Wildfires in California this week have burned through entire communities, including the hometown of a Syracuse University senior and the area surrounding that of an SU junior.

Nicole Mitchell, a senior on the SU Division I tennis team, and Elias Alba, a junior television, radio and film major, are among the SU students whose areas back home have been affected.

Wildfires have ravaged California since Sunday night, continuing to burn as the death toll has risen to at least 21 people confirmed dead. Hundreds have been hospitalized, hundreds more are missing and thousands of buildings have been destroyed.

As of Wednesday morning, the two biggest fires had swallowed more than 70,000 acres in Napa and Sonoma counties, according to Cal Fire, the state’s firefighting agency. Overall, the fires have spread to more than 160,000 acres, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The winds may pick up, threatening to spread the wildfires that have forced more than 20,000 people ordered to evacuate as of Wednesday night. 

Mitchell’s hometown, Fountaingrove — a suburb of Santa Rosa, California, about 50 miles north of San Francisco — has been decimated.

Courtesy of Elias Alba

“I’m still in shock,” Mitchell said. “My entire hometown was demolished in less than 12 hours.”

On Sunday night, Mitchell’s parents were asleep when their smoke alarm went off. They awoke, looked out of their window, saw the fire coming over a nearby hill and quickly drove away in their two cars. Mitchell said her home is one of a handful in the town that survived the fire.

Mitchell’s parents stayed at a friend’s house Sunday. They have since not spent a night at their home until they returned there Wednesday.

Mitchell said at least 10 friends have lost their entire homes. The high school she attended, as well as two nearby hospitals are “gone,” she said, and the country club where she trained as a kid also burned down.

“It’s not even a town anymore,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell’s home is located directly next to a major power line, which Mitchell thinks may be why her home survived. She said firefighters may have put extra protections on the power line.

She said her parents told her the drive up to their house was “insane” because there wasn’t one house standing. When her parents arrived at their house, only four houses were left. She added that a lot of her yard was burnt, but the house is OK.

Mitchell’s parents are working on putting out small fires around the property, she said. A tennis court on her property was not burned.

Courtesy of Elias Alba

For Alba, whose family moved to Sonoma, California, about one year ago, the main fires are close, and the smoke in the area has worsened.

His father is away on a business trip, so his mother and two dogs were home when the fires began. She waited until Wednesday night to leave her house even though “the whole house was filled with smoke” the day before, Alba said.

Alba’s mother, Terri, could see the fire a short drive from her home, he said.

She packed some clothes in a bag and grabbed a few key documents.

“It’s hard for me to think about it and just be unable to do anything,” Alba said. “I try to push it out of my mind. It’s pretty constant for me, checking my phone all day, texting my mom, making sure everything is OK.”

Alba said Terri wears a continuous positive airway pressure mask because she has asthma. She has made the decision to leave her home and stay at a hotel.

“It’s been a tense time,” Alba said.

If you are a Syracuse community member who has been affected by the California wildfires, please email news@dailyorange.com to share your story with The Daily Orange.

Published on October 12, 2017 at 12:28 am

Contact Matthew: mguti100@syr.edu | @MatthewGut21