Many Santa Rosa evacuees describe the last 24 hours as “reliving trauma” as the Glass Fire ravaged parts of the northeastern suburb called Skyhawk.
It was for its tight-knit community and its excellent public schools that draw a lot of young families. Now, it's known for another reason – the neighborhood that almost survived the Glass Fire – until the winds picked up.
Fire crews from the Bay Area – including San Bruno – were able to save most of the homes. But when winds gusted up to 30 miles per hour, crews could not control a cloud of embers that set several homes on fire along Mountain Hawk Drive.
“I’m seeing videos all around where nothing is standing,” said Kim Keller from Santa Rosa.
Dozens of evacuees sought refuge at the Santa Rosa Veterans Memorial Building, carrying their most important belongings in their arms.
“We got like nothing. My son has no clothes,” said Keller. “We got out with very little.
Many of the evacuees say this is all too reminiscent of the 2017 Tubbs Fire.
Local
“You’re frightened, you’re really scared, you know you’ve got anxiety, PTSD,” said Virginia Sutherland from Santa Rosa.
This is the third time in the last four years that Mike Ervin and his wife have had to evacuate their home in Santa Rosa, a tradition Ervin is tired of repeating again and again.
The Skyhawk neighborhood is still in the evacuation zone and fire crews put out hot spots Monday night.
PG&E crews have also capped off the gas mains to homes that have been destroyed.
CAL Fire has yet to tabulate and release how many homes in Santa Rosa were destroyed.
