Professor’s house damaged in California winds during fire

During the burning of California last month, fire wasn’t the only thing causing damage. Winds reached more than 100 miles per hour, leaving their own paths of destruction.

Peter Galderisi, retiring associate professor of political science at USU, has a home in Encinitas, Calif. While flames did not harm his house, the roof suffered more than $10,000 in damage from the Santa Ana winds.

Galderisi said he was grateful to have only received that much damage.

“We were fortunate that we weren’t directly hurt by the fires. The Santa Ana winds blew onto our roof,” he said. “We feel fortunate all around.”

Galderisi, who commutes from Logan to Encinitas, wasn’t in California when the fires began. However, his wife was. Galderisi said he was very concerned for his family. From Logan, the only thing he could do was check maps online charting the fires. This helped, he said, but the unpredictable winds were a constant concern. He said the fire went from 20 miles from his house to only two because of the winds.

His family was not forced to evacuate, but once the air became so thick with smoke and ashes that it was difficult to breathe, Galderisi said they self-evacuated to north Los Angeles. Once his wife got out of Encinitas, he said he became more concerned for people still in harm’s way.

“I was concerned, but my wife was safe. My dog was safe. Property is just property. Once I knew my wife was safe, my concern turned to people in the fire zone. Property was at the bottom of the scale,” he said. “We consider ourselves to be unbelievably fortunate.”

Galderisi said they were lucky to be able leave on their own time, unlike many who had only minutes to grab belongings and get out.

“There were people who didn’t have that time when the fire was virtually in their backyard, you know – get the kids, get the dog and get the hell out,” he said.

Galderisi praised the firemen who put their own lives in danger to save others.

“The fact that all these firefighters, local to state to the National Guard, whoever they were, went to make sure people were OK and to save homes was unbelievable heroic,” he said. “It was a very, very dangerous situation for them.”

-arie.k@aggiemail.usu.edu