Starting over five years after Gavilan fire

By: TOM PFINGSTEN - Staff Writer | Saturday, February 10, 2007 11:45 PM PST ∞

FALLBROOK ---- Fire officials, volunteers and others still grappling with the aftermath of the Gavilan fire marked the fifth anniversary of the blaze Saturday at Dorothy Roth's property, where crews began a cleanup that will clear the way for a new home for Roth and her husband.
View A Video

Roth's 3,400-square-foot home was one of 43 completely destroyed by the 5,763-acre Gavilan fire, which was ignited Feb. 10, 2002, near a De Luz ranch. It was described by firefighters on the scene that day as an exceptionally fast-moving blaze propelled by strong winds and near-perfect firestorm conditions.

In a brief morning ceremony, two pastors and a handful of North County Fire Protection District officials spoke about progress since the fire, then Roth stood to address the volunteers who showed up to help in the rebuilding effort.

"Six months ago, I would have said no, this will never happen," said Roth. "It's ... beyond anything I could have imagined."

Thirty-six homes have been rebuilt, according to San Diego County officials, and Roth's is one of the few houses that have not been replaced.

Shortly after Saturday's ceremony, the roar of dump trucks and front-loaders mixed with the sound of scraping metal as the rusted, mostly unrecognizable contents of Roth's former home were loaded up and hauled away.

Until Saturday, all of the debris that was Roth's home remained on her property as a painful reminder of the loss and the subsequent court battle in which her insurance company was released from having to reimburse her for the loss of her home.

By afternoon, volunteers from several businesses and organizations had removed the rubble and begun to prepare for a new pad where a smaller home will eventually be built.

Community effort

Some who attended the ceremony at Roth's property heralded the cleanup as the latest evidence of a strong allegiance between the fire district ---- Fallbrook's first line of defense against wildfire ---- and several community volunteer groups.

Roth herself leads one of those groups, the Fallbrook Fire Safe Council, which was formed nine months after the Gavilan fire to organize community efforts to make Fallbrook less vulnerable to fires.

Another group, the district's Community Emergency Response Team, pitched in Saturday with more than a dozen volunteers.

The third group was a handful of young men from the Fallbrook Fire Explorers program, who helped clear the site of rusted debris that had been there since 2002.

A few firefighters also showed up on their day off to lend a hand.

"It just goes to show how a private entity and a public entity can work together," said John Buchanan, spokesman for the fire protection district. "I believe this chapter is closing for Dorothy, and I believe we're going to start a new chapter."

Steve Abbott, who was the district's fire marshal in 2002, encouraged those who volunteered on Saturday to keep at it and not lose steam as time goes by.

"I hope we do something like this for somebody else in 10 years, and again in 20 years," said Abbott. "The real work begins tomorrow."

Fire Marshal Sid Morel, who has coordinated the rebuilding effort at Roth's property, said volunteers will help with the various stages of construction.

As a foundation is poured and the new home is framed, drywalled and painted, laborers with corresponding skills will be needed, he said.

As for firefighters, Morel said, "We're a little better at the demo, tearing stuff apart. Building is more of a hobby for most of us, so all trades are needed."

Remembering

On Saturday morning the sky was clear, but the air was not as dry as it was Feb. 10, 2002.

It was warm, but not as warm as five years ago.

The near-panoramic vantage point from Roth's property yields breathtaking views and, for those who fought the Gavilan fire, conjures vivid memories of the flames that turned the quiet patchwork of hills and valleys into a churning caldron of heat and smoke.

To the southwest, a stand of trees that were in the fire's path as it moved from De Luz onto Camp Pendleton still appear to bear the marks of wildfire.

"I was actually right down the street," fighting to save homes, recalled James Beebe, a firefighter who worked the Gavilan blaze and now coordinates the fire district's Community Emergency Response Team. "You literally couldn't see 5 feet in front of you. It was just unbelievable."

On Saturday, other firefighters who remember the events of that day would meander to the edge of Roth's hilltop property and point to a valley or a road where they worked that day, a hint of wistfulness in their eyes.

Roth seemed content to watch a transformation she said she had begun to doubt would ever happen.

"It's like a huge weight is being lifted off my shoulders," she said. "Today, it really is happening. I'm thinking, for the first time in a long time, 'Yes, I'll have a home.' "

Contact staff writer Tom Pfingsten at (760) 731-5799 or tpfingsten@nctimes.com.

First name only. Comments including last names, contact addresses, e-mail addresses or phone numbers will be deleted. Attempts to misrepresent your identity or impersonate any person will not be approved. All comments are screened before they appear online, so please keep them brief. Comments reflect the views of those commenting and not necessarily those of the North County Times or its staff writers. Click here to view additional comment policies.