Advertisement
2007 California Wildfires

Rancho Bernardo evacuees resigned to losing their homes

By Richard Marosi
Share

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

About 1,000 evacuees are in the stands at Qualcomm Stadium, in front of TV monitors tuned to the fire coverage of their neighborhoods going up in flames. Hundreds of people who fled Rancho Bernardo are lining up for hot dogs and pastries.

Maxine Rubin, 71, awoke at 4 a.m. to see flames leaping toward her home in Rancho Bernardo from the Christmas tree farm down the hill.

Advertisement

‘Actually, it was quite beautiful,’ Rubin said. ‘The red glow reminded me of an erupting volcano.’

Seeing her neighbor’s house catch fire, Rubin grabbed her three dogs and fled. She didn’t have time to change out of her pajamas.

‘I’m resigned to losing my home,’ she said. ‘I think it’s gone by now.’

Michael Craig, 47, evacuated with his wife, two children and a grandchild. ‘I’m just happy to get out alive,’ he said. ‘The house may burn down but we’re safe for now.’

Craig took water and blankets before fleeing Rancho Bernardo.

-- Richard Marosi

2007 California Wildfires
Richard Marosi

Richard Marosi is a former Metro editor for the Los Angeles Times. He previously reported from the U.S.-Mexico border. Marosi was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2015 for his series on Mexican laborers and in 2013 for his stories on the fate of thousands of immigrants who were deported from the U.S. to Mexico in recent years. He has delved deeply into Mexico’s drug wars, producing a groundbreaking series on the Sinaloa cartel and sharing an Overseas Press Club Award in 2009. In the early 2000s, his corruption investigations in Southeast Los Angeles County contributed to the indictment or ouster of a dozen politicians and city officials. Marosi is a Southern California resident but remains loyal to the Giants, 49ers and Warriors of his native San Francisco Bay Area.

Advertisement