Lauren Garber will never return to the house in which she grew
up.
Gone is her trampoline. And her playhouse. And the
green mailbox out front.
The place she once called home is now little more than a pile of
ash.
As UCLA students shuffle to and from their classes, few give
serious thought to the fires devastating California. But these
fires have destroyed some students’ homes ““ students
such as Garber.
As many as 11 separate wildfires have eaten away at the arid
Southern California terrain, but Garber, a first-year psychology
student, never imagined the flames would reach her house.
“Before I left I was “¦ making fun of my dad for
thinking that the fire was even going to come in that area, so I
said, “˜If our house burns down, take this box of
pictures,'” she said, recalling the joke she made
before leaving her house Sunday morning.
For several days, the over 200,000-acre Cedar fire flirted with
Crest, the small town in San Diego County where Garber lives,
before residents were finally ordered to evacuate Sunday
afternoon.
Garber had gone home last weekend to attend the funeral of her
grandfather, who recently died of Parkinson’s disease. She
returned to UCLA before Crest had been ordered to evacuate.
While still grieving for her grandfather, Garber said she felt
her responsibilities as a student were paramount, especially with
midterms approaching on Monday and Tuesday. The potential fire
danger was of no concern to her.
“When I left in the morning, there was no chance at all
that that fire was even coming close to my house,” she said.
“By the time I got up here (to UCLA), my mom called me and
told me they were evacuating.”
Garber had lived in the house with her mother and her younger
brother since she was 7. When the evacuation order was issued, her
family went to stay with her grandmother, who lives near Qualcomm
Stadium in San Diego.
Even then, Garber was not worried. Evacuations are a regular
occurrence for Crest’s residents, usually due to small brush
fires nearby, but they are rarely a serious concern. So Garber
returned to her studies.
It was not until after her psychology midterm Monday that she
found out her house had been destroyed.
Talking online to a friend from home, Garber learned her
“quaint community on top of a mountain,” as she called
it, had burned.
Her mother said all that remained of the house was
“bicycle frames, … a big pile of ash and melted computer
screens.”
Despite the destruction of her house, Garber remained focused on
her studies.
She attributed her composure to her preoccupation with school;
while many students loathe the grueling, mid-quarter parade of
exams, Garber used them as a release.
“School needs to be my priority right now so I don’t
focus on bad things,” she said.
Many Southern California residents have found themselves
afflicted with such “bad things” as the fires; they
have claimed over 2,000 homes.
The fires are collectively considered the most expensive
disaster in California history. But financial loss was one of the
last concerns for Garber.
“I kept all of my important, sentimental things at my
house so nothing would happen to them,” she
said. “I don’t have them anymore.”
“I’m really worried about my pets, mostly ““ my
kittens,” Garber said. “I don’t know what
happened to them. I hope they’re OK.”
Her cats, Foonda and Dottie, ran off when the evacuation
began. They have not been seen since.
Garber’s family has remained focused, and they have
already begun rebuilding their lives.
Only days after losing their house, Garber’s mother and
brother began to search for a temporary apartment while a
contractor builds them a new house. They plan on remaining in
Crest.
In a whirlwind weekend, Garber had expected to grieve the loss
of her grandfather but found herself losing even more. But by
keeping her focus, she has managed to look beyond anger and
sadness.
“I’m just trying to deal with it as best I
can,” she said.