Life wasn’t glamorous before fire ravaged South Lake, but it was home
There wasn’t a lot to do in town. There was the fishing derby, and sometimes during Christmas someone would decorate a tree and stand it in an empty lot, along with cardboard Santa Clauses.
But there were no parades. Most of this Lake Isabella community’s residents went to the James Sierra Gate Market – a.k.a. James Station – a shopping center with a gas station where you could buy fish and tackle and deli sandwiches.
“It’s the place you’d go to get coffee, fishing tips and the latest gossip,” said South Lake resident Louis Reyes. “When you say it’s a small town, it’s a small town.”
The more than 43,000-acre Erskine fire that roared through eastern Kern County hit no place harder than a community that was already a hardscrabble home to retirees living on fixed incomes and a working class spirit that defied the more glamorous stereotypes of lakeside living.
The fire destroyed more than 200 structures and homes. In South Lake, more than 100 mobile home trailers and houses were burned to the ground in a 1-square-mile area. Two people were killed and fire officials discovered what they believe are human remains in a burned-out mobile home in South Lake.
The recovery will be tough, but if South Lake residents have anything going for them, it’s a tendency to look out for each other, said Robert Moran, 73, a retired roofer who saved up enough money to buy property in South Lake 16 years ago.
“I love it here. You got your mountains, your hiking, fishing in the river,” he said. “What more could you ask for?”
Reyes, 59, said he used to come to Lake Isabella every summer for two weeks with his parents and brother. His mother eventually moved to South Lake and Reyes would drive from Azusa to visit her. In 2000, Reyes moved in to care for his mother, who is now 95 years old. To him, South Lake always felt more like a retirement community than a town.
He said he and his wife had alcohol and drug problems years ago. They fought often and divorced and then remarried. But life was never easy. When the Erskine fire broke out, Reyes scrambled to get his mother out of the house while his wife got her medications and important documents.
His brother helped evacuate neighbors who didn’t have cars – driving up and down Goat Ranch Road at least three times until the flames and smoke became too intense.
Some people tried to flee on foot, he said. Reyes, his wife and mother were able to escape with their dog Cloud, but their home burned down. He said he and his wife, Kimberly, 54, would like to buy the land from the owner.
“It was a beautiful mobile home with a built-in porch and big yard,” Reyes said. “We’ll have to rebuild it ourselves. We’re not going anywhere.”
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