PLUMAS COUNTY, Calif. — The town of Greenville was long home to roughly 1,000 people in Northern California’s Indian Valley region. And on Aug. 4, the Dixie Fire burned the community to the ground.
Residents described Greenville as a close-knit place where everyone knew each other’s names and no one was ever in need for long before someone stepped in to help. The Maidu tribe of Native Americans lived there for centuries before European settlers arrived in the 1850s amid the Gold Rush. Plumas County, where Greenville is located, is now about 91 percent White and 3 percent Native American. Many of the families who fled the area had lived there for generations.
As the Dixie Fire descended, residents of Greenville and its surrounding area had hours or just minutes to decide on the items that were most important or useful to them. For people whose homes were destroyed, those objects are all they have left.
The crisis brought into focus a daunting question: What do you take with you when you may never come back ?
Stephanie Fairbanks, 33 Greenville, Calif. Stephanie Fairbanks grabbed the ashes of her two deceased dogs and several trinkets as the fire approached her residence. Fairbanks made sure to grab the book she was reading, Gary Allen's “The Rockefeller File.” LEFT: Stephanie Fairbanks grabbed the ashes of her two deceased dogs and several trinkets as the fire approached her residence. ABOVE: Fairbanks made sure to grab the book she was reading, Gary Allen's “The Rockefeller File.”
Fairbanks had just begun to feel that she had everything she needed for her home. So when the Dixie Fire struck, she packed items she couldn’t replace — the ashes of her two deceased dogs, antique meat grinders, and several tin cans and glass bottles collected from Greenville’s long-defunct mines. She also packed a copy of “The Rockefeller File” by Gary Allen, which she was reading before the blaze arrived, and a Ralph Waldo Emerson book with newspaper poems clipped by the previous owner tucked between pages.
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Harvey Merino, 43 Greenville, Calif. Harvey Merino rushed to his house to get his belongings before the fire approached. Merino likes to keep sketchbooks of ideas for his T-shirts and decals. LEFT: Harvey Merino rushed to his house to get his belongings before the fire approached. ABOVE: Merino likes to keep sketchbooks of ideas for his T-shirts and decals.
As an artist who makes T-shirts and decals, Merino needs his sketchbooks of ideas. So he made sure to take them when he heard Greenville was in danger and rushed home from his grandfather’s house to gather his belongings. Merino said he chose items to pack by what would keep his mind busy. He left a lot of belongings behind because he expected to return.
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Brianna Angel, 10 Crescent Mills, Calif. Brianna Angel was sure to carry with her the Divergent book series and her Pokémon cards. Brianna says her photo album helps her to remember the good times. LEFT: Brianna Angel was sure to carry with her the Divergent book series and her Pokémon cards. ABOVE: Brianna says her photo album helps her to remember the good times.
When it was time to evacuate her home in nearby Crescent Mills, Brianna’s job was to get the family’s cat. She also packed her guitar — a gift from her grandpa for her 9th birthday — the young-adult, science-fiction book series Divergent, and her Polaroid camera and photo album. She got the album last Easter and filled it with photos of friends’ birthdays. Sometimes you need something to help you remember the good times, Brianna said. She’s also glad she brought her carefully curated set of Pokémon cards.
Guy Anderson Greenville, Calif. One of Guy Anderson's most important possessions is something he keeps tucked in his Bible. Anderson holds a photo of his son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter. LEFT: One of Guy Anderson's most important possessions is something he keeps tucked in his Bible. ABOVE: Anderson holds a photo of his son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter.
Already traveling in his van for a year, Anderson had gathered his most important items before the Dixie Fire arrived. Among those belongings was a photo of his adult son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter that he keeps tucked inside a Bible because he includes them in his prayers. Anderson recalled crying tears of joy at the birth of his son, Travis, and said he has been sober for 19 years to stay alive for his children.
“When my son was born — I kind of gave up on the world, and then when he was born I felt like it was giving me another chance.”
[The Dixie Fire destroyed this small California town. A week later, its residents remain in limbo. ]
Josh Olson, 32 Greenville, Calif. Joshua Olson made sure he didn't forget his great-grandmother's sewing table, which meant a lot to his mom. Olson holds the water bottle he brought with him. LEFT: Joshua Olson made sure he didn't forget his great-grandmother's sewing table, which meant a lot to his mom. ABOVE: Olson holds the water bottle he brought with him.
Items with sentimental value were a priority for Olson when he packed to evacuate. He brought his great-grandmother’s sewing table because he knew the relic meant a lot to his mom. He also took photos, a few bags of tools and various belongings that reminded him of his 10-year-old son.
Teresa Hatch, 61 Greenville, Calif. Teresa Hatch escaped the flames with her dog Dexter. Hatch always wears this rosary around her neck. LEFT: Teresa Hatch escaped the flames with her dog Dexter. ABOVE: Hatch always wears this rosary around her neck.
Hatch escaped her home with her Jack Russell Terrier — Dexter — a few bags of clothes, her mother’s ashes and a rosary that she said she always wears around her neck. Her faith has helped her maintain hope after the fire and let go of some of her fear. Hatch credits God for already having the promise of a new home. The landlord of her Greenville property has offered to rent her a house in a nearby town, where she can live with a friend.
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Ken Donnell, 68 Greenville, Calif. Ken Donnell lost some sentimental belongings in the fire. A photo of his late wife is one of the sentimental items Donnell still has. LEFT: Ken Donnell lost some sentimental belongings in the fire. ABOVE: A photo of his late wife is one of the sentimental items Donnell still has.
Donnell escaped the Dixie Fire with only his wallet, his cellphone and the clothes on his back: cargo pants, a long-sleeve cotton shirt, a heavy wool jacket and leather gloves. He was outside Greenville when the evacuation order went out, picking up his press pass to cover the fire for the Plumas News , and couldn’t return. He lost some sentimental belongings, such as a Gibson guitar built in 1963, but he was largely unfazed. Man-made items can be remade, he said. A photo of his late wife is one of the only sentimental items Donnell still has.
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Lou Tretter, 85 Feather River Canyon, Calif. Lou Tretter says he loaded up his car as the fire approached his cabin. Tretter holds his German passport from 1964. LEFT: Lou Tretter says he loaded up his car as the fire approached his cabin. ABOVE: Tretter holds his German passport from 1964.
As the wildfire approached, Tretter loaded up his red Suzuki Sidekick and evacuated his fisherman’s cabin for a shelter in Quincy, Calif. The back seat of his car was packed with a red lantern, sneakers, a cooler and plastic bags filled with clothes. Originally from Germany, he also brought his German passport from 1964. Living in the mountains, Tretter said he always knew a wildfire could threaten his town. But, he said, “that’s just how life is. You don’t have everything all your way.”
Mary Smith, 69 Greenville, Calif. Mary Smith says she made sure to take the things she knew she could not replace. Smith shows a photograph of her grandparents at an anniversary celebration. LEFT: Mary Smith says she made sure to take the things she knew she could not replace. ABOVE: Smith shows a photograph of her grandparents at an anniversary celebration.
Like many other Greenville residents, Smith had to evacuate twice — once in late July and again several days later. She packed her family history book and photos, including one of her grandparents at an anniversary celebration, before the first evacuation. When it was time to leave again, she had only minutes to grab a few more items. But she said the photos were the most important.
Ben Mullen, 76 Greenville, Calif. Clothes were essential items for Ben Mullen when he packed up. Mullen holds a photograph of his granddaughters. LEFT: Clothes were essential items for Ben Mullen when he packed up. ABOVE: Mullen holds a photograph of his granddaughters.
Although Mullen didn’t expect to be gone long, he said he still grabbed all his T-shirts, shorts and socks.
Karen Van Zandt, 63 Greenville, Calif. Karen Van Zandt wasn't able to grab much before evacuating. Van Zandt says she's glad she at least has this quilt to keep her warm. LEFT: Karen Van Zandt wasn't able to grab much before evacuating. ABOVE: Van Zandt says she's glad she at least has this quilt to keep her warm.
Grabbing a quilt made by her daughter in 2003 was as much an emotional decision for Van Zandt as a practical one. She had just washed it the previous day, and she knew she would need something to keep her warm.
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Harvey Merino III, 18 Greenville, Calif. Harvey Merino III says he mostly wanted to help his family pack. Merino holds his favorite pair of shoes. LEFT: Harvey Merino III says he mostly wanted to help his family pack. ABOVE: Merino holds his favorite pair of shoes.
The first time an evacuation order went out, Merino packed clothes, shoes, hats and photos from when he was younger. Mostly, he said, he wanted to quickly grab a few items and then help his family get packed. He had planned to leave Greenville for college soon anyway, but he had expected he would have somewhere to return home to. He said he was trying to think of the fire as a fresh start.
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Jeff Greef, 65 Outside Greenville, Calif. Jeff Greef says he took only what he needed. Among the items Greef grabbed was this hat he received as a volunteer for the Forest Fire Lookout Association. LEFT: Jeff Greef says he took only what he needed. ABOVE: Among the items Greef grabbed was this hat he received as a volunteer for the Forest Fire Lookout Association.
Greef’s decisions about what items to take when he left home were more practical than sentimental. Among the belongings he thought he would use was a baseball cap from his volunteer work with the Forest Fire Lookout Association, a national organization that promotes researching and repairing forest fire detection stations. As a retiree, Greef said he had been looking for ways to help his communities.
Mary Joseph, 44 Greenville, Calif. Mary Joseph is hoping her family photos survived the fire. The Maidu baby basket in which Joseph and her children rested as infants LEFT: Mary Joseph is hoping her family photos survived the fire. ABOVE: The Maidu baby basket in which Joseph and her children rested as infants
The fire seemed far away when the first evacuation notice went out, so Joseph’s family brought only overnight bags and photos. She and her husband took the pictures to a relative’s house on the outskirts of Greenville, where the photos still sit in a truck as Joseph worries to this day that the fire will reach them. During the second evacuation, she took a Maidu baby basket in which she and her children rested as infants. Joseph, executive director of Roundhouse Council, a nonprofit education and resource center for Native American families in Plumas County, said everything she lost can be replaced. But given the time it took to accumulate those items, she knows replacement may not be possible.
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