Community Stories | Museum of the Sierra

Jan Russell Hobbs

It was the morning of Saturday, September 5th, 2020. Our thoughts for the day ahead were full of beach time, sitting on the porch, and enjoying the company of good friends. As I went down the stairs, I could smell smoke. My friend said she watched fire engines go by for

Rosemary Zettler

3-18-21We built our first cabin in 1972 in Sierra Cedars. Having fallen in love with the area we built a larger resident-like cabin on Littlefield Road in Meadow Ridge in 1980. Even though most of our family lives in Southern California, we often drive up to “our place in the mountains”.

Mark Martinez

My name is Mark Martinez. I am a Fire Captain with the Fresno Fire Department – entering my 28th year. Although our duty to serve and do our best work does not differ from incident to incident – the Creek Fire meant so much more to many of us. The US

Peter Arroyo

The Creek Fire started at 5:30 in the evening on September 4th at Camp Sierra.The morning of September 5th was already blistering its way into the oppressive heat that was to be all consuming for the Labor Day weekend. My wife, Ari, and I started out in our routine of coffee

Ari Arroyo

The Creek Fire By: Ari Arroyo Engineer & Firefighter, Pine Ridge Volunteer Fire Dept. Secretary/Treasurer, Pine Ridge Property Owners Association The Creek Fire was the largest single fire in the history of state of California and burned 379,895 acres. I am a firefighter and engineer and my husband, Peter, is

Nancy & Steve Soares

We purchased our beloved cabin, “Rock Crest” in 1999. Being a 4th generation Dowville Tract family, I realized how lucky we were to find this cabin in Huckleberry Tract with a beautiful view of the Lake. Built in the early 1920’s, it was cared for by one family for three generations.

Jeannie Coe

The Creek Fire came through our property and destroyed our horse barn, shed, and 40′ foot storage unit. Search and Rescue helped us evacuate our horses, as my husband’s horse would not trailer load. It took 2 doses of tranquilizer, but she loaded two days before the Creek Fire Storm came

David & Rebekah Johnson

My Husband, David, had been looking for a place in the mountains for quite awhile when he stumbled upon our place. He fell in love with it when he first saw it and it has been his, then my, heaven on earth. That does not mean living up here was easy

Howard V. Hendrix

Due to the ferocity of the Creek Fire, my wife Laurel and I are now displaced persons staying in a motel in Fresno. On Sunday, September 6, we were ordered to evacuate from our house in the Pine Ridge community, just south of Shaver Lake. We were out by one in

The Shaver Ranch Story

The Shaver Ranch Story: Historic Shaver Legacy Rising From the Ashes In the aftermath of the Creek Fire’s devastation of the Central Sierras, the unique historical legacy of this region emerges as if rising from the ashes.

The Gillett Family

The Gillett Family Cressman’s General Store is an iconic landmark in Pine Ridge on the way up the mountain to Shaver Lake, built in 1904. For well over a century, it has provided food, fuel, and supplies to loggers, fishermen, campers, and locals coming up and down the mountain. It is