turned to ash. The sadness Russ feels for his friends is of the deepest magnitude. Neighbors hearing that Russ had made it past the roadblocks were calling him for news throughout the day. Several times, Russ had to be the first person to tell his dear friends that their houses were gone. Russ’ attitude about his own property and business’ is incredibly up beat. He is grateful for the things that he retained and is counting his blessings. Tonight he began making lists of the things he has to do. The work to be done on this one man farm is amazing, but he will be out there tomorrow fixing irrigation lines, dealing with downed power lines and taking care of his trees. Actually he will be out at his ranch AFTER he has gone down to Carlsbad High School, our closest evacuation centre, to see if there is anything he can do to help those who are less fortunate. I have never been so proud of him. So, to all our friends and family, we are counting our blessings, first and foremost, for all of you, secondly, for our safety and the safety of our friends. Despite lost of property their has been no loss of life in Highland Valley. Finally, we are grateful for the property and the trees that survived and the opportunity to rebuild. Plus, Russ may drop a few strokes if he gets a new set of clubs. Thank you for your concern and warm wishes. PS. I took several pictures on my phone, but the cables and the software to download the images were in Russ’ house, so when I figure out a way to down load the stuff, I’ll send some images. PSS. To Peter, your two trees are still standing, will send picture. To Eric, your vineyard should be served with jam and butter. Sorry, pal. PSS. To those who have asked about the kids, they are doing great. They are giving their folks lots of hugs, plus all the local schools are closed until next Monday, so hey, life can’t be all that bad.
We also share an earlier note, which tells a vivid story of being in the patch of the fire:
To dear friends and family, Thank you for the calls and e-mals. I’ll tell you what I know. Russ’ ranch is in Highland Valley. The area has been hit badly by the fire. His folks beautiful family home and ranch is only about 800m away from his place. Last night at 11pm Russ drove out to help his folks pack. At about 3 am he decided that they had to leave. No evacuation call had come. This morning, this is causing him great concern as he worries for his neighbours. The road going up to the ranch was completely on fire. Structures were burning on both sides of the road. Many of the homes that are familiar land marks were ablaze. The new house with the private Christmas Tree grove on the corner was on fire, the hill between the main road and Russ’ ranch was on fire when he drove by. He stopped and called Andy his closest neighbour and woke him up. Andy had packed at about midnight and fell asleep in his living room chair. Russ’ call was the only thing that woke him. Andy believes Russ saved his life and we have no reason to doubt this. The evacuation drive down the road to the 15 was very frightening. Russ said the heat inside his truck was incredible. The neighbour that followed him down the road by only 8 minutes had the tires blow out of her car. Lucky, her husband was following in another vehicle and picked up her up. We beleive the fire has now passed Snow’s ranches, but there were two that went across that area, one that came up from the Wild Animal Park (which is currently safe but under threat again) and one that came from the east and Romona. The fires are now in the residentual areas off of West Bernardo Drive (Russ’ exit off the 15). We are simply waiting to hear news and get a chance to get in, but the fire is still huge, the freeways are closed and it continues to burn all around the area. The winds are blowing betwen 40 and 80 miles an hour, so there is no reassurance that it won’t circle around and hit the area of the ranch again. We will keep everyone posted. We count our blessings today. All family members are safe. Nancy’s horses were safely evacuated from the ranch in the San Pasqual Valley, John and Nancy have Pablo, their dog and one of their cats. (Yesterday, Russ had the kids up on the ranch and they picked up the last of Nancy’s kittens and they are safe with us in Carlsbad. It is nice to remember what a happy day we had yesterday when ‘Shortstop” and “Twiight” joined our family.) It is a day to be thankful, a day to wait and a day full of hope. We will let you know what is left of the ranch when we get a chance to go up and see. Once again, thank you for your concern. All my love, Cindy