The fires that devastated San Diego last week may not have hit La Jolla, but there are still many with ties to the area who were impacted.
One such person is La Jolla High School teacher Ken Davis.
Davis, who lives in Ramona with his family, lost his house and many of his belongings. But most important, he and his family are safe.
Davis, a football and softball coach at the high school, talked with La Jolla Village News via e-mail this past weekend. Davis, his wife and two children are staying with relatives for the time being.

La Jolla Village News: How long were you living in that house in Ramona? And describe getting out of there to evacuate.
Davis: My wife and I moved to Ramona in 1992 and bought the 5-acre property because of the views and the space for horses and eventually our kids, whom we adopted from Russia in 2001.
Knowing the wind was blowing due west and the fire was just east of us, we anticipated we would be evacuated and had packed a few items, picture frames, with the belief we were going to be evacuated but we would have a home to come back to. When we received the reverse 911 call around 9:30 p.m., we were ready to leave.
There was so much smoke around the property, it was hard to see even the lights over town, let alone our neighbor. The only thing visible was an “orange glow” filling the skies to the east of us. My wife went outside to see if she could see anything, and came running back in saying there were burning embers. I had the horse trailer attached, and while my wife, our two kids and the four golden retrievers loaded in the one vehicle, I went to load the horses. The wind was blowing so hard and the horses didn’t want to load in the trailer. We saw our neighbor’s home down the street catching on fire and knew we had to go. We had to put the horses in the pasture and hoped they would make it OK.
By the time we got out the front gate, the sheriff was driving up the street with his loudspeaker, announcing immediate evacuation. As I turned onto the street, I saw one of our trees at the front of our property explode into flames. We knew we did not have any time to look back. Little did we know that at the same time, 36,000 other Ramona residents were evacuating at the same time.
There was no exit to the east, as Highway 78 was closed, so we got onto the main street in Ramona heading west, along with every other Ramona family.
With all the sidestreets impacted with families trying to get to Main Street, there was little movement, as the fire grew larger behind us. We had left our home at approximately 10 p.m. on Sunday evening (Oct. 21) and by 2:30 a.m. Monday (Oct. 22), we were only four blocks down the road on Main Street.
The gas station and convenience store along the road were busy with activity, although little else was open for business. Eventually a highway patrol car drove by and announced that Highway 78 was “open.” My wife in line in front of me [and I] both made U-turns and headed back towards 78, in the direction of Escondido. As we passed the area of our home, located over a “hill” we could see flames along the ridge. I could only hope that our home was OK.
We had a clear drive down the 78 into the San Pasqual Valley, until we came to another area on fire, and spreading quickly, near the Wild Animal Park. We were stopped along the road and eventually turned around and sent up Bandy Canyon to Highland Valley and down into Rancho Bernardo. We arrived at my brother-in-law’s home in Valle Verde in Poway around 3:30 a.m. A brief nap ended at 4:30 a.m. when the news showed evacuations in North Rancho Bernardo, and the Freeway 15 was closed down to Highway 56. We left Poway and went to my wife’s mother’s house in Point Loma. It was a relief to be farther away from all the fires.

LJVN: Were you able to salvage anything before needing to evacuate?
Davis: Other than the few things we took with us, we lost everything. It was wonderful to hear that the horses were OK, and a friend, who chose to stay in Ramona, took care of the horses until we could return. I now have true sense of what is important, family and loved ones, and how all that other stuff is really just “stuff.”

LJVN: How many people are in your family and how have they handled this situation?
Davis: We are a family of four: my wife and two kids ” my son Kolton, age 9, and my daughter Amber, age 11. They seem to be doing fine. Since we were unable to get back to Ramona for five days, and we knew our home was burned, we had some days to mentally accept our home was gone. My son asked if his “army men” would be OK. My daughter wondered if their pet rat Snowflake would be all right. We told them that the fireman let her out of her cage ” to safety. That relieved their concern.
On Friday morning, after we were told we could return to Ramona, I went back early in the morning to see what was to remain of our home and property. I had an empty feeling in my stomach and reminded myself what was important in life. I knew the house that was gone, was just “stuff.” My family, horses and dogs were safe. I would soon learn more about friends and neighbors and their personal situations. My wife took the kids to Rancho Bernardo to see what a burned home looks like the day prior to coming back to see their own burned home.

LJVN: We’re sure your family, friends, co-workers have reached out to you. Talk a little bit about that process.
Davis: There has been so much outpouring of offers to help from concerned friends, colleagues, prior football players, graduates and family. We couldn’t begin to mention everyone, but here are a few special people that have helped us right from the beginning.
A friend and former student of mine, from 1985, Rodd Fantelli, took care of our animals and restored water to the property before I could get back into Ramona.
On Saturday, our friends, Coach Mike Hastings (Point Loma varsity football coach) and his wife Linda brought over a few toys for the kids and helped us at the property sift through ashes in search of mementos of our home. My daughter spent hours searching through the ashes in hopes of finding any “pieces” of her softball trophies, or trading pins from her softball “State” and “Nationals” championship team from this past August. We found some special items that we will always treasure.
On Sunday (Oct. 28), we were allowed to begin with all the “clean-up,” as the insurance adjuster had finished his appointment. Ernie Watson, JaRodd Watson, Dave Ponsford (varsity football coach at LJHS), Bob Allen and Mike Francis all came up to help load burnt remains of our home into a large Dumpster. Another friend, Matt Ford, came with a John Deere front-loader, and we filled the end-dump container to near-overflowing. When he went to return the tractor to the rental company and told them it was used to help a friend whose home had burned, they said there would be no charge.

LJVN: Is there anything people in La Jolla can do for you or your family?
Davis: If anyone has any experiences with rebuilding, working with insurance companies or any other experiences that we may be coming up against in the process of moving forward following a loss of a home due to fire and could offer any “tips.” We are looking to move into a rental within the next 30 days, and at that point, we will be walking into an empty house. The reality of making that our home will be the next challenge.
As a teacher and coach at LJHS for the past 18 years, I have met so many wonderful families during these years. It is not unusual for students to stay in touch for years after graduation. I have been told by several people from La Jolla High of an outpouring of calls and concern about me and my family. This kindness is not new to me or anyone else at LJHS, as the La Jolla community eagerly supports us, both at school and in times of need.
My family and I feel the love and offers of help, and it warms our spirit. We are so appreciative. It keeps us feeling positive and gives us hope as we move forward in the rebuilding process, both physically and emotionally, as we attack the challenge that is ahead of us.

” Editor’s note: La Jolla High has set up a fund for Davis and his family that will be administered through the Foundation of La Jolla High. For information, call Principal Dana Shelburne or Lynn Dull, (858) 454-3081. If you know of any other people with ties to La Jolla impacted by the fires, please email: [email protected].