Ignoring orders: Family’s decision not to evacuate proves tragic.
Fatal decision points to need to obey orders to evacuate
During the last conversation Zygy RoeZurz had with his mother on the evening of Sept. 8, she told him she and her family members were not yet fleeing their home in Berry Creek.
Butte County officials had ordered evacuation of the town as the North Complex fires approached, and the family had packed two cars to go, but they believed they were not in imminent danger.
“To me, that seemed dangerous. But I trusted their judgment. They had experience with this, and obviously they took it very seriously,” RoeZurz said.
Sheriff ’s officials have identified the remains of two family members: his uncle Philip Rubel, 68, and his aunt, Millicent Catarancuic, 77.
RoeZurz believes his mother, Suzan Violet Zurz, 76, also died in the blaze after sheriff ’s officials found remains on or near the family’s 5acre property on Graystone Lane in Berry Creek. The onestory, three bedroom home was leveled by the fire.
The family’s story underscores the dangers of not heeding evacuation orders immediately as fires become increasingly fast and unpredictable. Experts say residents should follow official orders rather than listening to neighbors or others in the community who might share inaccurate information. And those in fire zones shouldn’t try to predict how a fire will behave by looking at wind and weather patterns.
“Everyone is really confused about why they didn’t leave. The only reason we came up with is that they were given information that made them feel safe. Otherwise, they would have left,” said Holly Catarancuic, Millicent Catarancuic’s daughter. “It doesn’t make any sense to us. They told us they were evacuating and wanted us to send them the address, but they called back and said something had changed, and they felt safe.”
Earlier that day, Catarancuic and her partner, Dan Kern, visited her mother and family like any other “normal visit,” she said. The couple would often visit the family to help them with duties around the house and on the property.
Smoke from multiple fires across the region blanketed much of the Bay Area and Northern California, but there was no indication that the nearby blazes could sweep through their family’s home, she said.
“I just remember Holly’s mom telling her how much she loved her and telling her how much she was proud of her, and Holly telling her mom how much she loved her,” Kern said. “And that was the last time we saw her.”
At 6 p.m., they called Catarancuic, who was packing belongings into the family’s cars and preparing to evacuate along with Zurz, Rubel, and their three cats and three dogs, Kern said.
But an hour later, RoeZurz learned the family no longer planned to evacuate.
When he called his mother at 7 p.m., RoeZurz said he heard his uncle in the background say they had heard of potentially favorable wind conditions, and that they would evacuate if the conditions and data proved it necessary. His family told him the fires were about 10 miles away from the home by that time.
“In retrospect, of course, they should have just gotten out of there,” RoeZurz said. “This was a fire that was larger and faster than anything they had seen before, and they didn’t think that this could happen, that they could get caught off guard like that.”
The family had learned to navigate wildfire season every year. On a windless day late last year, they cleared brush, leaves and other plant debris around the home, which was surrounded by ponderosa pine and oak trees.
When the deadly Camp Fire ravaged nearby Paradise in 2018, the family evacuated. Their home had been plundered and valuables stolen, but it was untouched by the blaze, RoeZurz said.
On Wednesday, after not hearing from their relatives, the family filed missing persons reports. They called local hospitals and posted a message on a community Facebook group with photos of their missing family members.
“We were fearing the worst because we know if they had made it through, they would call us right away,” Holly Catarancuic said. “We were hoping that they were just stuck somewhere.”
But on Thursday, she received a call from the Sheriff ’s Office confirming her worst fear. Her mother had died in the fire. Sheriff ’s officials confirmed Rubel as a victim on Monday.
The office is still working to positively identify and notify family members of eight other victims whose remains were found in Butte County’s fires.
“Whether that is confirmed or not, we have a feeling in our hearts it is most likely them,” Holly Catarancuic said, referring to Zurz and Rubel days before Rubel was identified. “No one else was in that house.”
Millicent Catarancuic was the matriarch of the family’s solarpaneled sanctuary, where RoeZurz said organic foods were always cooking in the kitchen. Holly Catarancuic said her mom and other relatives tended to their cannabis crops, which they cultivated for people in need of medical marijuana. The home was bursting with family heirlooms: Paintings by Holly Catarancuic’s late brother Shane covered her mother’s bedroom walls, her grandmother’s fine china set was displayed in a cupboard, and her grandmother’s wedding dress was safely tucked away in a trunk.
Holly said her mom advocated for medicinal marijuana “since the very beginning,” sewed her own clothing, rescued cats and dogs through the years, and was a conscientious member of the Berry Creek community. If friends of the family needed a place to stay, she opened the door to her home. Holly said her mom was a product of the 1960s “hippie movement” who expressed herself through art and poetry.
Zurz — who went by “S.V.” — was an “uncompromising, beautiful woman who wouldn’t do anything halfassed,” RoeZurz said with a chuckle. She was a swimmer, a triathlete, a model, artist and was full of energy. In 2012, she climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania with her son. Even in her retirement, he said she was always juggling personal projects and making the property “more welcoming for all of us.”
“She was unbelievably dedicated to my wellbeing,” RoeZurz said. “I just owe so much to her.”
Rubel made prostheses for patients but was an accomplished mechanic in his free time. He restored vehicles, including at least two MercedesBenz that were on the Berry Creek property, RoeZurz said. When he wasn’t taking cars apart and putting them back together, he was thumbing through books or watching documentaries.
“He was an extremely congenial and gentle, kind person who was very handy,” RoeZurz said.
The family said they are in mourning over the loss of three family members, and the loss of their beloved “homestead” in Berry Creek. The home that harbored the legacy of the family, the home that represented years of work to get the family centralized under a single roof, is gone, RoeZurz said.
He said he is planning on driving back from Arkansas, where he was recently asked to officiate a wedding, to return to Berry Creek.
“I’m coming back to a destroyed home, and (without) my mom, my aunt and my uncle,” RoeZurz said. “We have to rebuild and pick up the pieces, and we’re gonna have to set to work. As soon as the fires, and the heat, dies down, and we’re allowed back in, we’re going to set to work.”
The North Complex has burned 252,313 acres and was 21% contained as of Saturday night.
Fifteen people have died in the fires, said Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea.