GILROY
– A year ago, scores of families living along Croy Road, stunned
by destruction and loss, found solace in the only people who could
truly understand how they felt – each other. As the victims of the
fire rallied around one another, the community came to their aid as
well.
By Lori Stuenkel
GILROY – A year ago, scores of families living along Croy Road, stunned by destruction and loss, found solace in the only people who could truly understand how they felt – each other. As the victims of the fire rallied around one another, the community came to their aid as well.
The victims have continued to stay united through the fire’s aftermath as they both mourn their losses and look to the future when they might be able to rebuild what was ruined.
Roy and Sue Guist, whose home and much of their 47 acres of land were ravaged in last year’s fire, are at the heart of the community’s connection, though they now live in Morgan Hill. Roy, a former NASA engineer, has long been involved in helping with construction projects in Uvas Canyon. Now, he goes back to the hills every day to restore his property by clearing brush, rebuilding water lines or talking to neighbors about how they can bring Croy Road up to county standards.
Roy estimates that he talks to each property owner in a core group of about 15 families – “the ones that are still coping” – at least once a week, usually by phone.
They speak much more frequently than before the fire, when neighbors communicated only when it was necessary.
“We’re definitely pulling together now, trying to survive,” Roy said. “It’s the way it’s always been, but now we’re much more watchful, more tightly bonded and communicating.”
Feeling safe and connected in the hills has become easier as neighbors stay in contact and are more aware of goings-on in the area.
Uvas Canyon property owners are more vigilant these days, Roy said, creating an unofficial neighborhood watch that surveys the area for fire danger or unwelcome troublemakers.
“It’s nothing you can put your finger on, but a great number of the phone calls I get, and other people get, are: ‘I saw this going on,’ or ‘I checked this,’ ” Roy said.
Sandy Speegle, whose home was saved, said that being more attentive has prevented crime in the rural area.
“Everybody basically watches out for everybody,” Speegle said. “I’m here all the time, and I always watch.”
Shortly after the fire, many people drove through the area to look at the fire damage, worrying Speegle and some of her neighbors. Residents have had problems in the past with people growing and manufacturing drugs in the hills or dumping unwanted cars or trash.
Uvas Canyon residents are also on guard when fire conditions are likely. When these conditions are present, whoever is in the area will check for smoke and update neighbors living outside the canyon.
“Everyone is hair-trigger conscious of anything like that,” Roy said.
Although most fire fuel is gone from the canyon – either consumed by the fire or subsequently removed – everyone is watchful, he said.
The California Department of Forestry now calls residents when it gets reports of smoke in the area to ensure that Uvas Canyon is safe, Speegle said.
She credited Nik Gluck and Kenn Weeks, co-founders of the Uvas Volunteer Fire Department, with “bringing the neighbors much closer together.” Gluck and Weeks spent months recruiting neighbors via phone, e-mail and in person, eventually recruiting at least 25 to join the fire crew.
Besides volunteering together, Croy Fire victims are uniting to fight against what they say are oppressive county policies that are preventing them from rebuilding.
“We’re trying to be strength in numbers,” said Kersty Daniels, whose home was destroyed by the fire. Daniels and husband Russell Cox are now adjusting to city life in Sunnyvale.
Daniels and Cox keep in close contact with their Croy Road neighbors to keep up to date on any news from Santa Clara County officials regarding building permits or Croy Road upgrades.
“(Communication) is getting more frequent now,” Daniels said. “Most of us are starting to come out of our shock.”
The shock and helplessness felt by victims during the fire’s seven-day rampage was what first pulled Uvas Canyon neighbors together. Residents gathered at base camps and an emergency shelter at Morgan Hill’s Live Oak High School to comfort one another. They spoke two and three times a day to get the latest information, make sure everyone was safe and see if anyone was in need of help.
“The fire brought neighbors we didn’t even know together, and everybody pulled together to help one another, even the ones who weren’t burnt,” Speegle said.
Volunteer organizations and members of the community offered support as well, for which many fire victims say they are infinitely grateful.
The Santa Clara Valley Chapter of the Red Cross set up the day shelter and fire support center at Live Oak to provide food, water and various supplies to the fire victims. Approximately 400 volunteers from the chapter were deployed to offer services to Croy victims, according to Chris Ott, chapter director of marketing and communications. The Red Cross also donated several generators and provided financial assistance to 21 families.
Guist said the volunteers at the shelter were, above all, ready and willing to lend an ear.
Friends and strangers alike offered any help they could: people offered their homes, rooms, couches for victims needing shelter; stores like Wal-Mart and Sears let victims shop for free; Cochrane Road Self Storage and San Pedro Self-Storage opened space for victims who lost their homes but were able to rescue some possessions; Cochrane also acted as a collection point for community donations and many families got to “shop” for new sheets and blankets, dishes, clothing and even toothbrushes.
“Every day I go to cook, I think, ‘Thank you so much for these sharp knives,’ ” said Judi Snow, who lost everything in the fire except her car. “All the things the community and town did for us, we were just going crazy and didn’t have time to do the proper thank-yous.”
For days, the Guists’ voice-mailbox was full of messages of care. Members of the Future Business Leaders of America from Live Oak collected money and, two months later, Thanksgiving meals for each of the families touched by the fire. A local ice cream shop collected donations.
“We just felt so cared for and sheltered,” Sue said. “When I laid down to take a nap, it felt like I was wrapped up in arms and arms of hugs.”
Before Sept. 23, 2002, Uvas Canyon residents were loosely united by their penchant for secluded country living. But it took a week-long fire that claimed 34 homes and 33,127 acres of land to physically bring them together and unite them as a community.
“A lot of good came from the fire,” Speegle said. “A lot of bad, but a lot of good.”
