Living in the Ash; Retired Fire Victims NEED US
Gary Balmain Sr., & fiance' Juli Young are a family of 2 Retiree’s and 4 dogs, all named for their love of The Beatles: Lucy, Penny Lane, Sadie & Bruno aka Sergeant Pepper. Their home was their retirement dream that they built themselves after a lifetime of working and saving. They lost all of this in the #OakFire north of Willits, CA, on September 7th, Labor Day.
They are currently living in the toxic ashes, directly on the 101. They have no other place to go. Their dogs are ashy, THEY are constantly ashy, Bruno has stopped eating & they can’t take showers. They are all surviving on bottled water. They have no refrigeration in their donated trailer. They desperately need our help financially to help them overcome this disaster. FEMA has not, and likely will not, respond to this emergency because it simply was not large enough to warrant response from Federal or State Aid. They, like so many others in California, could not afford the extremely high cost of insurance for their home.
“We are often referred to as the ‘Boats People’” - says Juli. That morning, Gary Bailman and Juli Young got a phone call from a friend in Brooktrails asking if they were going to evacuate. “We immediately looked out the window and saw a wall of flames on the mountain behind us. Thankfully our dogs were in the house, so we started loading the dogs & some valuables in our truck. Right about then, a Mendocino County Sheriff came up our hill and was so relieved that we were already all loaded and prepared to leave. We only had time to load a few things. We only had the clothes on our backs. We went down the hill and the freeway was already closed, so we pulled over and watched. We saw 5 plane loads drop retardant near our home so we thought there was a chance we made it. We were just hoping that the flames wouldn’t go to the house. When we were finally allowed to get back in, we expected to see the house still standing. The firemen were able to save one of our boats, somehow. We were told the retardant had protected the house by someone. Imagine how we felt when we saw that everything was gone.” They watched as their home & property were consumed by fast moving fire. Please consider helping them recover. The area where they are currently living does not get cell service or internet service so getting this fundraiser started earlier has been impossible without help from our neighbors. They didn’t just loose a home, they lost a dream & tools & plans for their future retirement. Their outlook throughout this tragedy has been enlightening to see such positivity for the future, even while embers still are burning roots and spot fires in the area.
These are our elders, and they deserve a fresh start from a loving community. They are good people who have helped many over the years, yet never before asked for help themselves. Let’s show them our support. - Devi Genuone (A neighbor on the 101)
Current Needs and the Reason for this Fundraiser:
- We lost our 2 bedroom home & 5 vehicles & 2 trailers and all the contents.
- We need help cleaning up and hauling debris. This is not cheap. We need to raise at least $2,000 to start this process with Bud Garmen (although he is working the fires and we need a livable
space asap). We know we need to rent a Caterpillar to start.
- We need help with a down payment for a more livable trailer.
- We have no running water and cannot bathe.
- One of our dogs, Lucy, has a bladder infection & needs Vet.
- We desperately need a livable space if anyone has something for the next 4 - 6 months while our property is being cleaned. For us & 4 dogs.
- Our dogs used to run free on our property and three times now they have gotten loose from their small pen and almost run over on the 101. It is not safe for us or the dogs or anyone to be in this contaminated ash. 
Tarps
Sun sails
Water (2500 gallon water tank)
Propane refrigerator for the trailer
Deep Cycle Battery
Battery charger
Size 15 mens rubber boots