Of the 102 Granite Hills homes lost in the Cedar Fire, four were of homes of teachers. Two teacher's aides as well as Social Science Chair Tim McCarthyand English Teacher Matt Davis have been receiving constant support from the students and staff.

McCarthy describes his experiences since the fire as “a roller coaster of being down one minute and because of the wonderful support, up another.” He lives on the west end of Alpine.

McCarthy recalls that he was not worried about the fire until it was right next to their house. “Anyone who lives in Alpine knows that Peutz Valley burns every once in a while, so when I heard it was on fire, I wasn’t concerned.” The family evacuated immediately, taking with them only some pictures, files, and their animals.

Because the power was out in Alpine, they had to borrow gas in order to get to Golden Acorn Casino, and eventually stopped in El Centro as many evacuees did.

“We decided to go home and stay in our own beds even though there was no power,” said McCarthy. They circumvented the fire and arrived at the remains of their home late that night. The family stayed first with McCarthy’s sister in her one bedroom condominium, and then spent the rest of the week in a hotel.

“We got really lucky and were able to rent a house on our block that hadn’t burned,” said McCarthy. Another family later offered the house’s owner double the rent, but the landlord was “an honest man.” They moved in with the help of 15-20 of McCarthy’s students, who helped to unload a moving van of furniture that was provided by McCarthy’s parents.

“We are settled in, but the hardest thing for me is that I miss home and the familiar things in life, our new place isn’t home,” he commented. The family is grateful that so many people have been generous with food, money and furnishings, but they are still at a loss because “they aren’t our things.” McCarthy misses the things that are a reminder of good times even though they don’t necessarily have much monetary value. For example, they lost the desk his son was using, which both he and his father used while they were in college.

When the McCarthy’s began clearing the remains of their home, they decided to have an “ashes sifting party” and were surprised when over 50 people showed up to help. One friend sent a huge construction dumpster and the work party filled it completely with debris. They hope to start rebuilding as soon as possible.

“Right now we are still recovering from the act of destruction, it will get better once we get into the act of rebuilding,” said McCarthy. They have started looking through house planning books and McCarthy said, “The idea of designing our house just they way we want it is really nice.”

The family wishes to thank everyone for making the experience easier. McCarthy has concluded, “The generosity and support have emphasized that it’s not the things you collect that are a measure of your life, it’s the friends you collect.”