Ray Morgan Company Employees Impacted by the Fire That Destroyed Paradise, California, Share Their Stories
On November 8, 2018, wildfires blazing across Northern California, destroyed the town of Paradise. Known as the Camp Fire, it was the deadliest and most devastating wildfire in California history. It created a firestorm that moved into the densely populated foothill town of Paradise and by the time it was contained on November 25, it had scorched an area of nearly 240 square miles, destroyed 18,804 structures, and taken 85 lives with three still missing. Total damage was estimated at $16.5 billion.
While visiting Ray Morgan Company (RMC) during our dealer tour in early February, we had an opportunity to meet with seven of its 17 employees who were affected by the fire. It was a moving experience listening to their stories.
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Tom Tinsley, service, data analysis and management, and parts operational manager, was at home when he looked out his window and saw an orange sky getting darker and redder by the minute. He knew he had to get out. He and his son packed up Tom’s truck with his computer, pictures, and two dogs, and drove to the main road, only to find it completely blocked. After over four hours, Tim told his son to leave his car and get in his truck.
Cars were burning on the main road and going north, we had to drive in the middle of the road so that we wouldn’t burn. We moved into a church parking lot and people were flat out in shock. It got pitch black. The road opened and closed as an RV was on fire. We moved to another parking lot.
The fire was coming at us from all directions. We tried to get to the main road out of Paradise. There was a kid asking people to help get his grandpop out. The firemen said, no way we can let you go back in there, you will never get out. I don’t think his grandpop made it.
It took us seven hours to get out. We went to a friend’s house in Chico and then stayed with my Mom for 10 days. I am now staying with a friend. The fire doubled the population of Chico overnight. Because of the fire, the cost of housing has become very high and people have had to move a long distance away to find a place to live. We had problems with the insurance check and could not cash it. I’m not sure if we are going to get everything we should. It has been very frustrating.
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Rosey Moorhead arrived at work early that day. Two hours later a co-worker told her there was a lot of smoke coming out of Paradise. Terrified by how fast the fire was moving, she drove home to rescue her dog. The police told her she had 18 minutes to get her dog and get out of there.
Driving up the Skyline (the road into Paradise from Chico), the sky was black, and they were closing the roads. Everyone (the Chico community) has been incredible, and it seemed as if everyone opened their homes to give aid and comfort to those of us displaced by the fire.
Visibly shaken while retelling her story, Rosey had no place to go, or family or friends she could ask for help. She
asked RMC for a transfer to the Roseville Branch (about 90 miles south of Chico), where she was offered an apartment to rent. She has no plans to go back to work in Chico or return to Paradise.
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Laura Rotton, who works in inventory control, observed that because the town was situated in a forest and residents had been evacuated before, everyone expected to go back home after the fire was put out. She and her husband Andrew, who works in accounts receivable at RMC, left Paradise together with black clouds of smoke looming over them. They spent three agonizing days wondering if their home was destroyed by the fire. Once they were able to return to Paradise and saw the damage, they filed a claim and it was handled quickly. Laura was the only employee we interviewed whose claim was honored in full.
Each (RMC) branch adopted one of us and we could reach out for any help that we might need. We got married young and I guess I am too young to be making all these decisions about our future. We have a strong faith and a sense of living in the moment.
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Jennifer Christensen is a customer service representative. She is a single mom of a 2 1/2-year-old son, Avery, and is extremely grateful for the assistance that RMC provided them. Each of the company’s 18 branches adopted and provided support to one of the employees impacted by the fire. When the fire started, she was already at work. As soon as she heard there was a lot of smoke coming out of Paradise, she immediately left work to pick up her son who was being cared for by friends she described as her “adoptive family.” The highway patrol wouldn’t let her take the Skyline, the quickest way to her home, so she went back to the office and called her friends, who were preparing to leave Paradise with Avery ahead of the flames.
I could not leave him. I felt like my mind was gone. I never made it home and other than [my] cat and my grandma’s ring that was all that was recovered. I am 34, a single mom, and have to pay for daycare. The homes that are available are limited and expensive.
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Jennifer Putnam, senior customer service specialist, contracts, and aftermarket supplies, was at work when the fire started, like many of her co-workers. Like Christensen, she left work to try to get back home but could not get through. Her husband, who suffers from neuropathy and finds it difficult to walk was still at home. Fortunately, her 26-year old daughter was not home when the fire started raging. Putnam called her husband, telling him to take the family’s two dogs and leave. It was a traumatizing experience because all cell phone calls were limited to 911 calls, and she was unable
to find out if he and the dogs made it out of Paradise safely. She reunited with him at an evacuation center later that evening. They were renting their home and did not have rental insurance. They are not returning to Paradise and are looking for a place in Chico.
My house was still standing, and I was able to get some of my belongings. Within one day, we were given Walmart gift cards and gift packages.
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Diane Lewandowski is a meter supervisor at RMC. Driving to work that morning she could see smoke coming from what she thought was a fire in the canyon. Her husband Antoine called, telling her, “This is bad!” He left work to go home and pick up some necessities with their daughter Natalie. As old hands from past evacuations, they had already packed a “fire suitcase.” Her instructions to her family were, don’t forget your blood pressure medication, passports, birth certificates, and the dog. By 8:30 a.m., it had become so dark their solar driveway lights went on and propane tanks were starting to explode. It took an hour to get from Paradise to Chico. The family will stay in Chico and aren’t sure if they will return to Paradise.
We landed at our other daughter’s house, while my son had about eight people from Paradise staying at his house. With all those people in the house, I went back to work the next day. Antoine knew everything was lost and Natalie got a P.O. box. Fortunately, the house and the business were insured. We had recently received (October 2018) a notice from Nationwide that they would no longer insure homes in Paradise effective December.
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Dustin Wandtke, database administrator and IT project manager, is married and has one daughter. He lived in Paradise for 14 years and had been evacuated eight times. Dustin was at home and was hearing on his scanner complaints about the traffic, so he knew something big was happening. He gathered his two cats, goldfish, and emptied his safe and left. “It was hailing ash and propane tanks were exploding,” he recalled. Firefighters were ordered to save people, not structures. Dustin lost a truck and a car. His insurance provider has been difficult, and Dustin has become so frustrated dealing with the insurance company he does not even want to pursue it anymore. Of the 10 houses on his street, only one survived.
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CJ and I were deeply moved by these stories. Each survivor’s strength of character and commitment to get back to living a
normal life impressed us both.
Everyone we spoke with expressed their gratitude to RMC for everything the company has done to assist them through this tragedy, including providing financial assistance and gift cards. Greg Martin, RMC president, and Chris Scarff, executive vice president and owner, also shared their gratitude for the generous support their employees have received from other dealers, manufacturers, and vendors, including Canon, Continuum, Hytec, Ricoh, UBEO, and US Bank, which have also been extremely generous with their donations.
Like these companies, The Cannata Report also remains committed to helping the RMC employees included here, as well as the many others impacted by the Camp Fire.
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