Bay Area wildfire victims offer hope to Southern California survivors who lost all
The scenes of devastation in Southern California are all too familiar for many people in Northern California affected by wildfires, and some are offering hope for survivors.
Santa Rosa resident Pamela Van Halsema says she can't help but feel on high alert seeing the images coming out of Los Angeles County.
"I just snap into a vigilance, kind of like I've got to stay abreast of what the latest information is," said Van Halsema.
Just like the thousands of people in SoCal coming home to nothing but ash, Van Halsema and her family lost everything when the Tubbs Fire plowed through their Santa Rosa neighborhood back in 2017.
"It felt like when you know in The Wizard of Oz when she looks out the window and it's a tornado, that's what it looked like when I looked out my window," said Van Halsema.
Van Halsema and her family escaped the flames in the nick of time but their house, along with their entire Coffey Park neighborhood was destroyed.
"It looks like a war zone or like the moonscape. I mean it's just flat, there's nothing," she said.
Santa Rosa resident Steve Rahmn also lost his home in the Tubbs Fire.
"We had my mother-in-law, a dog, my niece, my wife, all piled in the car and just sat over there just in awe, just looking at everything that's going on, just what you see today," he said.
Rahmn grew up in Santa Monica and says the video coming out of that area over the last day has been devastating.
"Places that I've played, you know, walls climbed on, places we used to hang out, and those are all gone," he said.
Rahmn has been doing all he can to help out and give advice to those impacted by the Los Angeles County fires.
Van Halsema says she, too, has been in touch with people down south.
"Honestly all of us just want to help and we're exhausted by the idea that this is happening to another community," said Van Halsema.
More than seven years after the Tubbs Fire, the Coffey Park neighborhood has been rebuilt for the most part. Both Van Halsema and Rahmn say one good thing that came out of the experience is that the people who live here are closer than ever.
"You know it was about recovery from the fire but now it's like, let's enjoy our neighborhood because social connection is one of the most, the best things you can do for resilience," said Van Halsema.
Both know the folks down in SoCal are still in the thick of the disaster. They say all those survivors will most likely go through a lot more heartache before they can get to the stage Coffey Park is at today, but they want them to know it will come.
"You know right now it's about comfort, getting yourself a place to live. There's so many more needs right now. Hope will come," said Rahmn.
