Rebuilding Sonoma County: Hidden Valley families persevere through rebuild

The new year signals fresh hope for Jennifer Harrison.

Like many fire survivors determined to rebuild in Sonoma County, Harrison and her family were confronted with an ever-expanding series of logistical hurdles to overcome this year as they attempted to replace a home lost in the October 2017 firestorm and regain their old lives.

'Every day you're spending hours on the phone with banks, adjusters, builders,' said Harrison. 'It becomes your normal life.'

Securing housing — whether it was a temporary place to stay or a permanent home to build a new life around — would become the central focus of 2018 for many fire survivors in Sonoma County.

The Oct. 8, 2017, fires destroyed more than 5,300 homes in Sonoma County, including the Hidden Valley neighborhood in northeast Santa Rosa where Harrison and her family had lived for 10 years.

The family spent six weeks following the fires living with Harrison's sister in Rohnert Park before finding a rental they could afford.

'The rental amounts were crazy. No matter what people say, people were taking advantage,' Harrison said.

A place opened up when its tenants fell behind on rental payments and were evicted. Harrison paid the renters to leave early so that she, her husband and two high school-age sons could move in just a few days before Thanksgiving last year.

It was just the beginning of a long journey home.

First, Federal Emergency Management Agency contractors over-excavated the Harrisons' lot, which would delay their attempts to begin their rebuild, she said.

'We had to wait for it to be examined and then another company had to come in and fix our lot. That process took five or six months,' said Harrison. 'We had to fight a lot with our insurance company, and we weren't totally insured enough for a full rebuild so we'll have to make up the difference for that.'

The Harrisons broke ground on their new home on Oct. 1, almost a year to the day after the Tubbs fire swept through their neighborhood.

'We probably could have started building right away, and we could have probably been in our house had we not had to fight our insurance and the bank so much,' Harrison said. 'The frustrating part is insurance companies are trying so hard to keep their money.'

Around 50 families lost homes in the family's immediate neighborhood, and many have chosen not to rebuild.

'Only 25 percent of the original people are coming back. It's just a hard thing to do. It's not really our neighborhood anymore,' Harrison said.

'I won't ever take that for granted again. You always think there's time to get to know your neighbors.'

Vita Iskandar and her partner, nearby neighbors of the Harrisons, have decided not to rebuild their home of 14 years.

'We have been living in a temporary rental in west county, and just were able to sell our lot recently,' said Iskandar, who will be relocating permanently to Sebastopol.

Iskandar became a key point of contact for the Hidden Valley neighborhood as she and other residents sorted through their options after the fires. Attending city and county meetings for people needing help with the rebuild process, Iskandar started a website ­— Neighborstogethersr.com — to share information with other fire survivors about rebuilding and insurance issues.

The Harrisons relied on Iskandar regularly to ask both simple and more complicated questions associated with their rebuild.

'We had a couple of neighbors who took over relaying all information. I could go online any day and e-mail (Iskandar),' said Harrison. 'Those people are the ones who carried us through the process. I don't know what I would have done.'

For Iskandar, it was a practical way she could help.

'There were clearly questions coming up again and again, some individual questions and community questions — that's what sparked it a bit,' said Iskandar. 'Before I organized, I was looking for all those answers so when I could glean information that was applicable to all of us I did.'

Iskandar also noted she was one of many neighbors who stepped up in a variety of ways to help.

'There were other people ahead of me who helped organize the neighborhood. They were the ones who got the email lists, who were inspirational and formed the first few meetings,' said Iskandar.

'There were individuals in the neighborhood working on their own rebuilding, (who) wanted to help the process. One of them secured us a group discount on the geo-tech reports we were all going to need.'

Rebuilding has taken longer than many anticipated. While nearly 1,400 homes are under construction across Sonoma County, only 114 have been completed, primarily in Coffey Park.

Harrison hopes her new home will be ready to move into by next April or May, at the latest.

'But even if my house is completely built, done and ready, if the landscape isn't done, the front walk isn't poured and the driveway isn't poured the city won't let us live in the house,' she laments.

Harrison believes the city of Santa Rosa wasn't prepared for the influx of landscape plans submitted by families seeking to rebuild, calling the situation 'disorganized and dysfunctional.'

She says she was also told by city employees that despite submitting a landscape plan the requirements could change in as little as two years.

'The city has put so many restrictions on all of us. I understand some of them are for safety and water conservation, but really having a setback of shrubs five feet from your house isn't going to stop a wildfire,' said Harrison.

Harrison worries families like hers will see rebuilding delayed into 2020.

Iskandar acknowledged the city landscaping requirements have been difficult for families to understand and work with. Water pressure and requirements for sprinkler systems to suppress fire is another area of concern to neighbors in Hidden Valley Estates, she said.

The smoke infiltrating Sonoma County from the Butte County fires in November brought many painful memories back.

'You think about things differently now. I will have to-go bags now. I probably had a few hours to pack up my house, but I just thought I wouldn't have to,' said Harrison.

Harrison plans to return to work in 2019. Before the fires, she was employed at a property management company that worked with homeowners' associations in Fountaingrove.

After the firestorm, the emotional turmoil of dealing with her own loss and managing the losses of others was too great.

But the Harrisons are mainly waiting to return home.

'Our kids are waiting for us to be back in that house,' said Harrison. 'We can't wait to have our first dinner, drive down our street, park in our garage.'