Patron
Nearly a hundred wildfire evacuees slept in the Katella High School gymnasium Saturday night, on neat rows of cots placed over a vinyl tarp to protect the gym floor. Laying on them, looking up at the ceiling, there was no way to miss the 130 championship banners lining the top of the walls, two deep. There's been a lot of winning in this gym. Some here now had lost everything. They had run out of houses with arms loaded as if in a supermarket contest. Beverly Buffet lives in a senior citizens complex in Yorba Linda. When the smoke got too bad she put the cats in the car and high-tailed it out of there.
16 year-old Melody Fang frantically rushed her immigrant mother out of their Yorba Linda house. The Esperanza High School junior says she didn't bring clothes or a computer but for reasons known and unknown she brought her telephone book-thick AP Chemistry study book. She has a test soon. How can she study? A television's blaring stream of consciousness fire reports in one corner. Fire department officials announce firefighting progress and the championship banners from this high school stare down at her. Her friend's home, she says, is ashes.
Laura King also sprinted out of her Yorba Linda home. She's 21 years-old and takes business classes to fulfill her dream, her own tattoo shop. Get the things you can't replace, she thought as she left her house: she picked up her mother's dolls and Bibles belonging to her niece and nephew. Her grandfather died recently. She didn't take any of his belongings or photos.
Silvia Hernandez waited until it was almost too late to get out of her modest Santa Ana Canyon home. She's originally from Cuernavaca, the Mexican city's nicknamed "La ciudad de la eterna primavera." The city of eternal spring. Her home's on the south side of the Santa Ana River where it does a parallel tango with the 91 freeway. She moved to the canyon home 20 years ago to be close to the mansions she cleans a few minutes across the river in Yorba Linda. The fire doesn't discriminate between social classes. She's displaced as are her patrones, her employers.
She called several from the evacuation center because she's equally concerned about their well-being as with her employment. She was only able to reach one. He was happy to hear from her. For a few minutes they shared concerns about their homes and prayers to be let back in soon.
The photo associated with this post was taken by Flickr user ronploof. It was used under Creative Commons license.
