Buddy learning to be a regular dog

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

Qualcomm Stadium:

It was not Dennis Gulyas’ first fire. So when his brother called at 4 a.m. Monday with the news that the Witch fire was heading toward Rancho Penasquitos, he rolled over and went back to sleep.

By 6 a.m., with Gulyas still in bed, his wife, Rosa, daughter, Kimberly, and son, Dennis Jr., began packing valuables, their five cats and dog.

‘I grew up in San Diego. I’m used to fires,’ Gulyas said. ‘I figured I’ll get up later and water down the roof.’

His family left for Qualcomm Stadium, arriving at 8:30 a.m.

By 11 a.m., Gulyas was on top of his house, hosing the roof.

‘I noticed there was nobody in the neighborhood. There was a lot of ash and smoke but no flames,’ Gulyas said. ‘A cop drove up and told me to leave.’

On Tuesday, Gulyas’ family camped out under the shade of a pine tree in the stadium parking lot. He slept on the sidewalk on an inflated mattress, while his wife and daughter slept inside a tent. Dennis Jr. and a friend slept in another tent.

‘We’re all getting back to the basics, even Buddy, our dog,’ Gulyas said. At home, ‘he uses our cat box litter box. This morning he had to do his business on the ground like a normal dog.’

Gulyas said he was a Red Cross volunteer at the 1994 Northridge quake.

‘The relief effort is much more orderly here,’ he said. ‘People aren’t pushing, yelling and fighting like they were in L.A.’

-- H.G. Reza