Fire Coverage From the U-T

The San Diego Union Tribune had an interesting article about people who didn't evacuate today. It talked about both those who died or were injured and those who were able to save their houses.

The story humanizes the fires by bringing to light an on-going battle we fight as human beings — is any kind of property worth risking your life for? It's easy to say no; but the question becomes complicated when you think about wedding and baby pictures, old letters and family heirlooms.

Even if you'd never dream of risking your life over a piece of property, you can understand how some feel a need to when you think of pieces of property as memories instead of paper, glass and wood.

A portion of the story:

On Sunday, four firefighters were injured trying to rescue a father and son who tried to keep their Potrero house from being destroyed. The father – Thomas Varshock, 52 – was killed and his son, 15, badly burned.

Yet as the fires progressed this week, even some firefighters couldn't find it in themselves to second-guess homeowners who remained on their land. It was as though the decision whether to flee or stay and fight was such a personal one that to question it would be like challenging someone's religious beliefs.

Jim Nadal, who stood ground Tuesday morning as the Rice Canyon wildfire roared toward his Fallbrook house, said he felt “a little sheepish” as firefighters approached him while he was attacking the flames with a giant hose. He knew he wasn't supposed to be there; his Red Mountain Heights Drive neighborhood had been evacuated the previous afternoon.

SEAN DuFRENE / Union-Tribune Jim Nadal, ignoring an evacuation order, sprayed down hot embers Tuesday morning as he battled to protect his Fallbrook home. Nadal said that had he not stayed behind, his house would have been lost.

Rather than yell at him or drag him away, the firefighters simply told him to be careful and to stay on the high ground. Then he and the crew attacked the flames together.

Nadal, 52, a real estate broker, credits the firefighters with saving his house. Still, they didn't arrive until dawn Tuesday, after he'd spent several hours battling the flames on his own. (His wife and 16-year-old son had evacuated the neighborhood on Monday night but returned Tuesday and joined the fight.)

“There's no question in my mind that if I weren't here, my house would have gone,” Nadal said.

View the whole story here.