Waiting for news on the fate of your home

Modjeska Canyon:

Linda Wheeler, 59, and her husband Steve, 53, haven't seen their house on the back of Modjeska Canyon since 1:30 a.m. yesterday. But gathered with neighbors at a Santiago Canyon Road checkpoint, where deputies had stopped them from returning home, they heard that the house likely had been saved.

"We were sure our house was going to be lost. To hear otherwise is such a relief," Linda Wheeler said.

As the neighbors swapped stories, Linda remarked that she was "here partly for the camaraderie." Last night, they spent the night at her daughter's house in Orange, but Linda said she was restless.

"When you feel like your home is likely in danger, all you want to do is be there. It's a strange feeling."
She recalled thinking, "That smoke could be what's left of my great-grandmother's table that I didn't have a chance to take with me."

-- Tony Barboza