Bye 216

[Ranger Paul18578]

This is what is left of my beloved Hunter 216 after the devastating fire in Paradise, CA. My house is a pile of rubble and ash also. We landed on our feet thanks to God and have moved into our new house in Defiance, MO...which we purchased furnished!

In a nutshell: We barely escaped alive with one car, three of our four cats, some underwear, some of our medicines, and my computer. My wife had been basically bedridden for three years before the fire. The DAY BEFORE the fire, doc changed my wife's BP med, she took her first pill, and she got better. Without the med change, I would not have gotten her to Missouri where my daughter lives. The third house we looked at was OUR house the minute we walked in. Even though fully furnished, my wife noticed nobody lived in the house. So we made an offer to include EVERYTHING in the house...and the seller accepted the offer sans the bedroom set. Two week escrow. We bought a bed and bedroom set and moved in. Pretty unusual.

 

[Ward H]

So sorry for your loss but glad to hear your wife is better and you landed in a new house quickly.
Merry Christmas!

 

[jssailem]

Merry Christmas Paul. Happy for you in your Missouri Find.
It was an amazing fire. How are the trees green in the photo background yet your boat a pile of ashes and melted metal? Pray you had insurance and the claims process is swift.

 

[shemandr]

Sorry for the loss of the boat and home; but glad you landed on your feet.
“One door closes and another opens”.

 

[Will Gilmore]

Devastating. All the best to you and your wife.
A great blessing to find your new home and your wife's new meds.
I hope, also, that you aren't without a sailboat for long.
Be well and have a better new year.

-Will (Dragonfly)

 

[Leeward Rail]

Damn... Congratulations for landing on your feet so quickly.

 

[Rick D]

Wow! Took out the whole community. I'm sure it's heart-wrenching to leave your neighbors, friends and associates. But, you have a fresh start. Good for you!

 

[chuckwayne]

so sorry to hear of your loss...good luck on your new home/new start! It's great to hear your wife is doing better on her new meds.

 

[Tom J]

Close call! Good luck to you and yours. Be well

 

[Ranger Paul18578]

The fire was a "low" fire and generally didn't get into the tree tops...thank goodness. Many of the trees will survive. If it had gotten up into the trees they would have come down trapping everyone. I think part of the reason is that Cal Fire wanted everyone to clear low growing plants and trim the tree branches up to as high as we could reach. This technique apparently worked! I did my boy scout thing (and, according to my daughter, probably saved a few lives) while gridlocked and watching the telephone pole in front of me, which was now leaning over the road, burn at the base. I got out my itty bitty trusty fire extinguisher from the trunk and put out the fire...it used the whole can. This way, it did not block the road.

 

[Will Gilmore]

What a great story to have to tell. The unsung heroes are those who take the steps to avoid or mitigate problems before they happen. Nice.
Still, I'm so sad about your loss.

-Will (Dragonfly)

 

[Tom J]

The fire was a "low" fire and generally didn't get into the tree tops...thank goodness. Many of the trees will survive. If it had gotten up into the trees they would have come down trapping everyone. I think part of the reason is that Cal Fire wanted everyone to clear low growing plants and trim the tree branches up to as high as we could reach. This technique apparently worked! I did my boy scout thing (and, according to my daughter, probably saved a few lives) while gridlocked and watching the telephone pole in front of me, which was now leaning over the road, burn at the base. I got out my itty bitty trusty fire extinguisher from the trunk and put out the fire...it used the whole can. This way, it did not block the road.

Thanks for the info on the Paradise Fire, Paul. We got an education on wildfires this summer. Visibility in the midwest was down to a mile or two, due to wildfires from the West Coast to Wyoming and Utah. As we watched two wildfires burning on the north rim of the Grand Canyon (we were on the south rim), a park ranger showed us, on his smartphone, 35 active wildfires in western U.S. The National Park displays we saw in several parks pointed out that the forest could recover from a low fire in a season or two, but it took up to 30 years to recover from a crown fire.

 

[JerryA]

Glad all turned out OK. I can't imagine going through something like that. I did always wonder what would be left of a composite Hunter in a fire. I had a 2005 Hunter 170 for a few years. Had lots of fun with my 170.

JerryA