Sac State professor loses home in North Bay fires

Courtesy of the California National Guard

Aerial photographs from the California National Guard show entire neighborhoods leveled by burnings. At least 5,700 buildings have been destroyed in the fires spreading across Northern California since Oct. 8, according to state officials.

Claire Morgan
October 17, 2017

Multiple fires broke out and spread quickly in the North Bay Area the night of Oct. 8, leaving dozens dead, hundreds homeless and thousands to evacuate, according to Cal Fire’s latest numbers.

The effects of the fires extend beyond the reach of Wine Country, however, including to one Sacramento State professor who lost her home but feels lucky to have escaped the flames with her life.   

Kathleen Lucier, a communications professor, was in the thick of the Atlas Fire that windy night.

Lucier’s home was located in the Silverado neighborhood in the hills of Napa. On the night of the fires, Lucier said that she and her husband had hosted friends for dinner and went to bed shortly afterward.

It wasn’t until they were already asleep that the fires started.  Lucier said that she and her husband awoke to knocking and shouting from neighbors, alerting them to the fire that was rapidly approaching the couple’s home.

“We had a beautiful window that looked out over the mountains,” Lucier said. “My husband ran downstairs to see who was knocking on the door, and as we got up, we saw that there were flames up on the hill behind our home.”

Lucier said that she grabbed her purse and phone, and her husband grabbed his computer and hard drives.  

“We went into the garage, and when we opened the garage, the flames were actually coming over the front of our house,” Lucier said. “We just got in the car and left with nothing.”

Lucier said that she and her husband spent the rest of the night with family nearby, expecting to be able to return to the area where her house was located the next day. It wasn’t until the next morning, she said, that she learned of how large and damaging the fire was. 

Lucier and her husband have been staying in a hotel but recently learned that they got approved to rent a home in Napa — a situation which she says is preferable since her family is in the area.

Although the situation has been devastating, Lucier said that she feels thankful that she and her family members are safe.  

“We feel so blessed that we’re here,” Lucier said. “We lost our home and all of our belongings, and that’s sad, but we just are unbelievably blessed with the fact that we’ve got each other.”

Lucier said that fellow faculty members have shown an outpouring of support by offering to teach her classes and opening their homes to the couple.

“My goal is to be back on campus next week, just because I want to start getting back to a normal life and being with people that make that life normal,” she said.

Cely Smart, the chief communications officer in the Office of the President at Sac State, said  Student Affairs plans to work with faculty in excusing students from class who may have been affected by any of the North Bay fires.

“You think about the horrific situation that we’re facing in our country right now, and you go through something like this,and you realize that we’re all basic, stripped-down people and care deeply for one another,” said Lucier. “All this other stuff really gets put into perspective when you think about life in general. People are good, we’ve just seen nothing but goodness as a result of this.”

For more information about the fires, go to fire.ca.gov.