Inflamed

Abandonment, Heroism, and Outrage in Wine Country's Deadliest Firestorm

De: Anne E. Belden, Paul Gullixson, Lauren A. Spates - contributor

Narrado por: Janet Metzger

Just after midnight on October 9, 2017, as one of the nation's deadliest firestorms swept over California's Wine Country, hundreds of elderly residents from two posh senior living facilities were caught in its path. The frailest were blind, in wheelchairs, or diagnosed with dementia, and their community quickly transformed from a palatial complex that pledged to care for them to one that threatened to entomb them. The rescue of the final 105 seniors left behind on an inflamed hillside depended not on employees, but strangers whose lives intersected in a riveting tale of terror and heroism. Headlines blamed caregivers for abandonment and neglect, but the truth proved far more complex.

Inflamed is the gripping and emotional narrative detailing what happened to these seniors, employees, and rescuers before, during, and after the Tubbs Fire decimated portions of Santa Rosa, including Oakmont Senior Living Villa Capri and part of Varenna at Fountaingrove. Anne Belden and Paul Gullixson are professional journalists and Sonoma County residents who spent three years recording each phase of the disaster in agonizing detail—from the botched evacuation and its excruciating aftermath to the investigations, lawsuits, and breakdowns that followed. They tell this harrowing story with a veracity and compassion only achieved by experienced reporters with local roots.

©2023 Anne E. Belden and Paul Gullixson (P)2024 Tantor

Scary for anyone with family members in senior living facilities!

Wow. The heroism of those family members and the corruption of that company!! Good reminder to all of us to check up on the emergency evacuation plans for any family or friends in senior living facilities.

Gripping

I’m not sure how I stumbled upon this title or why I chose to give it a try but I’m very glad I did! This is not what I would think of as a typical disaster book yet somehow it’s more riveting than any I’ve read before! I wouldn’t have thought I would enjoy reading about the aftermath and all the legal proceedings but somehow the authors managed to make this informative and engaging with just the right amount of detail. I don’t enjoy how frustrated and outraged I was by the end but I can’t even imagine how difficult things were for the residents, families, friends, and the dedicated night staff who had to act and make difficult decisions in an unimaginable situation. If any of you read this: thank you for sharing your stories!

Can’t stop listening

Having lived through both the Hanley fire and the 2017 fires, this account is gripping. Negative: The reader doesn’t pronounce the local names correctly.

So good

As a local living in Santa Rosa, this book is a must read/listen. Amazing journalism and a testament to the importance of good samaritans during natural disasters