Through Crisis, Lies Opportunity

Tubbs Fire Survivors: Dorr and Stephanie Eddy 

Dorr and Stephanie Eddy spent the last year and a half rebuilding their Santa Rosa home after it was burned in the Tubbs fire. Despite the fire being a very challenging time for the community, the Eddy’s chose to remain positive throughout the rebuild process. They looked for many local companies in the area to use in their rebuild and found Pella Doors & Windows of Northern California, for their new windows and doors.  

The Eddy’s home was one of the last homes to burn in the Tubbs fire of 2017. They had been residents of Rincon Valley in Santa Rosa for over 40 years. They had raised their children in the farmhouse, built in 1936, that was lost to the flames.

At 2AM, the morning of October 9, they received a call from their son, warning them of the fire. Stephanie said she could see the glow from the flames in the distance, and soon after, the local fire department knocked on their door to tell them they had 30 minutes to evacuate. 

“I grabbed the cat and practical things like my computer and flash drives,” said Stephanie. “My brain couldn’t accept our home being burned.”

Stephanie said the scenery outside was ‘unworldly’ and ‘unimaginable’. The evacuation consisted of gridlock traffic, taking her 3 hours to go 2.5 miles.

“I could see tall flames and propane tanks exploding in the distance,” said Stephanie.

The Eddy’s were able to immediately stay with their son who lived in Santa Rosa, while many other families were not as fortunate and had to scramble to find a place to stay. Stephanie said that going to Costco in the days following for supplies was an eerie post apocalyptic experience.

Despite the traumatic times, the Eddy’s remained hopeful and positive throughout the process. They focused on the opportunity that lay in the ashes, instead of on the loss.

The rebuild process began quickly for them. They had a good friend who is a contractor, Mike Eschenbach Construction, and they wanted to him to rebuild their new home. During the planning stages, they were able to stay in an in-law unit with friends in Sebastopol.

The Eddy’s said that they were fortunate because they didn’t have the setbacks that most other families had. They are retired and had adequate insurance on their home, so they were able to have the time and funds needed to begin the rebuild process.

Dorr said he was excited to rebuild their home and looked forward to the new opportunity before them. He said he wished more people would see it as an opportunity, instead of dwelling on the past.

“Many people wanted to recreate exactly what was lost, but we didn’t want to waste time looking at this as a crisis or loss,” said Dorr. “We thrived on the whole process and focused on the details of our opportunity [rebuild].

Dorr is an artist and retired designer but had never designed a home before. He said he wanted a modern design and spent many months trying working on the details to fit his vision.

“It was an emotional process,” said Dorr. “Recreating a home for yourself is both overwhelming and thrilling.”

The Eddy’s wanted a key focal point of their new home to be ‘really’ dramatic windows. They researched 5-6 different window companies before finding Pella.

“We walked in and saw the red entry door at the [Rhonert Park] showroom, and we just loved it,” said Dorr. The windows, along with everything else, was an easy decision after that.”

Dorr said that Pella was the only company for the price point and with the options that fit his project needs.

The view of the trees, rolling hills and the nature on their property were important to them in their old home and they wanted to continue to have the spectacular view in their new home.

“I always thought windows were windows, but these have really changed our attitude, said Dorr. “We can’t hear trucks or unwanted outside sounds as before. ‘Awesome’ is the best word to describe it.”

They said the Pella representatives were attentive and knowledgeable.

The Eddy’s hope that the community and families going through the rebuild process, will continue to use local businesses for their projects. They also want to continue to see businesses reaching out to help those in need.

Special thanks to Lauren Koski for her beautiful photography. You can reach her at laurenann.koski@gmail.com.