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Rebuild 4604 Mariposa

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Hi, we are Steve and Andrea Ward. We are trying to raise funds to rebuild our small, part-time home that we were married at on Saturday, July 9, 2022. The home was lost during the Oak Fire in Mariposa on Friday, July 22, 2022, two weeks later.

We are fundraising for funds to begin clean-up, or if that is provided by FEMA, to begin bringing services back to the property. During the first day of the fire, we lost all infrastructure, including:
  • our home and its contents,
  • the well house and pressure tank and
  • the electrical connections to each.

Our insurer canceled the insurance policy due to fire risk in the area, and I struggled with understanding how to get set up on the California plan. Unfortunately, we have no insurance to cover this loss.

We know times are hard right now for many, and it is tough for us to ask for help. It is ingrained in our natures to help others, so we find it unusual to be on this side of the challenge. But, we have been encouraged to set this up to allow others to contribute and help us if they wish.

If you contribute to this fund, please know that everything outside of the transaction fee required by GoFundMe will go towards rebuilding this place of past and future happy family memories. So, we are designating these funds to begin cleanup or restoring services to the location so we can rebuild. If we should be so fortunate as to exceed our goal, any overage will go towards:
  • additional costs for clean-up,
  • additional costs to restore services,
  • rebuild our home, and
  • assisting others in the community that lost their home during this fire.

Should we end up unable to rebuild, any funds remaining after the determination will be donated to others in the Mariposa community affected by this or future fires. #MariposaStrong

Although our home was lost, we thank all first responders and firefighters who risked their lives to protect our community during this incident. We thank the command/management and all mutual aid agencies that come together to protect the members of the Mariposa community, everyone's livelihood, livestock, pets, homes and the good heart of this community.

If you are learning of our story, the following are some links showing our home being lost or sharing our story.
  • Wildfire Explodes Near Yosemite National Park https://youtu.be/-rr2_yZLsYQ - This is the online video where we learned our home was lost. This video shows the home burning and an explosion from our propane tank. Unfortunately, the house was built by previous owners on a property line, and we could not remove brush, trees and trees that grew thick on the neighboring property. Additionally, we had a lot of trees downed by PG&E due to the powerlines that ran behind our home. The trees were left in unmanageable pieces, like a 4ft round by 5-6ft long trunk of an oak tree left directly next to the fireplace. So, while PG&E was removing trees and brush from threatening the transmission poles, they created unmanageable fuel piles.


  • New wildfire near Yosemite explodes in size, forces evacuations https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoEOkR9leHM This video contains additional footage from the house burning. Since our house was so close to the road and burned on the first night, footage from it was widely spread before we found out the house was lost. Seeing this action footage posted without warning was very emotional and triggering.

  • https://www.facebook.com/JessicaABC30/posts/425114412971179 This is the Facebook post friends tagged us in where we first saw the aftereffect of the fire on our home. Not much is standing other than the fireplace. As a kid, Andrea remembers asking her mom about the fireplaces that dot the Cathey's Valley area along Highway 140. It felt like those fireplaces had been there forever. She never thought she would one day own one of those fireplaces. The only thing left after a wildfire tears through an area.


  • Newlyweds devastated after losing home to raging Oak Fire https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/wildfires/newlyweds-devastated-after-losing-home-to-raging-oak-fire/ This video and article do a great job telling our personal story around the fire. During this interview, we wanted to raise awareness about many of the community's challenges. One item made it into the article--the state of home insurance. As stated above, ours was canceled by the insurer after many years of no claims. Others in the community may have underfunded policies and claims that won't be filled because of the high cost of building materials and labor. This issue is not unique to Mariposa nor short-term in nature.


  • Oak Fire: Newly married couple return to find Mariposa County home in ashes https://abc30.com/oak-fire-evacuated-mariposa-county-family-comes-home-returns-to-see-ashes-wildfire/12071081/ This video and article shares some of the things we deemed important while going through this experience, namely the safety of our family. However, it also includes a silly moment of joy Andrea had when she noticed a cherry-plum tree appears to have survived the fire. More about the significance of this tree to our family is available publicly on her Facebook page. In this challenging situation, we have tried to stay positive and take our wins where we can find them. The cherry-plum tree was one of those moments.


We are hopeful that we will be able to rebuild in this wonderful community we have built many memories in since 2008. We appreciate your interest in our journey through this devastation and our future healing.

We acknowledge the materials and experiences shown above are very heavy. We are so thankful that our family is together and safe. In contrast to the heaviness, we offer a picture of our family from our wedding day, courtesy of our photographer, Glen Camarda. The day we made it legal to share this crazy life together. This experience is enough to challenge any couple, regardless of their strength. We know it is bringing our family together every day and making us stronger.


Thank you in advance for your time, consideration and any assistance you may provide,

Steve and Andrea Ward


Donations 

  • Elaine Johnson
    • $10
    • 2 yrs
  • Dante McCarroll
    • $169
    • 2 yrs
  • J Anderson
    • $50
    • 2 yrs
  • GoFundMe.org
    • $503
    • 3 yrs
  • Melinda Hennes
    • $100
    • 3 yrs

Fundraising team (2)

Andrea Ward
Organizer
Mariposa, CA
Steve Ward
Team member

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