Two years ago today, October 8, 2017, the Tubbs Fire swept down upon our community and, for many, brought devastation, suffering and homelessness. We’ve chosen this anniversary as the day to launch our first video on YouTube as a brief overview for our new nonprofit business (please watch above).

The founder of Homes 4 the Homeless, Steve Schneider, was among those that became homeless. Like many, two years later he is still not in a position to rebuild his home and has had to be creative in finding a place to live. As it happens, this process is what inspired the foundation of Homes 4 the Homeless, to provide tiny, transitional housing for people experiencing homelessness.

At the time, the Tubbs Fire was the most destructive wildfire in California history, burning parts of Napa, Sonoma, and Lake counties, inflicting its greatest losses in the City of Santa Rosa. The most destructive wildfire in California history at the time, it was surpassed only a year later by the Camp Fire of 2018. The Tubbs Fire was called the “Northern California firestorm.” By the time of its containment on October 31, the fire was estimated to have burned 36,810 acres (149 km2); at least 22 people were believed to have been killed in Sonoma County by the fire.

The fire started near Tubbs Lane in the rural northern part of Calistoga, in Napa County, and within a few hours travelled overnight as far as Santa Rosa, 20 miles to the southwest. It incinerated more than 5,643 structures, half of which were homes in Santa Rosa. Santa Rosa’s economic loss from the Tubbs Fire was estimated at $1.2 billion (2017 USD), with five percent of the city’s housing stock destroyed. (Source: Wikipedia)