In the wake of fire, Petaluma residents help victims rebuild

Maria Luis was in front of her parents’ Petaluma home just after 3 p.m. Sept. 27 checking the mail when she noticed a strange wind, and then - smoke.

She headed inside the house at 346 Stewart Drive where her mother Alice Luis was cooking dinner. The two looked in the direction of the smoke and saw their backyard shed was on fire.

The fire, which investigators believe was started by a cigarette thrown from a car on Highway 101, spread quickly, eventually damaging 14 homes on the east side of Highway 101, destroying four, including the Luis home, which they’d owned for more than 30 years.

A group of Petaluma residents has raised more than $8,000 to help make the recovery process a little bit easier. The group, Helping Petaluma, was started by Bruce Cohn, a 66-year-old real estate appraiser in town. He set up a Facebook page for the group and within 24 hours it had more than 1,000 members, said Jessica Tew, who, along with Cohn and a few others is taking charge of relief efforts.

Tew, 29, manages the U.S. Bank branch inside the Petaluma Safeway. Donations to the Helping Petaluma account can be made at any U.S. Bank branch, and so far more than 80 people have donated, Tew said. This week, with the help of Petaluma council members Gabe Kearney and Kathy Miller, the group was able to secure space inside a warehouse owned by Basin Street Properties at 1031 B N. McDowell Blvd.

There, Petalumans can drop off donations families have indicated they need. A downloadable list of needed goods can be found in the online version of this article at pressdemocrat.com, or in the Helping Petaluma Facebook group. The warehouse location is accepting donations today from noon to 4 p.m. and Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Cohn has visited the neighborhood about six times over the past week, he said, talking to families, asking what they need and how to help. Plans are in the works to redo the landscaping damaged in the fire, Cohn said, and he’s meeting with Orchard Supply Hardware this weekend to iron out the details, he said.

“We’re neighbors, and we’ve gotta take care of each other,” Cohn said.

It’s been a tough few months for the Luis family, who came from Portugal and settled in Petaluma more than three decades ago, buying a home and raising their five children. Fernando Luis, 78, the patriarch, was in and out of the hospital all summer, first for a blood infection and later to have a large cyst removed, said their daughter-in-law, Diane Luis.

Things were just starting to look up. Fernando was on the mend, he’d purchased a truck - a black 2003 Nissan Frontier. Then, with the flick of a cigarette, the family lost everything.

The house is unlivable. The truck’s side is melted. The family only had liability insurance on it.

“(Fernando) was happy about it, he was all excited but now he’s not even able to drive it,” Diane Luis said. The Luis family plans to rebuild, but it could take up to a year. They’ve spent the past ?10 days at their son and daughter-in-law’s home while they search for more permanent housing.

“We have a lot of faith so that’s what’s keeping us going,” Diane Luis said.

You can reach Staff Writer Christi Warren at 707-521-5205 or christi.warren@pressdemocrat.com. ?On Twitter @SeaWarren.