The views are spectacular from West Highland Drive, in the foothills above Camarillo.You can see the ocean, and even some of the Channel Islands.
But, if you look around the hillside, it’s a much more depressing story.
There are cement pads, and in some cases still blackened cement, and brick walls where homes once stood. This is one of the many neighborhoods hit by the November 6, 2024 Mountain Fire, which burned nearly 20,000 acres of land, and destroyed 370 structures. The cause of the fire has been under investigation for the past year, but Ventura County firefighters say they will announce their findings November 7.
Stu Hoffman walks us to where the two story home he, and his wife Linda shared for two decades once stood.
"Yeah, this is it," said Hoffman, motioning to a steep hillside at the end of a long driveway. The debris has been cleared, and the terraced hillside has some cement slabs where the home once stood.
"We were at home when all of a sudden, the sky got dark, and we got a notification from the county that we might possibly have to evacuate," said Hoffman. "The fire came in a totally unexpected direction. We always thought a fire would come up the canyon. It came from the opposite direction. It took us by surprise. We just grabbed the dog, and got out as fast as we could. We couldn't take anything with us."
The 77-year-old man says they had never seen anything like the fire. "We'd seen fires off in the distance, when the wind was blowing, and they brought bombers in to control the fire," said the Camarillo man. "But, the wind was blowing so much this time, up to 85 miles an hour, that they couldn't get aircraft into the air. Even if they could, I don't think it would have done anything."
They returned to find some homes above, and below their house still standing. But, there was nothing left of their place. "It just hopscotched. It was amazing."
Hoffman says many of his West Highland Drive neighbors are moving on, and don’t want to take on the challenge of rebuilding. But, he and his wife
want to stay. "The plan is to rebuild. We're in the process now of coming out of the design stage, and we're going to get started pretty quickly. The footprint will stay (basically) the same. We're adding a little bit, but not much."
Hoffman’s wife is currently on a trip to South America, which he thinks is a good thing on the fire’s anniversary. He admits she’s taken the loss of their home the hardest. "She's a little bit more emotionally delicate," said Hoffman. "She misses our house. This was my wife's dream house. I decided to get her house back for her."
He said it’s been so far, so good in dealing with their insurance company, but he says the hard part may come when rebuilding is underway. He admits he’s surprised how cooperative Ventura County has been so far in the rebuilding effort. "So far, the County has been amazingly helpful. County Supervisor Jeff Gorrell gave me his personal cell phone number, and told me to give him a call if I had any problems. The Planning Division's Winston Wright calls me out of the blue to ask if I need help."
Does he have a target for completion? "I don't have a timeline," said Hoffman. "I just can't fix a timeline, because that will add to the frustration. We just take it as it comes, and we'll see what happens. Hopefully, we can get this built in a short time, but we'll see."
