Neighbors stand together as evacuations disrupt lives

Birds twittered and a gentle breeze waltzed with colorful flowers Monday at Orr Hot Springs, but the popular Mendocino County mineral baths and guest cottages were empty as fires raged nearby.

“We’re evacuating,” said hot springs owner Leslie Williams. “They said they can’t stop this fire.”

The resort is in a small, narrow canyon just east of Montgomery Woods State Reserve — home to what was once the world’s tallest tree — which also is threatened by fires.

More than 100 fires have been burning in Mendocino County since early Saturday, when a lightning storm ignited the county’s worst known wildfire assault.

At least 8,900 acres had burned by late Monday, five residences were destroyed and 525 structures where threatened, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

The fires disrupted the lives of animals as well as humans.

In broad daylight, a coyote stood in the heavy smoke alongside a rural road west of Ukiah, panting and apparently dazed, oblivious to traffic.

County officials Monday did not know how many people had left their homes because of the mostly remote fires.

But at least a dozen had fled their rural Running Springs Ranch homes for some period of time since Sunday afternoon, when winds whipped the fires in all directions and Cal Fire officials issued “highly recommended” evacuation notices.

Running Springs Ranch is comprised of minimum 40-acre parcels among the hills, oak woodlands and conifer forests about 10 miles west of Ukiah.

One home on the former cattle ranch narrowly missed destruction twice Saturday and Sunday, with fires attacking from the front and back. The ground was charred within 10 feet of the front of the home and less than a foot from a travel trailer. At least one outbuilding was destroyed.

On Monday, multiple fires threatened both Williams’ Running Springs home and the rustic hot springs resort he’s owned since 1975.

He had left his home and evacuated hot springs guests Sunday, then returned to the springs Monday to collect chairs he’d rented for a wedding and items from the office.

But faced with losing both his home and his business, Williams remained philosophical.

“As long as the pets and my partner are safe, everything else can be replaced,” he said.

The only people at the resort Monday afternoon were Williams, a hot springs employee who lives on-site and several friends helping him move.

“I started (moving) last night when we heard we should evacuate,” said Mitch Tomlinson, as he and helpers carried guitars and other musical instruments, sound equipment, CDs, books, bookshelves, pictures, suitcases and myriad other items to their vehicles.

On Running Springs Ranch, residents came and went on its main dirt road, Running Springs Ranch Road, checking on their homes. Some decided to stay, while others chose to spend the night in Ukiah.

“I honestly thought it was going to hit my house yesterday evening,” said Jimmy Booth, who cut short a business trip to New Mexico to return home Sunday.

“My wife was in hysterics,” he said.

They spent Sunday night in Ukiah and planned to do the same Monday, he said.

Down the road, Doug and Mimi Johnson had packed precious photos and important documents in their vehicles and placed their cats in carriers Sunday but then decided to stay put, although it meant a largely sleepless, watchful night.

Friends and neighbors gathered at their home late into the night Sunday, making occasional reconnaissance to a nearby ridge where firefighters were stationed. It’s one of the safer homes on the ranch because of its proximity to a county road that provides the subdivision’s primary exit.

Because they stayed home, the Johnson’s house has become information central, with frequent phone inquiries from residents who had left and those stopping by on their way to check on their homes.

Mimi Johnson was worried Monday that afternoon winds would once again raise the danger level but, in an act of faith, let loose her cats.

“I’m more optimistic,” she said.

You can reach Staff Writer Glenda Anderson at 462-6473 or glenda.anderson@pressdemocrat.com.