October's epic wildfires destroyed the homes of three Southwestern College adjunct instructors. Starley Dullien, Walter Harrison and Terry Young all escaped injury, but have to start over after losing their houses and most of their worldly possessions.
Starley Dullien
English as a Second Language Adjunct Instructor
One thing SWC part-timer Starley Dullien was sad about losing when she found out her house had fallen to the Witch Creek fire was her book collection.
Dullien had more than 2,000 books in her Ramona residence, some dating to the 1880s. She had several first editions in leather-bound backings and hard-to-find books written by European authors.
"If you have something and you look at that object and there are memories attached to it, that goes deeper than just buying something pretty here and there," said Dullien. "And you know, they may just have cost 50 cents, but they have much more value."
Dullien's books burned along with her house which was purchased only six months ago. She had only lived in the 1,400 sq. ft. house for three months and said she was more attached to the things inside than to the building itself.
Bottom line, though, it is all just stuff, she said.
"This inner voice tells you, 'It's time to go,'" said Dullien. "I wouldn't even expect the firemen to risk their life in something like that. That night it would have been crazy. It was just awful."
In the aftermath of the fire the Dulliens ended up in a metal trailer home on their charred lot. Only a cream-colored shed and a set of ash-covered patio furniture survived.
Dullien and her husband came to the United States from Germany when she was 23 years old. They had lived
in a trailer then.
"Now we're going back to a trailer," she said. "So we think it's a full circle of life."
Walter Harrison
Business Adjunct Instructor
When Harrison went back to his burned-down home in Deerhorn Valley, he found melted remnants of his car in the driveway.
"There were little streams of chrome, just like a puddle," he said. "And it just froze like lava."
While being interviewed, Harrison paced. He pointed at a pinecone on a tree. He said the pinecones had naturally evolved to open up in extreme heat in order to release its seeds. This would cause seeds to fall out, scattering throughout the land and repopulating the pinecone species.
"They (pinecones) die, but other pine trees will now live," said Harrison.
Harrison said it could have been worse. He said he was thankful for still having a job, a business and his teaching position.
Harrison said he suffered $150,000 in property damage to his 20-acre lot. He was forced to evacuate by the Border Patrol and found shelter at the last available room at the Holiday Inn Express Hotel in Chula Vista, he said.
The Harris fire was not the first time Harrison experienced a tragedy. About three years ago, he lost his oldest son to a brain aneurism. He said he is willing to mentor or coach someone that has gone through a tragedy.
"I should have a "why me?" attitude," he said. "But I don't. Positive attitude gets you through anything."
Terry Young
Automotive Adjunct Instructor
When 70 mph winds made the Harris fire race toward Terry Young's
house in Deerhorn Valley, he joined his daughter and son packing and preparing to evacuate. Annuals, pictures, paperwork, clothes - they gathered what they could into a traveler trailer and drove to Young's sister's house in Lakeside.
Young has owned an auto motor machine shop in Chula Vista for 22 years and teaches automotive at SWC as a part-time instructor. He was a full-time professor at SWC for 12 years and became an adjunct after.
Young plans to rebuild.
"It'll be about the same number of square feet, but it'll be a different house because of the new code requirements," he said.
Young said a catastrophic fire had always been a possibility in the 28 years he lived in Deerhorn Valley.
"This was just one of those situations where nature came in and burned everything," Young said. "There wasn't anything that man could do about it."
For information on how to contribute to the three victims, call (619) 482-6367.
Be the first to comment on this article!