[ad_1]
SANTA ROSA, Calif. — Jeff Okrepkie wants to make one thing perfectly clear.
Yes, his home was gutted after he fled a wall of flames with his wife, toddler, two dogs, and what little he had managed to pack into his car. But no, he was not the victim of the fire, Okrepky insisted.
“I’m a survivor,” he said. “I know it sounds a bit corny, but thinking about myself that way makes me feel better mentally…I lived through something that a lot of people don’t.”
share
Share by closing additional sharing options
Okrepky and his wife lost their home and nearly all of their possessions in the 2017 Tubbs Fire, which reduced large swaths of wine country to piles of cinders and ash, including Santa Rosa’s middle-class Coffey Park neighborhood. At the time, it was the most destructive wildfire in California history. Soon, the still-burning inferno of Los Angeles County may top the list, ranking just third.
Mr. Okrepky, 45, a commercial real estate agent, was forced out of his job due to bad luck. A few years later, he was elected to the Santa Rosa City Council by popular vote. He has become an advocate for wildfire survivors, an advocate for them, and a clearinghouse for recovery tips from his own choices and his own lived experience.
“How can you have all this information and not share it?” he said in a conversation this week, a few blocks from City Hall, about 2 1/2 years after the fire. He said it is a short drive from the subdivision he returned to. “It almost seems selfish not to do that.”
The October weekend that changed Okrepky’s life forever began in what now seems like a normal day.
He and his wife, Stephanie, attended a wedding on Saturday, which was a welcome moment of solitude among a group of adults. Their son is almost 2 years old and recently “started climbing on the walls,” so Sunday was spent converting his crib into a “big boy bed.” After they made up, everyone was so excited that O’Clery took a photo.
The rest was over in a flash.
Reports of a fire starting 60 miles away in Napa. His wife nodded in front of the TV news. Okrepky falls asleep. His sister called him and woke him up with the news that another fire had broken out in Calistoga, 26 miles away, and strong winds had spread it.
Shortly thereafter, flames jumped Highway 101 and its six lanes, consuming Coffey Park. Stephanie Okrepky drove away with her son, Lab, a black mixed breed dog and a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Jeff stayed behind and grabbed what he could, but a huge ember fell at his feet, spitting sparks. he departed.
He shares his wildfire wisdom in two parts: before and after the disaster.
Jeff Okrepke, second from left, speaks with a neighbor as he stands outside his rebuilt home in the Coffey Park area of Santa Rosa, California, on Wednesday, January 5, 2022. The 2017 Tubbs Fire destroyed more than 3,000 homes in Northern California. The City of Santa Rosa includes more than 1,400 homes in the Coffey Park neighborhood. Four years later, about 90% of the units have been rebuilt or are under construction, city officials said.
(Eric Risberg/Associated Press)
Okrepky suggested starting with a list of things to get before you force yourself to go out. Find out what you can get in under 5 minutes and start with the “important things in life” like passports, birth certificates, marriage certificates, insurance policies, wills, trusts, and more. Expand your list to items you think you can collect in 10, 15, and 30 minutes.
Okrepky said the focus should be on items that are irreplaceable or have sentimental value, such as “an urn containing a parent’s belongings or a wedding ring.” Clothing, shoes, underwear, pet food. These types of items can be purchased later.
Okrepky particularly regrets leaving a photo of her grandparents that her late grandmother carried with her everywhere. The wife lost the military uniform her father was wearing when he was killed in Iraq, but the couple recovered his dog tags and a “challenge coin.”
If you lose your home, you don’t have to wait to find temporary housing, Okrepky continued. “As soon as you’re stable somewhere, start calling apartments,” he advised. If you don’t have furniture, make do with second-hand or donated items. “When you get home, it’s time to start spending money on the dining room table, and it’s going to look great inside,” Okrepke said.
Additionally, he advised patience.
Take as much time as necessary to catalog your losses for insurance purposes. For example, if you were able to raise up to $700,000 and spend 10 hours creating a detailed list, your hourly rate would be $70,000. “It’s a pretty well-paying job,” Okrepky said. “Think about it that way.”
He also said to carefully document all interactions with insurance companies. You will likely deal with numerous adjusters, some of whom will move on before your claim is resolved. It’s important to have written evidence of what was said or promised so you don’t have to start talking to a new person every time.
When it comes to rebuilding, there’s no need to rush if that’s your plan. Yes, Okrepky said, she understands wanting to go home as soon as possible. But he cautioned against making hasty decisions. One reason for this is that rules and regulations may change and affect what can be rebuilt and how. “If you’re in a hurry, you might be doing something to fit into a suddenly larger box three weeks later.”
Rather than proceeding with new homes alone with individual architects and builders, he works with “mass builders” (developers who go through permitting and legal formalities and offer buyers a variety of floor plans and options). I was glad I made the purchase.
“Most people have never built a house,” Okrepky said. “They just bought a house that already exists, so they don’t know what’s going to go together, like carpet, countertops, cabinets, tile. “Meanwhile, they’re like, ‘Oh, this and this and this and this. I’ve got this, and I’ve got this.” It’s much easier to understand when your options are limited. ”
Through it all, Okrepky said it was essential to build and foster a sense of community.
“I can sit here and tell you the whole story of the fire, and you’ll relate,” he said over lunch at a bar in downtown Santa Rosa. But no matter how well-intentioned and compassionate a person is, they cannot empathize “in the same way as someone who is going through what you are going through.”
The gatherings started by friends became jokingly known as “Whine Wednesdays,” in which survivors first gathered on camp chairs set up in the ruins, drank beer or wine and “just talked to each other.” We talked about it,” Okrepky said. “I don’t complain or complain. I just have a conversation.”
His work on behalf of the burnt-scarred area won him a seat on the City Planning Commission, which led to the 2022 Santa Rosa City Council election.
As someone with experience on both sides of disasters, both as a survivor of wildfires and as a government official dealing with their aftermath, he had some suggestions for those in public office.
“Be careful with your messages because people can take things very personally,” Okrepky says. “Don’t call people homeless…We have a home. It burned.”
be patient. Very patient. Even as months and years pass and the initial trauma has faded, we are faced with people who continue to struggle with perhaps the worst experience of their lives. “Be careful not to be too negative or appear unfeeling,” Okrepy said.
Don’t be afraid to take bold steps if your actions can speed your recovery, he continued. “There is always a fear for elected officials that they will offend too many people. There is nothing more altruistic than putting your neck on the line for people who have lost everything.” I don’t think so.”
In particular, don’t treat survivors as if they need something more than they already have.
“We’re not asking people to build mansions,” Okrepky said while eating a taco salad. “If you had a car that you really liked and someone crashed it, you wouldn’t think, ‘I want a Maserati.’ Tell me what I had…I’ll game the system. There are always bad apples who try to do that. But most people are good people even in bad situations.”
It’s that simple, he suggested. Please be considerate. Please be kind.
[ad_2]Source link
