“Things weren’t so important,” Joan Carter said. “It was the loss itself. You lost a dream.”
An elderly couple in California lost their home to the Dixie Fire – the state’s second largest blaze and one of the most destructive in its history – nearly a year after their previous house was destroyed by the Bear Fire in September. Joan and Dan Carter of Greenville, California, told the San Francisco Chronicle that on two separate occasions, their dream homes have been ravaged by unforgiving wildfires. The Carters, who are in their 70s, said the most recent destruction came just as they were building a new house, which was expected to be done by Christmas. The couple had moved to Greenville after living out of a fifth-wheel trailer for months, following the destruction of their previous home in Berry Creek, located near the city of Oroville. That previous house was engulfed in flames last September by the Bear Fire, which destroyed more than $250,000 worth of belongings, family heirlooms, antique ledgers from the 1800s, art, and furniture from Dan’s mother, who had recently passed away.
