Owners of Angel the longhorn mark progress in Tubbs Fire recovery with plans for farm attraction

The question caught Houston Evans by surprise.

How, asked a reporter, was Angel the cow doing?

That would be the Texas longhorn known to countless southbound drivers on Highway 101 in Santa Rosa.

“Angel is happy in her new pen, eating corn we raised for her,” said Houston Evans.

That should be some relief to the Angel watchers who have followed the Evans’ family story since tragedy struck them in the 2017 Tubbs Fire.

Valerie Evans, 75, Houston’s mother and an animal lover who adored the mellow, 1,600-pound female Texas longhorn she kept on their property near the north end of Coffey Lane, was killed in the fire. The family’s two houses were destroyed.

Angel, who survived unharmed to become a symbol of endurance and renewal in the aftermath of the disaster, has stood watch over the remarkable recovery that’s taken place on the 2-acre property.

Recently though, some of her admirers, having thought they saw her being loaded onto a truck, wondered about her whereabouts of late.

“The confusion may be that we are re-creating the pen that was out on the main street for goats, so families can bring their kids down to see the animals,” he said. “They see the men out there building the corral. It’s taken five years to get this far, and we’re not done yet. We are attempting to put back what was burned down. It’s just been so long.”

Houston and his wife, Victoria Evans, have built a striking log cabin home, and added a garage and other structures, including fencing around a small monument to his mother. They hope to build a “proper monument” where Houston found her remains the day after the fire.

Angel survived the fire by hunkering down in what Evans called “a hovel,” an area she laid in that over time had become a deep hole in the shape of her body.

The goats on the Evans’ property also somehow survived that night, as wind-driven flames leapt over Highway 101 from the east, razing neighborhoods in Fountaingrove and then Coffey Park.

The goats were donated to an animal sanctuary in the aftermath.

“Everything was just too much,” said Houston Evans. “We didn’t have the funds to feed them.”

Working on the property — to replace all that was taken from them in the fire — has been a way to cope with their losses, Houston and Victoria said. A chocolate Labrador named Sally keeps their spirits up, bringing a toy and constantly playing tug-of-war with them.

Victoria, feeding Angel an apple, said they have received only an initial, partial payment from the Fire Victim Trust, the fund set up by PG&E to compensate for losses in the 2017 North Bay firestorm and other wildfires in 2015 and 2018. In that same waiting line are thousands of fellow fire survivors.

“We did not have enough homeowners insurance along with so many other people,” she said.

Santa Rosa-based Ghilotti Construction chipped in, helping with foundation work estimated at nearly $50,000.

Houston, who lives with epilepsy, and Victoria, who has multiple sclerosis, finally moved into the masterfully built 2,176-square-foot house of cedar and lodgepole home in March 2021, a year into the COVID-19 pandemic that had slowed work.

“As far as I’m concerned, we’re fricking rock stars,” Houston said.

Some redwoods on the property survived the fire, along with other native, fire-resistant plants. Workers next will be installing ground cover that won’t burn, plus trees, bushes and hardscape, including river rock in the bare areas.

There will be a three-car parking area for families who come to visit, but most will likely come by foot as they did before, the couple said.

The couple hope to have an open house after all the work is completed, possibly in December.

Talking about their heavy losses, Houston, who last September lost his father, combat veteran and cowboy Glyn Evans, at 92, said he hasn’t even come to terms yet with the death of his mother.

“My lifestyle is gone, my community is gone, my parents are gone,” he said. “There’s been all this construction going on. This whole place was built for my mom and the community.”

You can reach Staff Writer Kathleen Coates at kathleen.coates@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5209.

Editor’s Note: This story has been revised to correct a description of the two Evans family homes lost in the Tubbs Fire and to specify that Houston and Victoria Evans have received an initial, partial payment from the Fire Victim Trust to compensate for their losses.