Glen Ellen residents soldier on

Amid the chaos the community fought to save its own|

When nature’s fury invaded Glen Ellen the night of Oct. 8, the winds were sudden, furious and noisy. Booms of transformers exploded in the distance. An orange glow lit the sky to the north. In Glen Ellen it was: grab the passports and baby pictures, and go south.

Much of the community evacuated in the early hours of Monday morning – to the high school, to Ramekins, to friends in Sonoma. Most were calm. Many were not afraid. But all were – and are – desperate for news of their homes.

A few of the hearty stayed behind.

Jaimie Edward Tellier lives on Dunbar Road where it crosses Arnold Drive. Tellier owns “the wood pile place” where piles of fire wood and sawdust are stored. A proud man with a steady eye and six-day stubble, he has declined three written evacuation orders hand-delivered by uniformed authorities.

“This is all I have, I’m here for the long-haul,” said Tellier. He said he’s lived here 40 years and he’s “not leaving the horses.”

“Trixie has a bad leg. Woody is a rescue from the Valley Fire and I gave my word I’d care for him,” said Tellier.

In the initial flames, Tellier lost 27 out of 58 antique John Deere tractors. Standing tall in his work shirt and heavy boots, he vowed stay and protect his 27 ducks and geese, Trixie the lame horse, and Woody the rescue horse. And he will stay to protect the land, still smoldering.

Second house on the left on Bonnie Way is the remains of Chris Benziger’s family home. As he raced to evacuate his family on the night when the fires first erupted, Benziger threw his beloved mountain bikes into the swimming pool where they lay until they could be retrieved after the fire.

A house on the right of Bonnie Way still stands as its owner grabbed a sump pump from the garage, threw one hose into his pool, and the other hose watered the house and property.

Alex Benward, one of the owners of the Beltane Ranch, rests on a tractor with his friend Steven Krauss. Alex was awakened at midnight Sunday by off-duty firefighter friends who simply appeared on site ready to fight the fire already barreling toward them off the Mayacamas. Benward quickly learned about backfires, digging trenches, and firebreaks, and together with their bobcat tractor, simple tools and a water tanker from next door Atwood Ranch, fought their fire alone until six engines and a bulldozer arrived to help. They chased showers of embers around the property and smashed them with shovels. The 1892 bunkhouse that is now a landmarked Bed and Breakfast Inn is saved, though they lost the barn, tool shed and several outbuildings.

On the corner of Weiss and Highway 12 is the old Gornecker turkey farm, recently incarnated as SPARC, the nonprofit collective growing high-grade cannabis. Erich Pearson, the director, and his friend Joey Ereñeta, stayed behind to protect the crop but all was lost. “We’re totally wiped out” says Pearson. “The dry barn burned, the crop was lost, there’s no water in the lines.” So Pearson and Ereneta are taking the opportunity to help others by feeding cats, watering horses, emptying fridges of rotting food, and checking on homes for evacuees stuck outside the evacuation zone.

Just outside the police barricades, a group of children accompanied by mom, was bringing assistance to firefighters, police and volunteers. They were delivering goody bags containing eye drops, Chapstick, baby wipes, apples and nuts. The love in the air, as they say, is thicker than the smoke.

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