Elegant Dinner for Firefighters

Firefighter Ben Vernon was delighted as he stood on the lawn by the marina where the air smelled of grilling steaks at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina.

He and his crew at Station 8, at Mission Hills, were planning to order pizza for dinner. Then, word reached them about 6 p.m. that chefs from Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide were preparing San Diego Fire-Rescue Department firefighters an elegant dinner of grilled steaks, shrimp and fish.

"This is awesome," said Vernon, who was in on duty in Rancho Bernardo last week.

Some arrived off-duty with their families, and some were there on dinner break. Some rolled up in fire rigs.

Chief Tracy Jarman was there mingling and greeting firefighters, telling a group of them, "You guys made me proud out there."

Chefs from various hotels were in town and arranged with Starwood to treat the firefighters, Jarman said.

More help for Fallbrook residents

FALLBROOK … At Fallbrook's local assistance center for fire victims, volunteers put up two additional tents today to more efficiently accept applications for aid and issue electronic benefits cards, which allow people to buy food.
In the tents, they were able to set up 20 additional computers to register people for aid, bringing the total number of computers available to about 30, said Carey Riccitelli of the county's Health & Human Services Agency.
An estimated 525 families showed up yesterday. But because of the overwhelming demand for help, not everyone could be processed.
"We're seeing way more people today than we could previously," Riccitelli said.
Parking in front of the local assistance center was more restricted today because La Paloma Elementary School, across the street, is scheduled to reopen tomorrow. Volunteers were parking at a local church and being driven to the center in a county van and a school bus.
The center, at 341 Heald Lane, will remain open for four weeks, Riccitelli said. Hours of operation are from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday; 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday; and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday.
For more information, call (760) 731-7139.
- Bruce Lieberman, staff writer

Governor arrives in Fallbrook

FALLBROOK - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger made an unannounced and private visit to the Valley Oaks Mobile Ranch off Reche Road in Fallbrook at about 10 a.m. today.

He toured the area and spoke to residents about the memories lost in their destroyed homes.

- Bruce Lieberman, staff writer

Cleaning up in Dulzura

The backcountry community of Dulzura was quiet yesterday and its only businesses -- a cafe, a craft shop and the Post Office along state Route 94 -- were still closed.

Across the street from the Dulzura Cafe, Martha and Juan Garcia were cleaning up the property where they live. The trailer they've called home for six years was destroyed by the Harris fire. The couple has been staying with family in El Cajon for more than a week but got their first look at the mangled trailer, blackened by flames and filled with dirt ash and leaves, yesterday.

The property owner, Cecilia Mendoza, rents land to the couple and another family. Their homes were still standing.

Sitting at a concrete picnic table while her husband and neighbors raked up leaves and debris, Martha Garcia said she only took her purse and personal papers when she fled Oct. 21. Gomez speaks only a little English so Maricruz Pulido, whose family also lives on the property, translated.

"The thing that broke her heart the most was the pictures of her grandsons" were lost, Pulido said. "She's overwhelmed. She's just trying to make her mind think that she'll have a house soon."

The Garcia and Pulido families say they love the quiet, peaceful life they've made in Dulzura. Despite the scare they've had in the last week, they don't plan to leave.

"Some people say, 'Why are you going to stay right there if it's dangerous for you?' " said Herminia Pulido, Maricruz Pulido's mother. "I just love it here."

- Liz Neely, staff writer

Determined to rebuild in Deerhorn Valley

Among the only unscathed possessions at Frieda Williams' Deerhorn Valley home Monday was a bottle of organic salsa.

Surrounded by rocky, burned out hillsides high in the backcountry, Williams' home looked like the scene of an explosion, its contents spilled across the driveway. Along with the salsa, there were shriveled up plastic bottles of iced tea and blackened soda cans. The taillight on her pick up truck had melted, and one of its windows popped out.

Williams, 52, a nurse, didn't touch anything for safety reasons. So there she stood, with a couple of insurance agents, near her cracked, decimated five-bedroom home, relying on her memories of what was once there. Hers was one of dozens of homes destroyed in this rural community last week.

In a way, it was easier for Williams to list what was left: her dogs, her other car, a few T-shirts, jeans and pairs of underwear.

"What can you do?" she asked. "Either you go down or you survive and get a better life."

The piles of debris continued to give off heat, as if it was baking at a low temperature.

"It takes a while to cool down," said Mike Mohler, a Cal Fire spokesman standing with Williams. "Like a big brick oven, it stays warm for a while."

Williams pointed to a surviving photo showing what her home looked like up until just eight days ago.

"I'm going to rebuild," Williams said. "And I want it to look just like that...'cause I have to say, I really liked my house."

- Michele Clock, staff writer

Dulzura couple return to find home intact

DULZURA - James and Cora Kyser, who have lived in their home on Barrett Lake Road for 30 years, dug a hole Saturday when they returned home and buried everything from their refrigerator.

"Milk, butter, eggs, meat," Cora Kyser said, "it was all bad.

Kyser said they had been eating canned food from their shelves as well as bread and apples given to them by the Red Cross.

Kyser, who has a ministry in Mexico, said she had had only a glass of water and a piece of a bagel by 2 p.m. Monday. She said, "I'm not hungry. I'm OK."

Kyser was more concerned with cleaning up. She and her husband worked most of the day sweeping up debris. She placed a few gallons of water in the sun and was getting ready to use them to bathe.

The couple raised their children at the home and said they weren't going to let the fire scare them.

"I trust the Lord to keep us, and he did," Kyser said. "It burned all along the mobile home park and onto our property, but our house made it. I wasn't afraid."
-Janine Zuniga

Groups helping Barrett Lake residents

DULZURA … On Barrett Lake Road in Dulzura, residents whose mobile homes survived the Harris fire were receiving help Monday from the Red Cross, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and various church groups, including Crosspointe Life Church in La Mesa.

"We have a list of places, and we're going through the list and getting people cleaning supplies, gloves, masks," said Barry Sappington, lead pastor at the church. "We're here to do what we can."

Yvette Montes, manager of the Barrett Lake Mobile Home Park, which was filled with charred trees, trucks and trailers, said they were hoping for a generator to get power to the 33 of 83 mobile homes that were not destroyed.

"With no power, there's no way to run the wells," Montes said. "We have a lot of seniors. Some have been here for 20, 25 years. We need a generator."

Montes said many of the residents can't afford a home, but most are hardworking families.

"We're a community. Everybody knows everybody and takes care of everybody," Montes said.

Robert Solorzano and his family crossed the border at Tecate for the first time since it was reopened earlier today to check on his trailer, which survived.

"We didn't know it was saved until yesterday, but we didn't see it until today," said his wife, Evelia Solorzano. "We were happy to see it."

Most of the residents in the area are still without power. Most have had to throw away everything in their refrigerators and freezers.

Mantha Carter, 76, said she keeps running out of ice, and finally had to get rid of some raw chicken she had tried to save.

"Without electricity, we've used flashlights and candles, and we go to bed early," Carter said.

Many displaced residents were given five-day vouchers for hotels around the county, but many expire Tuesday. Montes said the vouchers were being extended, but residents had to call Campesinos Unidos at (858) 278-0128.

FEMA officials urged residents to apply for aid regardless of whether their property was burned. Nancy Weikel Dae with FEMA said most mobile home park residents are not insured, so FEMA could help them.
- Janine Zuniga