LAKEPORT, Calif. – People in Lake County remember where they were and what they were doing when the Valley fire struck on Sept. 12, 2015. For most of Lake County, that day is seared into memory.
Seven Lake County residents will tell their Valley fire stories as part of the Lake County Library’s free lecture series “Know Lake County” at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 16, at the Lakeport branch of the Lake County Library, 1425 N. High St.
Saro Deacon and Darlene Hecomovich lost their homes in the fire and are looking forward to settling into their new permanent homes.
Deacon and her husband Reikor weren’t home when the fire barreled through Cobb and so had no chance to save anything from their home, including Saro’s treasured harps, one of them a gift from her grandfather.
She said she will “highlight the healing process and some blessings that arose from it. One blessing was that I received two harps and purchased one to the replace the two that I lost. I will play a couple of tunes on the harp.”
Linda Green is a Cal Fire division chief who was on duty on Sept. 12 when the Valley fire started and was an incident commander on the fire.
After the fire, she, along with Michael S. Green and Kimberly Minich, formed a story project called “Valley Fire Stories” to help firefighters who lost their homes to the fire.
Tom Patton and Lorrie Gray are Cal Fire volunteers in prevention who provided information to the public and the media at the Cal Fire command center in St. Helena.
John Hamner will make a presentation regarding the impact and aftermath of the Valley fire on the Callayomi Water District which serves Middletown.
Hamner is the manager of the district which lost its office, including decades of documents and history, its water treatment plant and 35 to 40 percent of its customer base.
Elizabeth Larson of Lake County News covered the fire zone along with her husband and business partner John Jensen, providing thorough, current fire news for the people of Lake County during and after those chaotic days.
The Valley fire has affected nearly everyone in Lake County in one way or another, on a larger scale than anything before it. The Lake County Library and its partners in the Lake County Museums recognize that the fire memories should be preserved.
This month Know Lake County intersects with another library program, Book-to-Action, which is teaching volunteers how to record oral histories and matching the volunteers with people who want to tell their stories.
For more information about how to participate in Book-to-Action or to receive a free copy of the Book-to-Action book, The Oral History Workshop, inquire at your local branch library.
People who have stories to tell can contact the Lake County Library at 707-263-8817 if they want to be interviewed or to share their stories about the recent fires. They will be matched with trained interviewers to record their stories.
The Lake County Library is on the Internet at http://library.lakecountyca.gov and Facebook at www.Facebook.com/LakeCountyLibrary . The Lake County Museums are on the Internet at http://museums.lakecountyca.gov .
For more information about Know Lake County and other library programs call 707-263-8817.
April 'Know Lake County' program to feature Valley Fire memories panel
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