Jeff (Redwood) Devitt, my brother, lost his home four days ago in the explosive fires that destroyed massive areas of Santa Cruz County, California. Redwood lived on Swanton Road in the Last Chance community north of the city. His home was very small but very special. He had taken a weekend hiker’s cabin, which was all he could afford when he moved in 1987, and had turned it into a beautiful chalet that was his home for 32 years. All those years he lived with solar power and no indoor plumbing.
For days his community had been monitoring and fearing these approaching freakish fires that had been caused by lightning and were merging with one another and gaining strength and velocity. The strength and speed of the fires were so intense that efforts to contain the fires were not met with suppression efforts . The authorities were simply overwhelmed by the number of fires in the area.
In the middle of the night on August 18, he and his neighbors fled down the mountain, with all they could gather in a few minutes and carry in their cars. In less than an hour the fire consumed their homes. They had received no evacuation warning from authorities, but the roar of the fire as it approached was like nothing that could be described, and it simply could not be ignored.
On top of the loss of his home and all of his belongings, he is working through the process of making a claim with his insurance company but has met some resistance. It seems that the scope of claims coming from this natural disaster are overwhelming these companies. So far, no one has received help.
Santa Cruz County is continuing to be on high alert because these fires have so far, not abated. Evacuation orders are coming in hour by hour as one of the biggest combination of fires in California history continues to rage.
No one wants to believe their own home could be in the path of such a natural disaster. But it happened. Redwood would be grateful for any help rebuilding his life from scratch.
For days his community had been monitoring and fearing these approaching freakish fires that had been caused by lightning and were merging with one another and gaining strength and velocity. The strength and speed of the fires were so intense that efforts to contain the fires were not met with suppression efforts . The authorities were simply overwhelmed by the number of fires in the area.
In the middle of the night on August 18, he and his neighbors fled down the mountain, with all they could gather in a few minutes and carry in their cars. In less than an hour the fire consumed their homes. They had received no evacuation warning from authorities, but the roar of the fire as it approached was like nothing that could be described, and it simply could not be ignored.
On top of the loss of his home and all of his belongings, he is working through the process of making a claim with his insurance company but has met some resistance. It seems that the scope of claims coming from this natural disaster are overwhelming these companies. So far, no one has received help.
Santa Cruz County is continuing to be on high alert because these fires have so far, not abated. Evacuation orders are coming in hour by hour as one of the biggest combination of fires in California history continues to rage.
No one wants to believe their own home could be in the path of such a natural disaster. But it happened. Redwood would be grateful for any help rebuilding his life from scratch.
Organizer and beneficiary
Jeffrey Devitt
Beneficiary