Stories

The Dominguezes

That was the most important thing to me was, yeah, you can burn down my house, I can lose everything I got, but if I had my family, I’m actually fine.”

— Ben Dominguez

When the Carr Fire hit Redding on July 26, the Dominguez family was halfway across the world, in the Caribbean. They woke up the next morning to the news that their home was burned down. When Becky, the Director of Development at Shasta Family YMCA, Ben, a freelance contractor and stay-at-home dad, and their two kids — Rowan, 5, and Selah, 2 — returned from vacation, they found support in their Bethel Church community. They plan to rebuild at their lot at 418 Moonstone Way in Redding. 

The Biehles

“I would give anything to turn the clock back and be able to bring my kids home, but that’s not an option, you know? So you have to figure out a way of moving forward.”

— Zita Biehle

Zita Biehle, a paramedic, and five of her six children grabbed everything they could from their house at 11355 Menlo Way in Redding in the minutes before they evacuated. They had so little warning that the fire was coming that could see the flames coming down their street as they drove to Shasta College in downtown Redding, which served as an evacuation center. The next day, Zita drove the kids — Riain, 17, Óisín, 15, Aoife, 13, Caoimhe, 10, and Quinn, 2 — an hour and a half north to Fall River Mills, where the hospital she works at had a temporary home for them. Adjusting has been difficult for Zita, who works odd and long hours, and the children, who started school in a completely new place. The Biehles are not returning to Redding, choosing instead to stay in Fall River Mills and sell their old lot.

Rick Thompson and Laura Sanford

“It’s home. It will always be home. So that’s the emotional anchor that you need, but the devastation is overwhelming. The beauty has gone. I mean, it’s still beautiful, but all our trees are gone. The landscape doesn’t look the same. Every minute you walk outside and look, you’re constantly reminded of complete and utter total loss.”

— Laura Sanford

Laura Sanford got the call to evacuate not from authorities but from her son, Rick Thompson, a firefighter working on the Carr Fire. Rick fought the fire on his own property, but they lost the house, a multi-generational ranch in French Gulch, a town just 10 miles from where the fire ignited. The family — seven people and eight dogs — lived in a motel for two and a half months, before deciding to buy three trailers and return to the burned property. Almost a year after the fire, they still live in the trailers, with the rebuilding process stalled. Rick is returning to fires as the warm season ramps up in Shasta County.