Tauranga's Carolyn Goodman and her beloved grandchildren who are refugees of the wildfires in Northern California. Photo/Andrew Warner
Tauranga's Carolyn Goodman and her beloved grandchildren who are refugees of the wildfires in Northern California. Photo/Andrew Warner
California's devastating wildfires have come frighteningly close to home for Tauranga's Carolyn Goodman.
Her son Nigel Weekes and daughter-in-law Allyson are on tenterhooks waiting to see whether flames will engulf their home in Sonoma - a wine-producing area already devastated by the fires.
It has been a distressing weekfor the NZME sale consultant since she received word that Nigel, Allyson and their three young children had fled the wildfires.
"They don't know from one day to the next whether their house will be burned down."
The family got out with the clothes they stood up in after they were woken in the early hours of Sunday morning by howling 100km/h winds and text alerts.
"I am feeling so relieved that the five of them are safe."
Speaking from the safety of Lake Tahoe, hundreds of kilometres from the wildfires yesterday, Mrs Weekes recalled waking to see flames racing across a nearby hillside.
"I feared for my life. I did not know where they were coming from or how fast they were moving. I had no information. It was a horrific feeling."
The disaster coincided with the family having an open home weekend, intending to use the proceeds of the sale to shift to New Zealand and start another vineyard tour business.
Allyson and Nigel Weekes and their three children pictured in tinder-dry surroundings a couple of days before the wildfires hit. Photo/supplied
Mrs Weekes and the children were staying at a friend's nearby guest house in order to keep the house spick and span for potential buyers.
"My phone kept going off and I walked outside and saw the whole hillside was on fire. It was very ominous."
She banged on her friend's door to wake them and then fled, meeting her husband across town still wearing her pyjamas.
The family then drove until the smoke was behind them, ending up booking an empty holiday home at Lake Tahoe from where they watched the carnage in their hometown unfold on the news.
Mrs Weekes said the conditions had been perfect for a fire - low humidity, unusually warm evening temperatures and very strong winds.
The latest news yesterday was that two big fires were about to merge into one giant blaze that she feared would then roll down the hillside and engulf their home.
Their neighbourhood was officially evacuated a day and-a-half after they got out, with everyone leaving except the man who lived across the road from their home.
He was putting his faith in a fire hose and water from the swimming pool and was keeping the Weekes updated on what was happening in the neighbourhood.
A haze hangs over the fire-threatened northern Californian home of Nigel and Allyson Weekes. Photo/supplied
The family left in such a hurry that Mr Weekes left behind the Green Card that allowed him to work in the USA and his passport. Thankfully the two documents had been retrieved, with their tour business' flagship minibus, an old Land Rover Defender.
Mrs Weekes said they did not know what the business would look like once the fires were out. A lot of vineyards had been destroyed, including some only a couple of blocks from their home.
"It is our livelihood. It is what we worked so hard for."
The deeply personal dimension to the wildfires extended to their friends, most of whom were involved in the wine industry.
"It is a terrible tragedy - people are dead and thousands are homeless."
As for their plans to start a new life in New Zealand next year, she said the prospects of selling the house would diminish as new realities emerged from the aftermath of the fire.
"Our hearts want to come to New Zealand, to introduce our kids to the culture. But we are still not sure if we will lose our house to the fires."
In the meantime, the adventurous outdoor life at Lake Tahoe was taking the edge off the horrors of the fires for their two oldest children aged 6 and 4. Their youngest child was 8 months old.
"The kids are dealing with it better than us," Mrs Weekes, a professional photographer, said.
The family's house and contents were insured.
Northern California's wildfires
- Deadliest on record (29 dead so far) - 400 people unaccounted for - More than 3500 houses destroyed by 21 fires - Torched more than 77,300ha
