Weary Lake County residents describe ‘stressful’ second evacuation in Jerusalem fire

JERUSALEM VALLEY--Turkey vultures circled Friday in the blue sky above Liz and Vince Black’s 5-acre mountain home here in southeastern Lake County. On the ground, deer and quail foraged for food, an otherwise everyday scene in a bucolic wooded landscape.

But across the valley, about a mile away, patches of smoke rose from the blackened Jim Dollar and Petticoat mountains, a reminder of why a mandatory evacuation order - the second one in three weeks for the area - remained in place for some 50 homes in the neighborhood of wildfire-weary residents.

The second order was issued five days ago when the Jerusalem fire erupted in a creek bed then roared up the two mountains, filling this valley with smoke and forcing residents to flee. Some people didn’t leave, and authorities have allowed others back into the area to check on their homes.

The long trial for residents here began July 30, when they were told to abandon their neighborhood after the massive Rocky fire, which broke out July 29, threatened to enter their valley. That blaze burned 69,438 acres and destroyed 43 homes in nearby sections of the county before it was fully contained Friday. Most of the Jerusalem Valley residents stayed away from their homes until Aug. 2.

They were ordered out a week later, amid the advance of the Jerusalem fire, which so far has burned more than 25,000 acres, four homes and 13 outbuildings. It was 71 percent contained Friday.

“It’s stressful, it goes without saying,” said Liz Black, a real estate agent in Sonoma County who moved here from Santa Rosa five years ago with her husband.

Other neighbors shared their exhaustion over living on the front lines of the state’s largest wildfire complex, which has burned about 150 square miles in three counties since late last month.

“This is getting old,” said Glo Anderson, a substitute teacher who lives down the hill and who faced the evacuations just days after her husband died.

Anderson on Friday was checking on her chickens and picking vegetables to sell at a Saturday farmers market. Her nine goats and two dogs remained in Hidden Valley Lake, where she has been staying.

The Blacks were at their home tending to the house and garden and mulling over the events of the past several weeks.

While difficult, the ordeal also was “interesting,” Liz Black said. It forced her to quickly prioritize which possessions were crucial and which weren’t.

“You do start looking at your attachments,” Black said.

There are the obvious choices - insurance papers, certificates of birth and marriage, work files, laptops - and then the less obvious, if there’s time enough to grab them.

She gathered some work clothes and other garments she knew would make her feel comfortable - “things that would bring me back to normalcy,” she said.

She also took family heirloom silver, some prized ceramic pieces and her camera and lenses. Her husband made sure to grab his guitar.

The second time, she was better prepared and took photographs of the property before leaving.

“Not just for insurance, but for nostalgia” in case there was nothing left when they returned, Black said.

In the hot and hazy days that have passed here, the residents have formed a makeshift news network to relay information about the fire and help other neighbors.

They assisted Anderson, who during the first evacuation was loading her goats into the back of a truck at midnight. Using light from the full moon and flashlights, the group installed a large cage onto the truck and herded the goats inside.

“The neighbors around here are awesome,” said Anderson, a 35-year resident of the valley.

Seeing the fire so close to home was a scary experience, said Eve Meland, another neighbor. She said it has made her think more about the dangers of living in a remote, rural area where fire danger is particularly high amid the state’s historic drought.

“I’m just not comfortable not knowing what could happen. When I go to work, I’m going to be taking the pups” from now on, she said. Her two small dogs have been staying with her at the bed-and-breakfast where she works. They rarely were off the property until the fires but have become accustomed to traveling since then, Meland said.

The fires and two evacuations have been unnerving to residents, but many - the Blacks and their neighbors included - have no intention of leaving the land they love.

Black said she thought only briefly about it.

“It’s just so beautiful,” she said.

Meland said the neighbors likely would have to remain on edge until the rains return and dampen the fire danger. But with California’s hottest months for wildfire still ahead, those calmer days look to be far off.

“We’re all going to have to be very vigilant from here on out,” Meland said.

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