Thanks for visiting my page. My name is Sarah.  On August 29. 2021 my entire world was turned upside down when I lost my home - and entire neighborhood - to the Caldor Fire. Here is my story (keep reading for the full version):

On August 29, 2021 my home - as well as my entire Sierra at Tahoe neighborhood - were completely decimated by the Caldor Fire. All that remains of my beloved cabin is a chimney and crumpled metal roof, resting on a pile of ashes. During evacuation I was able to leave with 2 medium suitcases, 1 duffel bag, 1 backpack and a tote bag. My 2 dogs and my cat took up the rest of the space in my SUV. The items in those pieces of luggage are now all that remains of my possessions. Everything else that I owned...my entire life's worth of furniture, art, event inventory, clothing, winter gear...way too much to list...has all been lost.

Four hotels and a month in an AirBnB later, I'm currently closing out my second month in yet another month-to-month rental agreement in a house located in Al Tahoe. I've been slowly rebuilding my life from scratch with almost nothing. I'm determined to press on despite this, and create the best possible scenario for myself. It's going to be a long road full of uncertainty, and any donations will be a huge help. I've been documenting my journey, and sharing updates across my various social media accounts. Please keep reading if you want to hear the full story so you can have a deeper understanding of my experience through all of this. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

**The Full Story:

 

Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevadas have always been my happy place. My grandpa and his dad built our family cabin in Kyburz in 1963 and three years ago, my mom made it her full-time home. Four years ago, I set the intention that my five-year plan would consist of moving to either South Lake Tahoe or just west along Hwy 50, between SLT and Kyburz. I also set the intention that I would earn my living on my own terms, working for myself.

Fast forward to 2019 and my five-year plan began to come together in three years. I moved into South Lake from a project I had been working on in El Paso, TX. At first the move into Tahoe wasn't easy at all. It was incredibly difficult to find housing. I lived in my RV for several months, then out of near desperation moved into a terrible living situation with a nightmare landlord and spent a fair amount of time in between moving from hotel to hotel, even spending a few nights here and there in my SUV. I also was struggling to figure out what career path I felt in alignment with. For nearly a year I felt like I was struggling to find my place in Tahoe, but I never doubted I was supposed to be there and that things would work out when the time was right.

Finally in July of 2020 everything fell into place. I regrouped and wrote out very clear intentions of what I was looking for in a home. The next morning, I opened Zillow and found the brand new listing for my dream house. It literally checked off every item I wrote down on my list of requirements. And the price was well below market rate. I immediately reached out to the home owner, and by 8:30am he had already had about 12 other applicants besides myself. After meeting with the landlord and his family, they decided there was the best connection with me out of all of the applicants and I was invited to move forward with the lease. One of the most important things for my landlord was that I not think of it as just a rental, that I really embraced it as my home. And that I did.

My neighborhood was perfect. Two streets down from the South Fork of the American River, right at the base of Sierra at Tahoe Ski Resort, 20 minutes from my mom's house, 15 minutes from South Lake Tahoe, only a handful of year-round neighbors, wide open forest, tons of wildlife, space for my dogs to run around, a beautiful clawfoot soaking tub, a loft that I was able to turn into my own little piece of heaven, the most perfect powdery snow in the winter (and lots of it)...I couldn't help but express gratitude as often as possible. I shared frequent posts to my social media accounts about life in my neighborhood and told stories of mountain life often. I loved where I lived so much, I pretty much kept an open invitation to any friends who may have wanted to come visit and get away from the city. I was so proud to share my beautiful, magical space. To top it all off, things fell into place with my career and I was building my dreams in that area of life as well: earning a living off of creating digital content, coaching others to become their greatest versions, and reading/teaching Tarot.

August 29, 2021 my dreams turned into a nightmare. Fire crews had been desperately trying everything to get a handle on the Caldor Fire which first erupted 15 days earlier, nearly leveling the entire town of Grizzly Flats. The fire was intense, fast-burning, and wildly unpredictable. I had actually just began interning with Matthew Henderson - a highly reputable and widely known photojournalist - on 8/26/2021. I spent two straight days covering the fire, seeing first hand what it was capable of and helping to provide answers to people impacted by the fire who could otherwise find very little information (including my mom because the fate of Kyburz was up in the air for more than two weeks). I filmed and observed a massive back burn effort in Strawberry in the very early morning hours of 8/28. I then returned to my hotel feeling confident that the fire would probably reach my cabin but it would be at slow rate of speed and firefighters would be able to defend the structures in my neighborhood while it passed through.


This was not the case.


I saw early morning reports coming in via Twitter on 8/30 that the fire behavior went completely rogue, making a 3 mile run in the time it was making only an average advancement of .4 miles the 15 days prior. None of the personnel were prepared for this. They could do nothing but scramble to get out of the way of what was described as a "vortex" and "wall of fire." Sierra at Tahoe ski resort and the surrounding neighborhoods were directly in the path of the fire during this explosive and destructive run. My neighborhood, Phillips Tract, was the neighborhood directly at the base of the ski resort. And this brings us to the part of the story I started with.

How your donations will be spent:

• Temporary accommodations until I can find a more permanent option for relocation. I'm currently in an extended stay in Reno, which cost me $1,200 for one week due to the Labor Day holiday. I'm looking into the possibility of a month or two at an AirBnB as the county slowly opens back up, but either way my options for right now are going to be very costly.
• Essential items such as food, toiletries, pet food, etc. I had to leave everything in my pantry, fridge, medicine cabinet, pet supplies (I could only bring food, leashes and dishes. I couldn't fit their two large crates, my cat's litter box enclosure, all the dog toys, pet beds, etc)
• Cold weather apparel such as coats, snow boots, snow pants, gloves, beanies, fleece, jeans, sweaters, etc.
• Home office supplies - I run my own business from a home office and lost everything from stationary to my laser printer
• Spiritual Items - tapestries, crystals, statues, herbs, candles, altar tools, reference materials, singing bowls, etc.
• Utility deposits - to cover deposits required for starting utilities and services in a new location
• Furniture - I will need everything from a bed, to dishes, to kitchen appliances, towels and bedding. I will have to replace literally everything
• Move-in cost. If I find a rental property I will need first month's rent (possibly last month's) as well as a security deposit. I will be looking into all options available to me, including the possibility of purchasing land or a forest service cabin. The second set of options would, of course require a down payment.
• Making up for wages lost from having to cancel or postpone thousands of dollars worth of client readings and consultations

So much love and gratitude,

Sarah