Falls Fire Evacuee Praises Red Cross, Firefighters

Seated on a folding chair inside the Lakeside High School gymnasium Monday night, Arija Stewart was experiencing something completely unfamiliar. 

She was an evacuee of the Falls Fire, brought to the school that has been set up as a temporary Red Cross shelter for victims displaced by the blaze.

Stewart, 67, has never been evacuated. Despite the circumstances, she was feeling a sense of security.

“All the people here were exceptionally nice … and were very concerned for my brother,” she said.

Stewart and her 65-year-old sibling were evacuated from their home on Sangston Drive in Lakeland Village Monday afternoon as flames from the Falls Fire drew closer.

A firefighter came knocking and told them it was time to leave.

“Because my brother is bedridden, we had to call an ambulance,” she said, explaining that it was the firefighter who arranged for the pair to be transported to the temporary shelter.

Stewart’s brother is mentally challenged and has cerebral palsy, she explained.

“It’s a relief – a big relief. All I have is him and myself … if I lost my house – everything in it is all I have,” she said, her voice cracking as she tried to hold back tears.

“Thank you for saving my house and the other people around me,” Stewart said to firefighters, some of whom had convened at the school that was doubling as an emergency operations center. 

At press time, the U.S. Forest Service is reporting minimal structure damage caused by the fire that broke out at approximately 10 a.m. Monday in the Cleveland National Forest, just west of Lake Elsinore.

Stewart is lucky. Not only were she and her brother spared with their home still standing, their possessions were safe, as were their two little dogs that were temporarily moved to a relative’s home following the evacuation.

Like most people, Stewart has seen past news reports about firefighters and the Red Cross working to save lives.

“Thank God that will never happen to me,” Stewart remembers thinking at the time.

Despite the inconvenience and discomfort of a cold gymnasium floor, Stewart said she only feels grateful. She knows she is going home.

For those who don’t want to leave their property during an evacuation, she has advice.

"Just do what they say," she said, "because you never know.” --Patch staff contributed to this report.