Page 36 - Sonoma County Gazette 11-17

Petaluma is a naturally beautiful place to live, but what makes Petaluma what it is, are the people, not the place. Even in the beginning stages of this crisis, before we had any idea just how bad it was going to get, Peta- lumas were mobilizing to help out their neighbors to the north who were
Fire and Gratitude
eeing the devastating res.
We don’t have live TV, so it wasn’t until we logged on that we learned of
Going into November, we all bring an abundance of gratitude and appreciation to our rst responders. The new fashion statement is Yellow suits. We’ve been through a trauma, and a bonding experience. If our Rancho Adobe Fire District were
on the ballot for a
sorely needed tax
increase for re
services, let me tell
you, it would be a
landslide win! Hold
that thought!
the size and speed of the recent res. However, the top of my news feed on Facebook Monday morning was already lling up with Petalumans reaching out to see what they could do to help evacuees. Evacuation centers were already opening, which I would expect, but it was the outpouring of generosity by the citizens and businesses of Petaluma that although not unexpected, still struck deep to my core.
My art is writing, and because my specialty is food, those were the types of posts that initially caught my eye. The rst post I saw was an announcement from Ken O’Donnell that McNear’s Saloon would be opening up as a soup kitchen so that evacuees wouldn’t have to worry about where they got their next meal. Next up was an o er of free lunch on Tuesday from Juan Gutierrez at Quinua Cocina Peruvian. Then came dozens and dozens of noti cations of all the restaurants, co ee houses, and caterers around town that were rushing hot food to our evacuation centers.
I spent an hour at the Rancho Adobe Fire District’s Station 2, talking with
board president Greg Karraker.
Greg jumped in to sta the Penngrove business line on Day 1 and stayed put as steady rock of clear communication.
Evacuees ooded into Petaluma as the morning progressed. Lists of needed items kept popping up on Facebook and so between volunteering at various evacuation centers, many of us spent the day scrambling around town buying up and delivering them where needed. As the day progressed, commu- nity members stepped up, often by forming Facebook groups, in order to help organize the relief e orts. Everywhere I went, I saw friendly faces, whether it was the calm demeanor of Glen Ross at the Vet’s Hall, the enthusiastic chaos
of Brian Tatko and his crew at Jamison’s Roaring Donkey donation center, or Amber Balshaw, Amber Driscoll, and Carolyn Williams helping organize meal deliveries out of Preferred Sonoma Caterers.
“I saw a crew come back after 36 hours of re ghting without a break,” he said. “They got some food, a couple hours of sleep and couldn’t wait to get right back out there. Each station has to hold back one engine and a three-person crew, yet the team is itching to get out there”.
Although I shouldn’t be surprised, there were three common threads across all the volunteers I spoke with. First, they care. Second, they all dropped everything and committed their blood, sweat, and tears (literally) in applying their caring towards the relief e orts, so that evacuees felt less like transients and more like friends. Lastly, none of them were comfortable receiving thanks, instead trying to divert my attention to someone else who they think really deserves the thanks. And even before the ash has settle, while many of them are still working on relief e orts around the clock, they are already planning on how to make something like this run more smoothly next time.
He elded calls from residents about evacuations, rumors and re progress. The Nextdoor.com threads were buzzing with questions and hearsay. Greg calmly separated rumor from fact.
One person I have to make special mention of is Michael Seiler, out of San Francisco. He married into Laura Sunday’s family, a woman whose side I have volunteered at for the past decade, volunteering my time to help with food fundraisers such as the Taste of Petaluma, Great Petaluma Chili Cooko , and Lagunitas Crab Feed. I have grown close to her incredible family, and so it was no surprise when her daughter Jessie snagged a guy with such depth of character as Michael Seiler.
Greg shook his head about the communications and technology. We are used to living in a Google/Wikipedia world, and despite our crash course in signing up for Nixle alerts, there is no single source of accurate information. He referred to a hand-drawn map of all Penngrove areas and addresses, drawn in the late 90s. It’s enough for normal re ghting times, but when people want to know the status of their home, we need technology to overlay a current digital re map with a street address. It is something that exists, technology-wise, but it isn’t in place for this re. With digital re maps being updated twice every 24 hours, information can be old.
I didn’t know it at the time, but the Sunday’s, sans Michael, were on an airplane headed east, when the res started. While running around trying to do my part, I started to receive texts from Michael asking what he could do to help. He was coming up from the city to check on the Sunday’s west-side country homestead but wanted to see what else we needed. I pointed him towards the Cavanaugh Center and the Vets Hall, where he ended up volunteering.
Next visit was to Penngrove Social Firemen’s Clubhouse. Penngrove 4-H volunteers and P.W. Scroggins transformed the social hall into a pop up donation center. The 4-H advisor Robin Booth and her team kept the site open from 7 am to 7 pm daily, while club members sorted clothing, supplies and planned deliveries. I was amazed to see long lines of tables marked by category, with clothing in neat piles. Members Keiana Grima, and Courtney and Caitlin Booth lled me in on how things worked. They created a Facebook page, Save Sonoma County, which got 500 likes in one day. “We put the word out for donations and contacted businesses for help,” said Keiana. “A team of drivers picks up donations and delivers where they’re needed. We started deliveries with a dump truck. We delivered apples to Elks Lodge 901 in Petaluma,
Although there was a small re down Lakeville Hwy, Petaluma appeared
to be in the clear. However, unbeknownst to most, a tiny re started in a eld across from the Vets Hall in downtown Petaluma. This really struck home, and so on his way to and from the Sunday’s home, Michael drove the back roads, just as an extra eye on things to make sure no new res took hold. As with everyone else who helped with the relief e orts, I am honored to call Michael Seiler a friend, and we in Petaluma thank him, and all the rest of the volunteers for going out of their way to help during these trying times.
clothes to Calvary Chapel Petaluma. Friedman’s donated air mattresses, and we delivered to the Fairgrounds. We delivered Gatorade and water to other rehouses and the CHP, too.” The group even kept re ghters in clean sox and briefs.
Please support the Petaluma businesses that supported, and continue to support the displaced re victims. And, although they didn’t do this for the thanks, please do thank them for helping to support this incredible county that we call home.
A Penngrove Social Firemen cooking team made sure re ghters got three squares a day. Kim Hanson, Chuck Lucas, Cathy Steinmeyer and Burr Wilson had a busy crew. Yanni’s Sausage and Full Circle Bakery were quick to donate food. A JavAmore Café customer stopped in to pick up a sandwich order, and stepped right into the sandwich-making crew. Oliver’s gave sandwiches for 60, Cafe Salsa, Amy’s Kitchen and Mi Ranchito donated burritos. Olive Garden and BBQ Smokehouse in Sebastopol delivered 50 dinners. It just goes on and on: the generosity and love of our community! PENNGROVE cont’d on page 37
36 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 11/17
When up-to-the-minute info was needed, he’d walk out and ask a battalion chief. “They know what’s really going on.”