Help Julia start over

Hi, I'm Dulcy.

Many of you know that my family lost it's anchor, my Dad, Michael Brown on July 25th.

Just 44 short days later, my amazingly sweet and resilient step-mom Julia (she prefers to be called Rocky) lost their beautiful home in Michigan Bluff, a small tight knit community outside of Foresthill, CA.

When they moved in over 20 years ago, my dad told me this was his retirement home and he never wanted to live anywhere else. Even though he didn't like to think he would ever die, he told me he wanted to die in that house. This home was built as a mining cabin in the 1800's by a close friends grandfather. As you can imagine, plumbing, electricity, telephone and eventually high speed internet had to be added over the years. This only added to the charm and intrigue of this house.

The Mosquito fire started near Oxbow reservoir, which is probably close to 10 miles away from their house, as the crow flies, on Tuesday, September 6th at 6:00 pm. This fire exploded in size so quickly that within just a few hours, flames were visible over the ridge and people were beginning to evacuate. Julia waited a bit, loaded very few belongings and papers, as well as Louie, her devoted old English bulldog into the truck and left in a hurry. Julia went to a friend's house and fretted all night. Very early the next day, she attempted to go back to the house to gather more belongings, but was quickly turned away by fire crews, as it was too dangerous. Julia pleaded with fire crews to at least open the house so the cats could get out, and open the chicken coop so the chickens could get out.

At this time, evacuation areas were expanding, and she and her friend made the decision to leave Foresthill and get a motel room in Auburn.

As they settled into their motel room with their two dogs, they watched TV coverage which showed that the fire crews were using their driveway as a command center. Pretty cool right? Seems reassuring right? No!

Just a few hours later, the house, chicken coop, vehicles and shed with my dad's prized possession, his beautiful Harley Davidson motorcycle inside were all destroyed by fire. The above picture is indeed what remains of their house, and has been posted all over the internet.

While watching the footage on TV, Julia suddenly remembered so many things that she didn't grab on her hasty escape from the house. Most importantly, the urn with my dad's remains inside, the keys to the safe that she did grab, cell phone, her prescription glasses, prescription medicines, checkbook, or even a change of clothes or a toothbrush. Not to mention photographs, family cookbooks, heirlooms or anything of sentimental value.

Because Julia was a renter, there is no insurance coverage for anything. The two cars and Harley only had liability insurance, and won't be covered.

Please help Julia (I call her Little Momma) get back on her feet. Rentals in California are very expensive, and she has to start completely over with literally everything from clothes, toiletries, furniture, bedding, household goods to food and so much more. Please donate what you can, even a couple dollars helps!

Thank you from the very bottom of my heart.