[nfbmi-talk] From My Brother: Enchanted Hills Update From the Director

Sat Oct 21 16:37:36 UTC 2017

Hello,

Below is a newsletter from Bryan Bashin director of  the San Francisco
Lighthouse for the Blind about the recent fire at the Enchanted Hills Camp,
a 100 year old facility located near Napa where the California Wild fires
raged last week.  I visited the camp in April and was greatly impressed with
the facility and the great programs for blind persons of all ages which
happen there. The entire property is similar in area to Camp Tuhsmeheta,
here in Michigan, but at quite a slant since it is on the side of a
mountain.

Please keep George and the other camp staff in your thoughts and prayers,
especially those who lost all their belongings.  Fortunately or
miraculously, George's residence was spared along with newly remodeled wood
working shop and art studio which George put so much of his creativity and
hard work into.

Warmest Regards,

Fred
Begin forwarded message:

From: Bryan Bashin <lhnews at lighthouse-sf.org
<mailto:lhnews at lighthouse-sf.org> >
Date: October 20, 2017 at 4:42:13 PM PDT
To: <gmwurtzel at gmail.com <mailto:gmwurtzel at gmail.com> >
Subject: A Photo Update from Enchanted Hills Camp
Reply-To: Bryan Bashin <lhnews at lighthouse-sf.org
<mailto:lhnews at lighthouse-sf.org> >

<https://lighthouse-sf.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f40e17a83bbae60b596
9a0798&id=2f2213f0d9&e=294a0ef151> Support our efforts to rebuild Enchanted
Hills Camp. 

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25?e=294a0ef151> View this email in your browser 

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Two firefighters survey a freshly burnt area in front of the untouched
cook's cabin for remaining hot spots.Tim and Tony stand in the dirt road,
both stroking their chins. 

Dear Extended LightHouse Family,

This Friday afternoon we want to conclude the week with news about Enchanted
Hills Camp, a few recent photographs, and some emerging stories about how
some integral parts of camp survived.

As recently as last night the camp still had numerous smoldering hot spots,
but the early morning rains helped enormously to limit the remaining fire
danger. Mt. Veeder Road is still closed to all but first responders, an
unprecedented 12 days after the fire. We're hoping that normal Mt. Veeder
Road access will be granted early next week. We're also hoping that the
hundreds of PG&E crews will get our neighbors' electricity up and running
again. However, because of the massive burn of our camp wide electrical
wiring, it will be months before regular electricity lights any major camp
buildings.

On Wednesday our intrepid LightHouse Producer, Camilla Sterne was able to
accompany Camp Director Tony Fletcher and our dauntless contractor Tim
Gregory for a visual inspection of how camp has fared. The results are
alarming but hint at how we'll rebuild in the future. The strange randomness
of fire and the hard work of this week's firefight can be seen throughout
the property.

Our new Tactile Art Barn and Woodworking Studio escaped unscathed, but
immediately adjacent to it the Porta Potty was reduced to dust. A thicket of
vegetation burned black right up to the Art Barn but miraculously the barn
survived, likely with the help of the dedicated Cal Fire crews who have been
on-site for days keeping advancing flames at bay. 

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9a0798&id=2279e4093b&e=294a0ef151> 

Enchanted Hills Camp Director Tony Fletcher and contractor Tim Gregory stand
in front of the unscathed Art Barn speaking with two firefighters. Flames
came just feet from the Art Barn, leaving ash and burn along the embankment
around the structure and reducing the Porta Potty to a tidy circle of white
ash. 

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9a0798&id=f2a2744f42&e=294a0ef151> 

Tim and Tony stand facing a pile of fire-scarred corrugated metal roofing,
chairs and shelves that were once part of the garage and shed in upper camp.
A single propane tank peeks out of the rubble - miraculously still intact. 

Our other new space,
<https://lighthouse-sf.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f40e17a83bbae60b596
9a0798&id=a25f9990e1&e=294a0ef151> the Redwood Grove Theater, is yet another
contrast study, with the lovely, accessible stage built by our Napa Kiwanis
partners completely destroyed, while many of the hand-carved redwood benches
standing proudly to host performances for years to come. For this too, we
have our firefighters to thank. As our team entered the beautiful grove, the
large redwood trees still offering green needles, they spied a note tacked
on the grove's sign. In the midst of the fire, engine company #98 from Los
Angeles Fire Department left us a note at the theater's threshold: "We saved
this, wish we could have saved more."

There were other victories among the devastation. The Friday before the fire
started on Sunday we had just finished re-roofing our entire dining hall
with a Class A fire retardant new roof, the first in nearly 40 years. Our
team clambered up on the roof to see the new roof unscathed, though with
hundreds of small embers which harmlessly burned themselves out on it,
surely saving camp's largest and most valuable structure. 

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9a0798&id=cabac44a1a&e=294a0ef151> 

A note on the back of the partially charred Redwood Grove sign reads: "LAFD
Engine 98. We saved this, wish we could have saved more." 

But our team's visit to camp was a mix of victories and heartbreaking
losses. In the accompanying photographs, readers can see the scene of
devastation throughout camp. Beyond the loss of all 10 Lower Camp cabins,
we've discovered that we lost the bridge and most of the benches in the
Creekside Lower Chapel, as well as the Kiva bridge. We lost both boys' and
girls' bathrooms, the massive roller rink building, the new decking, shade
structure and bathhouse around our large swimming pool. Our treehouse is
gone, as is the Assistant Director's cabin and all of the structures in the
sensory area. Some of our new water lines are destroyed and every standing
building is full of choking smoke, contaminating bedding, carpet, ceiling
and furniture.

The most aching physical loss may be the large staff house, which burned to
rubble, destroying the home of five camp staff and all of their personal
possessions. Our camp staff remain, frankly, stunned by their sudden
dislocation. The LightHouse is working with them to ensure a smooth
transition into new housing as they rebuild their lives away from the
property they helped make beautiful. 

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9a0798&id=97b10ba8e5&e=294a0ef151> 

The road leading to lower camp is strewn with ash and wood. A hotspot in the
foreground smokes in the light while a propane tank sits in the midst of
charred logs and a snow-like layer of ash. 

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9a0798&id=7cdf338a84&e=294a0ef151> 

Tim Gregory walks down the hill toward the pool. In front of him lies what's
left of the bath house: a charred wooden frame and a swath of limp metal
roofing. 

<https://lighthouse-sf.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f40e17a83bbae60b596
9a0798&id=f5a04b52c2&e=294a0ef151> 

Firefighters collect water from the pool to put out lingering hot spots and
patches of fire on Enchanted Hill property. 

What our advisors are telling us is that it will be many months before camp
will be functional enough to allow our staff to go about the work of
rebuilding. Hundreds of precarious burned trees, downed power lines, and
toxic building remains all need to be addressed, as well as reconstruction
of the electrical, water and waste infrastructure to make camp habitable.
For the immediate future, we mustn't allow the public to visit camp for any
reason; our entrance road will be closed and contractors will be charged to
turn away all trespassers. Please, for the safety of camp reconstruction, do
not make plans to visit until we issue our first community invitation,
likely no sooner than summer 2018.

What we need now is creative ideas, heartfelt testimonials and donations.
While the cleanup work is a heavy lift, we have seasoned professionals to
rely upon, with deep roots in Napa. Once we've made camp safe, reinstated
electrical wiring, refreshed our water supply and developed a plan for
building back, then we will need volunteers: to clean, construct, reforest,
and a thousand other preparatory tasks to rebuild lower camp stronger and
better than ever.

If you're moved by Camilla Sterne's photographs of camp and have the desire
and means to help today, the LightHouse has established simple, secure ways
to give directly to Enchanted Hills camp, including a new option to give by
text message.

Just in the last few days, our friends and neighbors and you have already
begun the rebuilding process with us with your thoughtful words and gifts.
These contributions will pay for reconstruction, restaffing, and rebuilding
not only the structures in Napa, but the spirit of Enchanted Hills that will
spring from them in the years to come. For that, we couldn't be more
grateful.

Online donation form:
<https://lighthouse-sf.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f40e17a83bbae60b596
9a0798&id=333cb884c2&e=294a0ef151> Rebuilding Enchanted Hills Camp for the
Blind

Give by phone: Call Jennifer Sachs at 415-694-7333.

Send Mail / In-Person gifts to:

Fundraising
LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired
1155 Market St., 10th Floor San Francisco, CA 94103
(please write "Rebuild EHC" on the check)

The LightHouse is committed to keeping the community up to date with these
periodic updates about our camp and its rebuilding. It is so very empowering
to be supported by a community as kind and engaged as ours.

In deep appreciation,

<https://gallery.mailchimp.com/f40e17a83bbae60b5969a0798/images/bb895831-e08
a-47b5-adf4-8abb3cc59417.jpg> 

Bryan Bashin
CEO

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Our mailing address is:

LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired

1155 Market St., 10th Floor

San Francisco, CA 94103

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