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The beetles help save homes
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One could say the bark beetle saved Mack Braden's Lake Arrowhead home from this week's storm of fires scorching through the San Bernardino National Forest.
Three years ago, the wood-boring insect infected 63 pine trees on the Somis native's property. Firefighters hewed the injured trees from Braden's land and his neighbors' lots.
When the Grass Valley fire ran through the mountain town Monday, all the houses on Braden's block — including his — were saved.
"If they hadn't taken out those trees, we all would be burned to the ground right now," said Braden, who with his wife, Nancy, and 12-year-old daughter, Brooke, voluntarily evacuated and fled to Camarillo to stay with relatives.
Braden, a pastor for Community Baptist Church in Lake Arrowhead, said he and his family cleared out of town well before the fire crept into his backyard. The family piled their pictures, clothes and two dogs in two cars and a boat and headed west.
"Some people stayed, but I don't understand that," Braden said. "We left to get out of the way and let the firefighters do their job."
One of those battling the blaze is a friend and kept Braden informed. The fire at one point made it to the backyard deck.
"I called him yesterday to thank him," Braden said. "He laughed and said, You know that chicken you had in the freezer? We ate that.' The only bummer was we weren't there to serve them."
Braden isn't sure when he can return home. As of Friday, the Grass Valley fire had burned 160 homes on the west side of the lake and measured 1,100 acres, according to fire officials. It is 70 percent contained.
On the east side of Lake Arrowhead, the Slide fire has burned 13,700 acres and 200 structures. It is 20 percent contained.
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