EASING THE PAIN
LAST SATURDAY the marquee outside Oaks Christian School asked for THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS FOR OUR THOUSAND OAKS COMMUNITY, without making clear which of the two local catastrophes it was referencing.
Three nights earlier a gunman entered the Borderline Bar and Grill on Rolling Oaks Drive and killed 11 patrons and a Ventura County sheriff's sergeant before taking his own life. Then, 15 hours later, the first flames of what would become known as the Woolsey Fire began charring a suburban hillside about 10 miles northeast of the town. As the blaze—which had rapidly spread across 85,000 acres—engulfed their tree-shrouded neighborhoods on Saturday, thousands of Thousand Oaks's 130,000 residents grieving from the mass shooting were forced to flee their homes.
That same day Oaks Christian's football team, undefeated and ranked No. 8 in the nation, was on a southbound bus, headed to its Southern Section Division I quarterfinal matchup at JSerra Catholic, in San Juan Capistrano. The game had been postponed a day due to the wildfires, a delay that allowed half the Lions' players to help their families evacuate. Senior kicker Garth White described the team's ride. "It was lot different vibe," he told The Orange County Register. "Our minds were off of the game. Our minds were back at home.... We took a hard hit."
The Lions rumbled down the 101 Freeway, past a youth soccer field in Encino, where kids played on fields consisting mostly of dirt. Games throughout Los Angeles County, and as far away as Manhattan Beach, had been canceled due to poor air quality—but not these matches, despite the fires raging just down the road. As the seven-year-olds joyfully sprinted and dribbled, José Torres, director of the Project 2000 soccer program, explained that playing these games was important to kids and families alike. "AYSO is recreation," he said, "but this is competition." The latter, he added, distracts as it uplifts.
And the air wasn't so bad, he noted, as the last of the day's sunshine illuminated the final U-8 match. Just seven miles west, at the Woodland Hills campus of Pierce College, the Red Cross had set up three evacuation shelters amid a smoky haze. Men's volleyball coach Lance Walker arrived that morning ready to drive his team to an offseason tournament in San Diego. When he saw his gym filled with cots, blankets and frightened evacuees, he nixed the trip. He and his players spent most of the next two days lugging bottled water, bananas and snack bars between the shelters, as well as giving rides to anyone who asked for one. "Some things are more important than us playing volleyball," he said on Sunday, his voice made husky from shouting and breathing dust.
The Woolsey Fire stretched about 18 miles, from close to Simi Valley all the way to coastal Malibu, home to dozens of famous athletes, active and retired—Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun, NBA legend Kevin Garnett and surfing icon Laird Hamilton among them. Former U.S. soccer star Eric Wynalda, now a Fox analyst, watched on TV as his Westlake Village house burned. The same fate had reportedly befallen the home of Royce Clayton, an MLB shortstop for 17 seasons and now the baseball coach at Oaks Christian.
The families of the Lions' football team arrived for the playoff game in Orange County, far from the fire and smoke, and were provided with a tailgate dinner by the parents of their opponents as a show of hospitality and support. A titanic struggle then unfolded on the field. Oaks Christian and JSerra Catholic traded the lead for the fifth and final time with 18 seconds left, when White kicked a 26-yard field goal for a 35--34 victory. White and his family were among those who had obeyed evacuation orders. He told a reporter after the game that he didn't know if his house was still standing.
That was also the situation for about 75 employees of the Rams, a total that included players and coaches. The NFL team practices just five miles from the site of the Borderline shooting; offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth, who lives with his wife and four children near the bar, donated his weekly paycheck (about $60,000) to the Ventura County Community Foundation (VCCF.org), which was providing financial relief and other support to the families of the deceased. The Rams' practice site is also only a few miles from the Woolsey Fire's still advancing edge. Team owner Stan Kroenke has vowed to cover any expenses incurred by staffers as a result of the evacuation order.
Wildfires were raging across the state. The Camp Fire in Butte County, north of Sacramento, has become the most destructive blaze in California history. Traces of smoke wafted into the Golden 1 Center before Saturday night's NBA game between the Lakers and the Kings, creating a faint gray cloud that hovered near the ceiling. Raiders fans arriving at Oakland Coliseum for Sunday's kickoff against the Chargers were handed pollution masks.
In a week full of well-meaning but insufficient sound bites, Walker offered a summation of the community outreach he had witnessed and led with his own soot-blackened hands. He attributed it to his former coach at Pierce, Ken Stanley, for whom community service was a requirement, not an option. "One of things Coach Stanley told us," says Walker, now a 39-year-old husband and father, "is that the rarest thing a person can do is to do his best all the time.
"This week, in this community, that has not been rare at all."
NEWSMAKERS
P.15
A LIFE REMEMBERED
P. 19
GAMEPLAN
P.21
SI EATS
P.22
FACES IN THE CROWD
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