Prompt action by firefighters from all over the state averted loss of life and minimized property damage in last week's Topanga fire, said parishioners who were evacuated during the conflagration.
St. Bernardine of Siena School principal, Paula Dersom, a resident of Bell Canyon southwest of Chatsworth, evacuated her home Sept. 28 as flames fanned by Santa Ana winds raced up the hills of her community and neighboring Woolsey Canyon. She saw firefighters from cities as far away as Downey and Covina helping to save homes from destruction.
"The response was unbelieveable, everyone working together to save our homes," said Dersom, who cancelled classes at St. Bernardine School in Woodland Hills Sept. 29 and 30. By Thursday afternoon, according to Dersom, conditions worsened as the fire advanced to the hills above the school.
"You couldn't see the sun. The whole schoolyard was full of ash. It looked like we were under siege Thursday night. I've lived in the San Fernando Valley since 1959, and I've never seen anything like it," said Dersom. The Topanga fire, the biggest of three brush fires fueled by Santa Anas in the western San Fernando Valley, in Burbank and in San Bernardino County, burned 24,200 acres and destroyed three houses and three commercial buildings.
Dersom noted several St. Bernardine parishioners fed firefighters battling the blaze. One family distributed hundreds of McDonald's cheeseburgers and another arranged with a restaurant to provide 500 hot meals. When school resumed this week, St. Bernardine students were busy writing thank you notes to local fire departments.
Last Sunday, Oct. 2, parishioners at St. Maximilian Kolbe Church in Westlake Village gave two firefighters attending the 9 a.m. Mass a standing ovation. "They did a spectacular job," said Father Patrick O'Dwyer, pastor.
Evacuated from his home two miles from the church at 4:30 a.m. Sept. 29, he wasn't sure the church would escape the flames and removed the Blessed Sacrament. "There was no point in being scared, because nothing was in my control. I thought the church would be damaged, but the firefighters put it out very fast," said Father O'Dwyer.
Marie Marrewa, parish administrator at St. Jude Church in Westlake Village, evacuated her apartment before dawn Sept. 29 and observed numerous fire trucks, including one from Northern California's Napa Valley, en route to the church. According to Marrewa, only two-thirds of the school students showed up, reflecting hundreds of parishioner evacuations from the communities of Oak Park and Agoura Hills northeast of Westlake Village.
"It was very difficult to breathe," said Marrewa. Schoolchildren were dismissed at 10 a.m. Sept. 29 and the school remained closed Friday, as were all public schools in the Conejo Valley. "The firefighters did an incredible job. By 4 p.m. Thursday, everything was cleaned up," said Marrewa, who observed fire trucks remaining long after the fire was put out in case of flare-ups.
Louisville High School teachers, Michael and Nancy Bates, also evacuated their home early Thursday morning with 6-month-old baby, Brian, in tow. The Agoura Hills residents got an automated "reverse 911" call at 3:20 a.m. to vacate their apartment north of the 101 and east of Kanan Road and head for the Thousand Oaks Community Center.
"I was aware immediately of how fragile life is and how necessary it was to get out of the apartment quickly," said Michael, who job-shares his position as a morality and social justice teacher with his wife to maximize time with Brian. The couple grabbed baby clothes and photos and headed to Louisville where they slept on couches until school opened.
"It was a literal exercise for me in values clarification," said Michael, who has asked students in the past to imagine what they would grab in an emergency. Reflecting on the experience, Michael added, "It's readily apparent from last year's tsunami, this year's hurricanes and now the fire, how all of us participate in a world worthy of our attention and deserving of our efforts to love one another."
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