Life in the Valley Fire Emergency Shelter

Photos by Al Francis, NapaSonomaPhotos.com

Written by Bea Karnes, Patch
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When flames raced as fast as a mile a minute across Lake County on Saturday, driven by 60 mph wind gusts, residents had no time to gather belongings for an orderly evacuation. They simply ran for their lives.

For many, the race ended at the Napa County Fairgrounds in Calistoga, opened as a Red Cross Emergency Shelter.

Evacuees arrived in cars, fancy motorhomes and beat-up pickup trucks. Once there, their needs were the same--food, clothing and shelter.

Donations poured in, volunteers appeared in droves.

Their basic needs met, the displaced residents were able to focus on the daunting tasks at hand--contact relatives to report they were safe, attend briefings with officials to learn the fate of their homes and when they may return, call insurance agents, and on down the list that seemed to grow longer instead of shorter as each item was checked off.

On Monday, some stressed residents of the impromptu tent city received free massages to squeeze the tension from their necks. Others traded evacuation stories with fellow refugees--harrowing tales they’ll recite for the rest of their lives.

And then there are the children. For them, the evacuation center is a place to make new friends, meet chickens up close and play games of pick-up football.

Photographer Al Francis spent Monday chronicling a day in the life of the evacuation center.

Earlier fire coverage:

• Wildfire Victim Was Disabled; Containment Doubles in One Day
• Highway Through Hell: Video Shows Driver’s Escape from Valley Fire Inferno
• One Dead as Valley Fire Explodes to 61,000 Acres, 5 Percent Containment
• Elderly, Disabled Woman Trapped in Home, Died in Valley Fire
• FEMA Grant to Cover Valley Firefighting Costs
• Evacuated Fire Victims Settling into Tent City
• One Person Killed in Valley Fire; 50,000 Acres Burned; Hundreds of Homes Lost
• Exhaustion, Desperation, Humor at Calistoga Evacuation Center
• “Huge Destruction. Homes Destroyed Will Be in Hundreds”
• Valley Fire Roars Through 40,000 Acres in 12 Hours