The deadly Valley Fire struck Lake County in 2015, but the memories linger after two years, and the recovery and rebuilding process that the popular clothing optional resort faced illustrate the long journey ahead for businesses destroyed in this year's Wine Country fires.
When fast-moving wildfires broke out last week, the staff of Harbin Hot Springs was on edge, carefully monitoring their phones for an evacuation notification.
"It was a week of no sleep," said Harbin Hot Springs' lead manager, Eric Richardson. "Very few people could sleep, because we would be getting these text alerts that would tell you whether to evacuate — so it's hard to sleep when you're waiting on these alerts to show up or not."
Middletown, where Harbins Hot Springs is located, was sandwiched between the Tubbs and Pocket fires. Some residents chose to heed an advisory evacuation that did eventually hit. The new fires split staffers into two reactionary camps: Some kicked into high gear and looked into protecting newly constructed areas of the retreat, hosing down various areas. Others just couldn't imagine going through losing a home again, or the prospect of couch surfing for months, according to Richardson.
"Emotionally, everyone was on edge," Richardson said. "People were triggered by memories of two years ago."
As of this writing, both the Tubbs and Pocket fires are nearing containment and are not seen as a current threat to Harbin; both fires reached within 10 miles of the springs, according to a Cal Fire map.
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The deadly Valley Fire struck Lake County in 2015, but the memories linger after two years, and the recovery and rebuilding process that the popular clothing optional resort faced illustrate the long journey ahead for businesses destroyed in this year's Wine Country fires.
