- R
- M
On the Night of September 27, 2020 I lost my home and everything I had built (& all the wealth that I had gathered & gleaned in the last thirty-six years) to an ancillary blaze of what has been termed the “Glass Fire Incident”. Most of the houses in Los Alamos Canyon del Norte & vicinity - as well as the West face of Hood Mountain - were consumed in flames that night.
Here are my daughter, Jessica Anwyn Evans', words:
"I am heartbroken for my father, who has lived there peacefully for the last 36 years. He built his house and library by himself, along with his extensive gardens, and dozens of harps and banjos that he made. The loss includes his 10,000+ book library of precious, old books, a number of his musical instruments - including an upright Caribbean Mahogany Ragtime Piano - and his ‘50 Chevy.
My father is 70 years old, a carpenter, musician, & [low-budget, freelance] writer. He has no insurance and was already without work or steady income due to the Covid-19 quarantine at the time of this disaster. If any friends or family can contribute please help !"
It was a miracle that I got out with my life and I am grateful for that. By the time I reached the stretch of Timberline Drive from the spur of McCormick Road, up to the Summit of Los Alamos Road, the flames had already breached the road, and were burning on both sides of the road in several places along the 5/8 of a mile stretch.
I had to run the gauntlet. As the old song says, "Fire on the Mountain, Run, Boy, Run." And, boy, did I run, praying every moment. There were two stretches of roughly forty feet of intense flames, embers, & billows of smoke that I had to traverse on my way up to the summit. At one point the visibility was so bad I went off the road and crashed through the fence – on the hot side of the road.
Had I not been full of adrenaline, and had my pickup truck not had the mass and momentum to break down the fence again, to get back onto the road, I would have become toast. -Had I been one minute later in getting out, I would have become toast. My old cottage was in the middle of this little map.
At the present, it falls upon me to clean up the mess, before I can put the place on the Market. There is no way I can recoup anything close to the value of what has been destroyed in this fire. In 2017, the land was appraised at $399,000. “Fire-sale” / as-is price is far less.
My Cottage & out-buildings were worth perhaps $60,000 dollars, but the contents of my Cottage and Library were worth much more than that. Family heirlooms, many musical instruments and much else of significant value is quite gone.
Whatever monies can be raised to contribute to the cost of the clean up shall be vastly appreciated. I do not yet know what the cost of that will be. If I am able to apply for a loan from the Small Business Administration, it must be remembered, it is a loan that must be paid back.
Two links:
https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=392727815227452&set=a.120846729082230
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1QNK63H7N_JezELv8Un3F3H2ioKN0GLPx?usp=sharing
Here are my daughter, Jessica Anwyn Evans', words:
"I am heartbroken for my father, who has lived there peacefully for the last 36 years. He built his house and library by himself, along with his extensive gardens, and dozens of harps and banjos that he made. The loss includes his 10,000+ book library of precious, old books, a number of his musical instruments - including an upright Caribbean Mahogany Ragtime Piano - and his ‘50 Chevy.
My father is 70 years old, a carpenter, musician, & [low-budget, freelance] writer. He has no insurance and was already without work or steady income due to the Covid-19 quarantine at the time of this disaster. If any friends or family can contribute please help !"
It was a miracle that I got out with my life and I am grateful for that. By the time I reached the stretch of Timberline Drive from the spur of McCormick Road, up to the Summit of Los Alamos Road, the flames had already breached the road, and were burning on both sides of the road in several places along the 5/8 of a mile stretch.
I had to run the gauntlet. As the old song says, "Fire on the Mountain, Run, Boy, Run." And, boy, did I run, praying every moment. There were two stretches of roughly forty feet of intense flames, embers, & billows of smoke that I had to traverse on my way up to the summit. At one point the visibility was so bad I went off the road and crashed through the fence – on the hot side of the road.
Had I not been full of adrenaline, and had my pickup truck not had the mass and momentum to break down the fence again, to get back onto the road, I would have become toast. -Had I been one minute later in getting out, I would have become toast. My old cottage was in the middle of this little map.
At the present, it falls upon me to clean up the mess, before I can put the place on the Market. There is no way I can recoup anything close to the value of what has been destroyed in this fire. In 2017, the land was appraised at $399,000. “Fire-sale” / as-is price is far less.
My Cottage & out-buildings were worth perhaps $60,000 dollars, but the contents of my Cottage and Library were worth much more than that. Family heirlooms, many musical instruments and much else of significant value is quite gone.
Whatever monies can be raised to contribute to the cost of the clean up shall be vastly appreciated. I do not yet know what the cost of that will be. If I am able to apply for a loan from the Small Business Administration, it must be remembered, it is a loan that must be paid back.
Two links:
https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=392727815227452&set=a.120846729082230
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1QNK63H7N_JezELv8Un3F3H2ioKN0GLPx?usp=sharing