Coincidence
My friend Martin from Berry Creek made it again. It’s hard to celebrate anything about Berry Creek after the Bear Fire, but Iwill celebrate the survival of Martin. He talked to me from his bed at Enloe Hospital about his recent experience through the fire, and other adventures.
“Is this a bad time to talk?” I asked.
“Hey, I’m sitting here doing nothing anyway,” he said. “Lucky me, I won a 3-night stay at Enloe. No biggie, it’s my thyroid acting up putting my heart in A-fib. They’ll fix me up again. I’ve been here so many times they have my name on the outside of the door. ‘Your room is ready, sir’ they say.” We talked about the day of the Bear Fire. “My wife and I had been shopping in Sacramento,” said Martin. “All the way home we could see the smoke. The Valley turned black with smoke and ash. We drove past a brush fire in Palermo. Coming through Oroville it looked like the Bear Fire smoke cloud was over Feather Falls. Too close to our home in Berry Creek. When we got home, everything looked okay at our place, but the wind was up, and we packed up, just in case. Then came the evacuation warning. I took some photos of our house, and we hit the road to Arizona.” That afternoon, during their drive to Arizona, Martin and his wife got the word that Berry Creek had completely burned. Martin immediately posted a photo of their house on Facebook, saying good-bye to the home they loved. I’ve known Martin since he worked in my office in his new career as a Realtor. “After 30 years in casino management in Arizona, Nevada, and California, I loved Real Estate and working with you guys. But my ticker went bad. I died on the side of the road, remember that?”
Boy, do I ever. Martin had a heart attack on his drive from Berry Creek to Chico, on his way to work.
“It was Sunday and I was going to my Open House. After all the hairpin curves on the mountain roads from Berry Creek, I had a heart attack on a nice flat straightaway in Oroville and hit a tree. Asheriff saw my accident, and she saved my life. She said I was dead at the scene. Broke my sternum giving me CPR. Afew more minutes of not breathing, and I would have been a goner.” He told me he and his wife are good friends with that Sheriff. “I cried when I saw her later, looking into the eyes of my savior. Her mother works here at Enloe.”
The night of the Bear Fire, after Martin posted on Facebook his goodbye to his house, having made it to Arizona, he got a phone call from a reporter with the Sacramento Bee.
“Are you the Martin that posted a photo of your house on Facebook?” said the reporter. “I thought it was a scammer or salesperson of some kind,” said Martin, “so Iwas ready to hang up, but then he said, ‘Your house is still standing’.
The reporter was standing in front of Martin’s house and sent photos, proving its survival.
“I sold my boat a week before the fire,” said Martin. “It was full of 45 gallons of gasoline, right next to the house. The way the fire came through, and burned down my fences and water tank, that boat would have gone up and my house would have gone down.”
“You’re a lucky guy,” I said.
“Listen,” said Martin, “I’ve had so many coincidences in my life. Nobody could be that lucky. I’ve had too many coincidences in life to not believe in God. I’m 61 years old, and I can name about 25 coincidences in my life that can only be explained by the existence of God.”
He said he’s anxious to get back home.
“When the smoke damage is fixed at my house and the water is back on, we’re moving back in. Listen,” he said, “my dad died at 48 of a heart attack. I don’t plan on being here till I’m 90, but I’ll stick around for the next miracle.” Amen.
Doug Love is Sales Manager at Century 21 in Chico and would love to hear from you. Call or text 530-680-0817. Email dougwlove@gmail.com. See more columns atlovesrealstories.com.