On Friday, Maria Bates, who lives at 2,400 feet elevation in Brooktrails, was hoping the weekend’s rain would wash the snow away. She had been snowed in since February 20.
Bates said she had plenty of good books to read, and she was able to stave off the worst of the isolation by talking with friends on the phone every day. And neighbors brought fresh vegetables to supplement her canned food supply, and cleared the snow from her driveway so she could get the mail.
Shannon and her husband Chris are those neighbors for people who are stuck on Skyview or Third Gate. They’ve lived off of Skyview in Brooktrails at about 2,200 feet elevation for twenty years. Last week, Shannon posted on a community Facebook page, asking neighbors to message her if they needed help with groceries, fuel or propane. Her family has four wheel drive vehicles and heavy equipment, which her husband was able to use to help one neighbor dig out a van so he could get off the mountain.
The Brooktrails community executed an exemplary evacuation during the Oak Fire, which Shannon thinks stood them in good stead during an entirely different kind of emergency…