The wildfire destroyed the neighborhood, but not the determination of the residents

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The wildfire destroyed the neighborhood, but not the determination of the residents

Residents of Camarillo Heights were well aware of the dangers of fire.

Their corner of Ventura County was buffeted by strong Santa Ana winds every fall, and those storms fueled fires that came close to but never swept through their hillside community.

It wasn’t until Wednesday that the mountain fire hit, burning down many homes and sending residents fleeing for safety.

As the danger passed, people returned to assess the damage. But instead of defeat, there was a spirit of resilience and defiance as neighbors helped neighbors and many spoke of rebuilding as quickly as possible.

On Friday afternoon, 85-year-old Carol Cressy visited her remaining home. Neighbors stopped to check on him as he walked around the rubble and twisted metal that made up his home of 50 years.

Phillip Federis is looking for items to keep in the ruins of the home of Carol Cressy, a family friend in Camarillo Heights.

(Al Seib / For The Times)

“The Bible says don’t put your faith in physical things,” said Cressy. “I don’t believe it.”

Cressy volunteered with the local Democratic Party to register voters and stayed up late Tuesday night to watch the election results. On Wednesday morning, as the Mountain Fire raced toward his neighborhood, he received an automated call to evacuate.

“At that time, the color outside my windows was bright red,” she said. “The flames were already there.”

She jumped out of bed in her nightgown, chased after her 10-year-old border collie, Henry Valentine, and ran to her car in sandals. He didn’t have time to catch much else.

As a teacher who traveled overseas for 25 years, Cressy amassed a collection of clothes, furniture and memorabilia from Germany, Japan and other parts of the world.

A hillside site turned into rubble, made up of burnt trees

“All my good things are gone. The fireman told me that everything will be fine in a few days after what happened,” said Cressy.

Friends donated clothes and other necessities to get her back to normal. He was able to fill his prescriptions at the pharmacy, and someone gave him a new wardrobe and other supplies. He lives with a friend, but arrived at her home on Friday as his friend’s grandson searched through the ashes for any memorabilia that might have survived the fire.

As Cressy walked up the street, Daryl Gross stopped to speak to a neighbor he barely knew by first name.

“I’m Cressy,” she said. “My whole house is full of smoke and ash.”

A fire officer walks past the ruins of a house, a brick chimney in the distance

“Oh, I hope they find something,” said Gross, whose home was destroyed.

Camarillo’s drinking water quality was not affected; but Gross’ water company, Pleasant Valley Mutual Water Company, is informing customers that there may be contamination related to the fire and that the water is not safe to drink.

Gross was scheduled to meet with a contractor for home repairs and had no water pressure Friday.

“There are many things on my mind, but then I look at my neighbors,” she said. “I can’t think like that. I have a house. I am very lucky. Again, I have to remind myself that I have a house.”

Even after all the tragedy, Cressy smiled widely and joked with her neighbors who passed by. He asked to contact another neighbor and the person who gave him his clothes, adding that he had to pick up his dog from the vendors.

The neighbor was happy, “You are amazing. It’s just amazing.”

Cressy left her place, not sure if she wanted to rebuild somewhere else or move to the larger community once she got her insurance money. His hearing aids were burned in the fire, but he wondered if they might have survived.

“That’s where my shower used to be,” said Phillip Federis, 36, his friend’s grandson who took a day off from work to sift through the ashes. He received a large number of coins that he received while teaching in Japan.

A man wearing a breathing mask offers coffee cups to a smiling woman in his car

A Ventura County fire crew stopped by to check on Cressy and offered to help search the debris with their equipment.

“Oh, that’s the sweetest thing,” she said. “People are really getting along and they’ve been kind. This fire is something else, because I am about to meet all my neighbors.”

City officials were not surprised by the spirit that was displayed on Friday.

“We have a strong and resilient community here,” said Camarillo Mayor Tony Trembley. “We will get through this, and we will support each other.”

Trembley expressed his gratitude to the state and local emergency services that stepped in to help, as well as the fire departments outside of Ventura County that made the trip to Camarillo. He also mourned the citizens who lost everything.

“Our hearts ache for our neighbors and residents who lost their homes and were affected by the fire,” he said.

City officials are working to convene a town hall in the coming days to determine the next steps to repopulate the neighborhood.

An iron gate outside the ruin, two brick chimneys in the distance

Residents should have a travel bag in case of an emergency and not just a wildfire, Trembley said. Homeowners should also consider a protective perimeter around their buildings to prevent fire from easily spreading through the home.

“Sadly, this is a reminder that we all need to be prepared,” he added.

Fire officials said Camarillo Heights was incredibly unlucky. Forecasts show that their area will have punishing winds, and when the fire started in the nearby countryside, it ran directly to the community. Strong support for hot winds, and officials are focused on evacuating residents. No deaths were reported and only a few were injured.

One fire expert told The Times that there was brutal randomness in the homes that burned. Kyle Ferris, a fire analyst for the Mountain Fire Incident Command Team, said the embers traveled about a mile ahead of the fire and would enter some homes and fly away from others.

In the end, more than 130 homes were destroyed and more than 80 were damaged, according to officials.

On Friday morning, two sheriff’s deputies rolled down a hill in Camarillo Heights after residents noticed smoke coming from dense brush. They use a water hose from a nearby home to spray down the brush.

The hillside surrounding Robert Dickran’s home in Camarillo Heights was covered in charred cacti and charred brush, showing how close the fire came to his home.

At first, the fire was seen from a distance on Wednesday. He felt he had plenty of time to prepare, but then his son came and told him to go. That’s when 60 mph winds blew across the hillside and a fire broke out nearby.

Dickran, 77, took valuables from his home – his wife’s computer, important books and put them in his truck. Then he remembered his family’s photo albums.

A man standing outside an unharmed house

Running back to his truck with the box, he was met by a wall of smoke and found he couldn’t breathe. The firemen had arrived; but without fire hoses on his property, he was left with his garden hose. He was told that the plane dropped water or fire retardant on the hill.

He came out of his house and was told that the neighborhood was gone. He didn’t know how to process this information, but when he went back, he found his home standing still.

“Does prayer stop things?” he asked. He doesn’t know why the wind can send fire to one house and not another. He doesn’t have a good answer.

“Well, I feel guilty that my house survived and other people’s houses didn’t,” he said.

He plans to cut the vegetation around his house and install a new water line that will bring more water to his property. He doesn’t want to prepare himself again.

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