Park Fire Survivor Kenneth Gaines Rebuilds After Losing Everything But His Animals

As Kenneth Gaines drove out of his driveway in his red Chevy Silverado truck around 7 p.m. on July 26, he could see fire glowing in the distance.

“I saw the flames, and they jumped the highway,” Gaines, 74, said. “It was less than a mile from my gate.”

Gaines evacuated from his 160-acre ranch in Paynes Creek, a census-designated place in Tehama County with a population under 100. It’s been his home for 25 years.

The Park Fire rapidly approached. He grabbed his phone and wallet but had no time to collect cherished mementos. He had already rounded his flock of 13 sheep and nine dogs into pens surrounded by space that he cleared of brush.

“I didn’t want to leave. I stayed through the Ponderosa Fire,” Gaines, an Oakland native, said, referring to the 2017 wildfire that destroyed 54 buildings, including 32 homes, in neighboring Butte County. He thought, “This is a much bigger fire. It’s moving a lot faster, and it’s moving in my direction.”

The Park Fire, allegedly started by a man who pushed a burning car into a gully, is now the fifth largest in the state’s history. It has burned over 385,000 acres — 600 square miles — in Butte and Tehama counties and destroyed at least 192 structures. Hundreds of PG&E power poles and other equipment suffered extensive damage as the fire swept through a vast area of rural Northern California, leaving thousands of people without electricity.

Gaines’ property is situated along Highway 36 in Tehama County, about 150 miles north of Sacramento. Dense forests, open grazing fields and rugged volcanic rock formations mark the rural landscape. In the last week, a KQED photographer spent three days with Gaines as he waited to return to his property.

A retired Oakland Unified School District gardener, Gaines, who friends know as Kenny, was inspired to buy his land by fellow Oakland cowboys who purchased land outside the Bay. After seeing an ad for the property in the Oakland Tribune and visiting, Gaines said he fell in love. “I knew exactly where I wanted to be.”

The area is known for its hot, dry summers and history of wildfires. The Finley Lake Fire scorched Gaines’ property in 1990, one year after he purchased it. The fire claimed ornate manzanita trees, some that were hundreds of years old, as well as California junipers.

“I was heartbroken, but it came back. It opened [the land] up, actually. Because it was really too thick,” Gaines said, referring to the brush that covered his land.

Gaines sold his one-bedroom house in the Brookfield Village neighborhood of East Oakland and moved to Paynes Creek in 1999.

He spent most of his early years living on a farm in Bakersfield, working alongside his parents to pick cotton and vegetables. His first real paycheck was from working cattle at a nearby ranch.

Gaines knew of the potential wildfire dangers and took precautions to keep his animals safe. He trained his sheep to come in when he blew a whistle, and he created defensible space.

“I live in a heavily wooded, heavily brushy area. And this is just part of it,” he said. “I like it better than living in Oakland. I have my solitude. I’m right on Battle Creek Canyon. I don’t have to see anybody if I don’t want to. I really don’t have any neighbors. I love it.”

After leaving his property, Gaines went to a trailhead parking lot about 15 miles away. He spent the night in the front seat of his truck, getting what little sleep he could. As he watched the wildfire in the distance, he worried about his animals.

Early on July 27, he drove to the police checkpoint three times to see if they would let him enter the mandatory evacuation zone to check on the sheep and dogs. He was denied each time because the fire was still active near his home. After the third visit to the checkpoint, his truck broke down. His close friend, Ken Coates, helped Gaines work on the truck in Coates’ front yard. They watched fire trucks rolling past. That afternoon, a Cal Fire officer told Gaines that his animals had survived but that his home, a single-wide trailer, had not.

Like many of his neighbors, Gaines does not have fire insurance.

“What are you going to do? Take the bitter with the sweet,” he said. “Thank God I didn’t get burned up.”

Gaines was relieved and saddened but remained resolute.

“Even though my place is burnt to cinders, it’s still my place,” he said. “Burn the trees. You can’t burn the land. The trees will come back. The grass will come back. It’ll green up,” he said.

When he evacuated, he left behind items like photo albums and a leather carving that won him first prize at the Kern County Art Exposition in the 11th grade.

Nearly 60 hours after evacuating, Gaines was escorted by the Tehama County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue team to tend to his livestock. Coates gave him a ride. As they two entered the property, they passed by the charred remains of his single-wide trailer and a truck he had parked in front. Navigating through the hazy, blackened landscape, they reached the pen.

He was only allowed 20 minutes on the property to feed his animals, which didn’t leave time to assess damages to the property.

Gaines is focused on fixing his truck, finding clothes at Goodwill and buying a generator. He also needs another trailer to live on his property once again.

Despite facing yet another wildfire on his land, he declared, ‘‘I’m going to tell them to scatter my ashes there.”

If you’d like to help fire victims, here’s a verified list of GoFundMe campaigns, including Kenneth Gaines, for Northern California wildfire relief.