After nearly a week of continuous firefighting in record-breaking heat, authorities have begun assessing the damage across the 36,000-hectare area. Fire caused in the line.
At its peak, the devastating fire threatened approximately 65,600 structures and forced thousands of people in the San Bernardino Mountains, including Brooke Palenchar, to evacuate.
“I had a really bad feeling on Friday that it was going to get us,” she said.
Palenchar, her children and her husband, who has cancer, were evacuated from their home in Running Springs on Saturday, when the fire was about 3,000 hectares.
“They had an evacuation warning out on Saturday, and we were concerned at that point, but also hopeful, because the wind was blowing in a different direction than Big Bear,” she said.
By noon, Palenchar could see the flames from her front door as they chewed through another 4,000 acres on their march toward the mountain town. She remembered the heat of the distant flames warming the air and the ash falling around her as planes dropped retardant near her home.
“Within a few hours it was done,” said Palenchar.
With a mental list of what they needed to take, Palenchar and her family scrambled to pack everything they could into four plastic storage bins. Inside were albums filled with baby photos of her nine children and her grandmother’s chip bowl, a family heirloom for decades.
“We grabbed everything we could in two hours and left,” Palenchar said.
She wished she had had more time to grab a ladder and crawl into the attic to retrieve her own baby photos and her grandmother’s jewelry.
As her family left, Palenchar said goodbye to her home. She had a strange feeling that this would be the last time she would see it.
“When we left, I could run through the walls and touch them. I was grateful for the love the house gave us and for all the beautiful memories,” she said.
As her family went from house to house, Palenchar’s neighbors who were staying in Running Springs told her about the fire, telling her that the flames were reaching her backyard.
Despite the best efforts of the fire department, her house was completely destroyed in about an hour.
“Everything is gone. It’s just gone. That’s it,” Palenchar said as she cried. “There was nothing left and it was just on the ground.”
When she heard her house was gone, she turned on the television and saw firefighters outside the wreckage trying to extinguish the flames.
“My world just stopped and everything became small,” Palenchar said. “To see my chimney standing there and the edge of our patio… It’s insane.”
Despite the pain of losing her home, she was grateful that her family had survived.
“We are very, very grateful to the firefighters,” Palenchar said. “Everybody’s life is much more important than our stuff.”
According to Cal Fire, the fire is estimated to be 36,481 acres in size and 18% contained as of Wednesday morning, making it the fifth largest fire in California so far this year. While Sheriff Shannon Dicus is unsure exactly how many homes have been destroyed, he said during a press conference Wednesday that the Line Fire has destroyed some structures.
As Palenchar shares the living room with her nine children, she couldn’t help but think how different things might have been if she had had an hour more.
“I have nothing, no memories,” she said, crying. “I wish I had another hour and a ladder.”
