Justin Contreras interview on the 2017 Tubbs Fire, March 29, 2023

So as we begin, I want you to try to think back to this time of your life 2017 October. And this can be kind of hard for some people as like the fire was a huge, devastating natural disaster and kind of a hard time to go

through. So just take your time answering any questions and it's really about your story. So there's really no wrong or right answers. It's just how you want to tell it. Mhm And I wanna remind you, you can stop at any time. Just let me know and

I'm gonna be recording this. But the only thing that's gonna be actually archived is a transcript of the interview, not necessarily like your voice. OK. Yeah. Some people are like, is my voice. Can it be like? And I'm like, no, it's just a transcript. No problem.

Yeah. Yeah, no problem. OK. Awesome. So, are you ready? Yeah. Awesome. So some describe October 8th 2017 to be kind of a weird night. Can you tell me about how that night was for you and any specifics you recall or what that timeline looked like for

you that day? Yeah. So the night before. Um, it was a little odd just because I'd never seen it. That windy in Park. I'd only been there just that school year, so I just got to Soma State. Um, so I've never seen it that windy thought

it was particularly odd. Um, before I went to sleep, didn't really think too much of it, to be honest. Um, the next thing I remember just waking up to kind of, you know, phone calls from relatives, friends basically just tell. Can you get out? So, I,

I mean, I didn't have any idea of it until I woke up that morning at around like, 7 38 o'clock. 00, ok. So, did you have to evacuate at all? Yes. So, from what I remember, um, uh, so I got a phone call from one of

my friends. She actually came to my house and, like, woke me up and was like, hey, the school is canceled, we have to evacuate. Um, like just grab your stuff and we're gonna go home because I live in home base was about two hours away. Um,

in Santa Clara, California. Um, and she was from there too, so I didn't, I honestly had no idea what was going on. I just kind of knew that, that they're in fired and I just need to pack stuff because we weren't sure how long we would

be evacuated. So my first thought was just to go home. Um, then once I kind of got all my stuff frantically and just kind of went outside. I kind of realized how serious it got. Um, just based off, you know, the color of the sky, how

much of a, there's kind of like a panic in the air. Like everybody was kind of scrambling. I actually walked out with my neighbors because I was living in, um, right by the school in C section. Um, my neighbors were watering our roof for us. Uh,

just as a kind of a precaution just in case the fires did reach Ro Park. But yeah, I mean, you could very much tell like the surrounding areas, like there was a panic and people were just trying to get out as quick as possible. Um, I

remember specifically being like, pretty thankful that I had to build my tank like the day before because the lines for the gas stations, either gas stations didn't have gas or the lines were insane. Remember, most of the major freeways were backed up. So had to take

kind of a back road like through the mountains to try to get back home, which was scary in itself because those, some of those mountains were actually on fire or you could see some of the fires. But, yeah, I mean, that's kind of my full memory

from that morning. Wow. I'm glad you're gonna be able to get out safely. Yeah, it was, uh, it was crazy. Yeah, I'm sure campus was chaotic and like the roads were super busy. How long did you, were you off, I guess off campus? Like how long

was? Yeah, if I remember this correctly, I left. So I left that morning. Um and I want to say they canceled school for two weeks. So I was in Santa Clare the entire time. Um which was crazy because Santa Clare is about two hours away. Like

I mentioned like an hour and a half and you could still see the effects that the fires were having in Santa Clare, like the the sky was, you know, like a reddish color pollution was horrible. Um But you can tell, I mean, it was a massive

fire. Um and this was like obviously 2017 pre-covid like there was no zoom. Um There was no like online plan for school to start back up. It was kind of a year off for two weeks. So it was like a like no school, no anything for

two weeks. Um And it was kind of scary. I mean, because like obviously being our stores, they not cool but I guess um but um at the same time, he kind of didn't really know like are we gonna be, you know, going back to school? Like,

what's gonna happen? Are we just gonna lose a year? Is this gonna affect our, you know, final schedule? Um So it was kind of everything was just kind of up in the air. Um, yeah, totally. Um, so can you tell me a little bit about how,

like, the transition back to school and, like, the effects that the fire had for that? Yeah. I mean, it was definitely an interesting time. I mean, I had teachers who were from Santa Rosa or from, you know, surrounding areas so that one teacher directly affected him

in his house. But aside from that, I mean, it was just kind of a weird eerie feeling on campus, like academics wise, I remember we kind of had to scramble to fit some things in with the rest of our semester just to kind of make sure

we got everything in. Um, like I remember I had some final presentations that were canceled. Uh some midterms were pushed back. So I remember one class we had to do a midterm and then, you know, a week and a half later we did the final. Wow.

So everything was just kind of pushed back because like I said, there wasn't any plans or any, you know, we weren't doing any school while we were off in those two weeks. Do you think the fire had any impact on your personal, like academic goals? Like

were, did you have to retake a class or anything like that? Uh No, I mean, not necessarily me taking the class. I it did make it a little stressful because like I said, everything was kind of catching back up. So there definitely were days and nights,

um, additionally spent in the library than I would have planned just because I was trying to catch back up. And, um, you know, I mean, I wouldn't, I, I would say the teachers were very fair about, you know, realizing the situation and realizing, you know, it's

kind of a unique situation where, you know, we can't just spring everything on you. But at the same time, you could tell there was a sense of urgency to kind of get through the lesson plans. Um, so I would say, yeah, I mean, it wasn't too

much of a change but, um, at the same time you did have to put in a little more work to catch back up. Mhm. Would you say it was harder to put in that work now that, like, I guess campus life is a little bit disrupted,

everyone's kind of on edge. Like, how do you feel the fire impacted that sort of side? Like the, I guess the mental health side and like the just stress. Yeah, I think that kind of depends on the person. Um, for me personally, I kind of just

see things as this is what I have to do. So I have to do it. But I can definitely, and that's easy for me to say because I'm not, I was, uh, I wasn't a commuter to that school. I was someone whose house was two hours

away. So only imagine if someone, you know, was local to the area and had to see that every single day for those two weeks and then coming back to school, I could see how that transition would be very hard. Um, me, my situation is a little

different because obviously I was, you know, just hearing about it on the news, not actually seeing it while I was away for those two weeks. Um, so getting back into school was just like any other kind of, you know, break you have, you just kind of

get back into the flow of things. But like I said, I could definitely see how that would affect other students who were local to the area or maybe had relatives who were directly impacted or maybe their families were directly impacted, maybe they lost somebody in those

fires. Like, I could definitely see how that would affect someone's, um, mental health as well as the other performance in the classroom. Yeah. I mean, it was a devastating fire. I think 24 people died. Neighborhoods were destroyed. Like it was, I didn't live here at the

time but I've, like, we've done some research about it and it was pretty gnarly. Yeah, just like driving, kind of seeing the effects. It had even just outside of San. But like I remember specifically one time I had to go to Sacramento to meet up with

some family and I went through kind of the Napa area. You can just see like mountains burnt and like where the fire hit and what it affected. Um So that was, you know, very, yeah, you know, surprising to see and very, you know, just kind of,

yeah. Whoa, eye opening for sure. Yeah. Can you tell me a little bit how you remember, like ssu offering like resources or anything like that? Like, do you remember how they kind of dealt with the situation? I remember, you know, all of our, the first day

back, all of our teachers or any class you had kind of the first week we would, um, we did talk about it. Um, you know, an introspective class as far as, you know, what the administration did. I mean, I think they did a good job. Um,

I don't really specifically remember, you know, all the things they did, but I do remember them setting up like counseling and, you know, options to go talk to someone if you needed it. Um, and I always thought that that was a good idea. Um But I

mean, that's as far as I really remember, it was so long ago. Mhm. Yeah. I think it was six years ago now. Right. I know. I mean, like, with COVID they, sorry, I lost my train of thought. How about you? Can you tell me about if

I know you weren't, like, super directly affected by this? But do you think the fire impacted any of your life since the fire? Happened after that. Um, I would say it's just kind of, yeah, it just, it gives you a sense of like, what people are

going through when there is, um, these major fires because it seems like we have them every year. It's just kind of something, you know, at least for me because obviously, I mean, like you said, directly it's affected but you can kind of see like, oh, when

there's another massive fire, like, oh, ok. I kind of have an idea of, you know, what these people are. Um, it's just kind of gives you perspective on, you know, what people could be going through during that time. Um, and how hard it is to kind

of get back into that, you know, into the everyday, you know, life try to get back to normal or quote unquote normal. Yeah. Yeah. Do you think you'd feel more prepared now if there was something else that happened like that since it's like you kind of

went through it the first time? Yeah. I mean, there's not really much else you can do to prepare these, these things, kind of just take on a life of their own once they kind of get going. I think the best thing you can do is just

get out and hope that things don't get too destroyed. But, yeah, I mean, and on the academic side I'm sure schools are more prepared for stuff like this and, uh, you know, but as far as myself, there's not really much else that you can do besides,

you know, get your belongings and get out. Do you wish the university or do you think the university could do anything differently if this happened again? I think now they're better equipped, especially with, you know, going through COVID, they're better equipped to kind of set up

a quick plan to, you know, get things going. And I know that's asking a lot because a lot of the teachers were probably affected or, you know, wondering if they were going to lose their house in these fires. So, um, I understand that part is hard,

but I just think, um, now they're definitely more prepared to kind of take on a virtual classroom type of setting after going through it multiple times. Now, that was the only thing, I mean, because if it, I think the school didn't let it affect our regular

school schedule, but very well could have, um, and then that would have probably been a problem for some people who have, you know, engagements outside of school. So I think that was the only thing they really could have done better was just to try to put

some sort of plan in the place, but at the same time, it was all so new. Um, you know, being off school for two weeks, um, not planned, obviously. Um, so I think that was the only thing that they could have done better. Yeah. And, I

mean, they didn't really know. I'm sure they didn't know if, like, the fire was gonna hit the university. Like, what would they do then? You know? Yeah. Yeah. I'm sure they had a million things to worry about. So I try not to blame them too much.

Yeah. Can you tell me a little bit about how you saw the community's, like, impact and, like, what they did after the fire if you remember? Um Yeah, I mean, I remember there being a ton of fundraisers for people who were affected in the, I remember

there's actually something going around the campus, you know, on different things. Um You know, there's different things you see within, you know, the small city of Runner Park or, you know, outside surrounding areas to just kind of support um those who were affected and obviously there

was a huge like national spotlight too but, and I mean, that's all I can really remember. Yeah, that's funny. Do you have any other questions? Comments, maybe stories, something that sparked your memory, I just think, I mean, I just remember my, I kind of already mentioned

this but just getting out of there was something I'd really never seen like the way I was describing it to my friends just going down like um gosh, what's that road being up to this little highway or something like that? Petaluma Road, I think. Yeah. Yeah.

So just going up that road was like, it just kind of looked like what I'd imagine, like a, a war zone that cut. Um, it was crazy. Like people were just scrambling. Um, obviously the sky was like dark red, something I'd really never seen before. Um,

and just you could, yeah, you could really tell there was like a panic. Um, so, I mean, that was like, obviously the fires weren't directly in front of me, but at the same time, you could feel like the sense of urgency that everybody had to just

get out of there. Well, thank you so much, Justin. I really appreciate it. Yeah, if you don't have any other questions or comments, then I would take up too much more of your time. All right. Awesome. Well, thank you. Um Good luck on your project. Thank

you so much. Um Yeah, and if you think of anything else or have any questions or anything else, just you have my phone number, contact me if you want. All right. Awesome. Thank you so much, Justin. Have a great day. You too. Bye bye bye.