Three more victims identified
They are among 23 in Sonoma County who lost their lives to wildfires
SANTA ROSA >> The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday identified three more victims of the deadly wildfires that ripped through the North Bay five weeks ago.
In a Facebook video, Sheriff Rob Giordano identified the victims as 101-year-old TakFu Hung, 68-year-old Marjorie Schwartz and 40-year-old Michael Grabow. All three were from Santa Rosa.
“My thoughts, my sincere condolences go out to your friends and family,” he said. “I know that death has been so hard in this event. There’s been so many people with losses, but that truly is the ultimate loss.”
The North Bay fires that erupted Oct. 8 claimed a total of 43 lives. All but two of the 23 killed in Sonoma County have been officially identified, according to the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat.
The paper reported that Hung fought as a general with the Kuomintang against Mao Zedong’s revolutionary army. After the Communists won, he fled to Hong Kong and then Taiwan, where he built houses as a civil engineer and raised six children before moving to Santa Rosa.
Hung’s granddaughter told the Press-Democrat that he didn’t see how he was going to survive as the Tubbs Fire closed in on his Fountaingrove home, but he told his wife, Helen, to flee. She survived by laying in a neighbor’s driveway as the flames raged around her.
A funeral for Hung is scheduled to take place Nov. 25, on the day he would have turned 102, according to the paper.
“We’ve received a lot of appreciation,” he said. “Thank you so much for that.”
Giordano also included a warning about fraud in the video. He urged fire victims to check the sheriff’s office Facebook page for information about the schemes and tips on how to safeguard themselves.
“We will be with you throughout this rebuilding process,” he said. “We have been part of this community for 150 years. We’re not going anywhere. If you need us, call us.”