Self-reliance in a Poway neighborhood

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

In the community of High Valley, nestled against the hills on the northeastern edge of Poway, Mike Perry, 46, and four neighbors stood amid charred ruins, using industrial water hoses to douse hot spots left by a fire that had ripped through moments earlier.
Firefighters said up to 60 homes were destroyed, as fire hopscotched from multimillion-dollar home to multimillion-dollar home, leaving some untouched, gutting others.
“It was hot. If we didn’t have the big hose, we couldn’t have done it,” Perry said as his neighbors trained the hose on a smoldering pile of what had been a home that could not be saved.
After the cataclysmic Cedar fire of 2003, neighbors bought the 2-inch-diameter hoses, as well as wrenches to remove fire hydrant caps. That fire feinted at High Valley, then veered away.
This time, the neighborhood wasn’t so lucky, although Perry and his friends, armed with their hoses, were able to save an evacuated neighbor’s two-story white concrete house. Fire engines at the time were hours away.
“They lost the garage,” an exhausted Perry said. “But we saved the house.”
He said it was not time to celebrate, though. So many homes were lost. And the fire, which had momentarily turned its back on High Valley, could always come barreling back.
“That’s what we’re worried about,” Perry said.

-- Robert Lopez