On Tuesday, July 23, the Apache Fire ignited from sparks cast into the flammable roadside brush by a truck driving south on Hwy 33 dragging towing chains. That night Apache Canyon residents were evacuated as the fire rapidly expanded and threatened homes and farming infrastructure.

 

Two days later as the fire continued to move through the high levels of fuel load, Quail Springs residents watched the smoke plumes and rising flames 2 miles away and coming toward our canyon over the southern ridges. Mandatory evacuations went into place for Quail Springs/Burges Canyon on Thursday, July 25.

 

Quail Springs residents put their emergency plan into action and were prepared to evacuate with go bags and vehicles pointed toward the exit road from the first notice of the nearby fire. Within minutes of the mandatory evacuation order, all attention was focused on loading up the farm animals, 15 goats, 53 chickens, 2 livestock dogs and 2 farm cats and we were on the road toward safety and shelter. We have huge gratitude for our Cuyama neighbors and extended communities who reached out continually with offers of livestock trailers, food and shelter for our people and animals during this emergency. This has been an eye opening experience about the power of community and the knowledge that our safety comes not only from our preparedness, but even more from our interconnectedness.

 

We are indebted to the firefighters, and Ventura County law enforcement who worked around the clock to keep us safe. The respect, care, intelligence, vigilance and high level of coordinated effort/labor they devoted to protecting us and our beloved home went above and beyond the call of duty. It was heroic. We are so grateful.

We feel fortunate to have come through this experience with such safety and support, but we want to share a bit about the ramifications of the Apache Fire. 

During evacuation in the 109 degree heat, we lost 32 chickens of our 53 bird flock due to the high level of heat and stress of the move. We feel so much sadness for the loss of the lives of these beautiful birds. Chickens provide a critical amount of our food at Quail Springs with their delicious eggs, while also playing an important role in our nutrient cycling by consuming kitchen scraps/food waste and contributing their manure to our composting operations/soil health. Egg production has gone from an average of 30 eggs/day to 5 eggs/day. It will be expensive and take considerable labor to rebuild our flock.

To protect the canyon and our homes, firefighters created massive firebreaks to provide a defensible space from the rapidly approaching Apache Fire. For the length of a quarter mile, hundreds of ancient junipers and oaks were cleared, along with their accompanying high desert plant communities in order to create the safety belt.  This was an important and necessary part of protecting our canyon from the fire, but we are grieving for the loss of these ancient grandmothers. Fire crews are now helping to do earthworks to help heal the landscape and prevent future erosion of the denuded shelter belt. We are working with the forest service to understand how we can best support the land’s recovery and to develop a plan moving forward.

Inevitably, infrastructure was damaged as fire trucks, tractors, dozers and many support vehicles came onto the Quail Springs site to work on protecting us from the fire. During the first day, our main water line from the spring catchment to the farm was broken and we lost 10,000 gallons of water from storage. Mid summer is a difficult time to lose precious water to the farm. Water from the spring, which is our sole water source for the farm, is at its lowest flow during late July and August. The line to the well was also broken, losing about 500 gallons of our potable water storage. Our entrance gate into Quail Springs was cracked from its hinge as large equipment clipped the metal. Luckily, our hard working water protector and fix it guy, Brenton Kelly, was on the scene to do emergency repairs. County fire will also be supporting us if we need help with replacing lost water storage.  

We are so humbled by our experience and so grateful for our lives and our homes. Firefighters from Orange, San Bernardino, and Ventura counties, Ventura county law enforcement, Cuyama Valley neighbors, organizations, and businesses all rallied to our side, providing everything we needed. Our extended communities from across Southern California reached out to support us. This outpouring of support not only underscores the wealth of relationships that have evolved over the 21 years Quail Springs has been in operation, but a much wider web of relationships that is truly impossible to fathom. We are all connected and the importance of community care and mutual aid has never been more evident. 

The work that we do with earthen building advocacy has never before been so critical to addressing the increasing threat of climate crisis. Read more about this here and consider donating to our work. 

Regionally, our sister community of Spirit Pine Sanctuary on Figueroa Mountain, a southern California hub and place of learning over the last 25 years for countless earthen building students from around the world, was seriously impacted by the recent Lake Fire. Please contribute to the fundraiser that will support rebuilding their water system.

 

In closing, we send out deep gratitude for your health and wellbeing. Take care of yourselves, your families and communities. 

 

With heart, 

Quail Springs