A cat, a mailbox and a walnut tree offer glimmers of hope amid the ashes of this California town
As raging wildfires continue to tear through California's wine country leaving a path of death and destruction, one family has found small signs of hope amid the charred remains of their former home.
Brad Sherwood spoke with As It Happens on Tuesday about fleeing his Santa Rosa home over the weekend with his wife, their seven-year-old son and five-year-old daughter.
Later that day, the couple returned to find the entire neighbourhood had been burned to the ground by the wildfires that have claimed at least 21 lives so far across Northern California.
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- AS IT HAPPENS: Family narrowly escapes raging wildfire
Host Carol Off touched base with Sherwood again on Wednesday to discuss what he found amid the ashes. Here is part of their conversation.
Brad, when we left you yesterday you were just about to see what was left of your home. What did you find?
I did not find my home. Nor did I find my neighbourhood. It was just a blank slate of ash and debris. There was no evidence that our neighbourhood even existed except for the stone and bricks of the fireplaces.
How did the kids and your wife respond when they saw that?
The kids stayed in Sacramento with the Grandmas and were being spoiled with toys and love as they should be. We went to the house with my wife and I and my dad and her dad, and we all were in sheer devastation.
We may have lost everything, but it's not going to stop us.- Brad Sherwood, Santa Rosa resident
And when we returned back to Sacramento, the kids were already in bed asleep. But this morning when they woke up, my five-year-old daughter came up to me and said, "Daddy, when can I go back home? I want to get some of my toys. Did you get some of my toys?"
We were able to get a few fragments of her porcelain dolls, and we were able to locate some rocks. My son loves rocks and gems and minerals, so we had a whole collection in his bedroom.
And how did the kids respond when they learned and saw that?
Oh, they were very excited — very excited to have those small items. They still don't understand the house is gone. All that we've said is, you know, "We're going to be building a new house and it's going to be better."
One thing you mentioned to us last night as you were heading to the house ... you were hoping that the walnut tree in your front yard had survived.
As we ran towards the house, sure enough, the walnut tree is still standing and the limbs are all intact. As a matter of fact, there's still some leaves on the upper left-hand portion of the tree and I'm really hoping that we can do everything we can to revive that tree.
Another beautiful thing that's happened in the 24 hours since we've spoken is I've been in contact with many of my neighbours, many people that I did not know whether or not they had escaped. And it's just so heartwarming to know and hear their voices.
And, you know, we've all decided that we're all going to get back together and be, you know, Sonoma County strong.
You know, the thing that's striking about this conversation and the one we had last night is your optimism. I mean, last night when you spoke, you knew your house was gone, but you were hoping for the walnut tree. You sent us a photo today of your mailbox that's still there and you're standing there beaming that you've got the mailbox. And you bring some fragments of toys home and the kids are excited to see them. That's real spirit.
Hey, you know, that's all we've got. That's all we've got is spirit.
And, you know, that's what life's all about is we've got to move forward and we're not going to let this fire devastate us. We may have lost everything, but it's not going to stop us.
And I'm also very happy to report that, while we were at the house, an injured cat all of a sudden appeared out of nowhere.
It's a neighbourhood cat. I've seen the cat. I know the cat. And so my dad and I immediately went over to the cat, picked him up, gave him some water.
He was clearly burnt and bleeding and we took him to the local Sonoma Humane Society, where they are treating injured animals for free, and I just received word today ... actually, about 10 minutes ago, before you called, that the cat is responding well to medication. They're pretty sure the cat's going to survive.
We plastered social media with a picture of this cat to try to find the owners and the owners saw the post. They're evacuated way out in Lake County and they're coming to get the cat and be reunited with the cat later this day.
It's just a glimpse of hope in this tragedy that we're experiencing. It's amazing. It's awesome.
