Solano Real Estate Scene: Fire scare evacuates Rancho Solano

I remember earthquake and atomic bomb drills growing up in the 1960s in San Francisco. I think it was once per month at noontime on the first Tuesday of each month. A loud siren would go off all over the city and my classmates and I would duck under our desks for five minutes to protect ourselves from the A-bomb or earthquake. I also remember being robbed and tied up at gunpoint in 1980 as a rookie branch manager for Beneficial by two young punks to steal the whopping $200 from our cash drawer at 9 a.m. They were not Boy Scouts because they did not know how to tie knots. My one and only employee, Laura, was scared to death and I will never forget her shaking in fear after they left. Luckily, the bad guys were not smart and left us with my cheap wedding band and her giant diamond ring. These experiences were nothing in comparison to the feeling of being evacuated from my house due to the LNU Lightning Complex Fire. About 222 of our Solano County neighbors, friends and family lost their homes. Many lost their animals and income-producing farms. Fire is scary, and now we all know what our neighbors from Napa and Santa Rosa felt like a couple of years ago. Sure, insurance will help these folks rebuild, and many have their memorable photos saved on their computers in the “cloud,” but many of us do not. My wife gathered up seven or eight photo albums and was scared to death as she hurriedly got the heck out of our Rancho Solano house with three of our four pets. She was panicked and angry with me for not leaving for two hours after she got out, but I just could not rush out and leave my house. My awesome daughter Lisa came and somehow found the stubborn cat and got her into a cat carrier and we drove away from our home to safety. Our home and all of Rancho Solano was spared, but driving away was the weirdest feeling. I cannot imagine what it feels like to have your house burn down, but now I understand a little better. One thing for darn sure, let us all thank our Sheriff’s Office and both police departments for saving lives and protecting our evacuated property. The brave firefighters ran to the fires and danger, while we evacuated to safety. Vacaville and Fairfield strong!