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In the past week I have had to write about two fires, first the iconic Full Throttle Saloon burned down and then about the limo that was carrying band members of Jake E Lee’s Red Dragon Cartel. Here I am once again writing about another fire and this one has hit very close to home. On Saturday, September 12th, we noticed the clouds to the East of us had grown dark and filled with smoke. Shortly after we learned of a fire on Cobb Mountain in Lake County and it was rapidly growing at an aggressive rate. It left people with little time to gather their belongings as they had to evacuate their homes. We spent the entire night looking for updates and watching the orange sky in our backyard, worrying about those in the path of the fire.

Sunday, we learned of the devastation that the fire had ensued as it had grown to 10,000 acres, then 25,000 acres, then to an astonishing 50,000 acres and zero containment. The fire at last check is at 67,200 acres and 30% containment with 584 structures burned and one confirmed fatality. My heart aches for the elderly woman, Barbara McWilliams who was disabled and could not evacuate her home. My heart aches for the thousands of individuals who were evacuated and didn’t know if they would return to their homes. My heart aches for the families who have lost their homes and left with just the clothes on their backs. My heart aches for the pets and livestock that were not able to be evacuated and the surrounding wildlife.

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It seemed like a bad nightmare as I conjured up memories of the last time I had felt such a heavy heart. It was 2005 and Hurricane Katrina had hit New Orleans. Then one night after the Hurricane hit my son gathered his toys and asked me to send them to the poor girl that he saw on the tv, that was being air-lifted by a helicopter to safety. The newscaster reported, she is being rescued with just the clothes on her back. That resonated so strongly with my son, he felt compelled to do something. We did, we came together, took action and made a difference. Here is a little video of the history of what we did for Hurricane Katrina and what we are doing now.

Fast forward to the current situation and Ryan and I along with great friend and fellow music enthusiast, Tom Alexander decided to take action. We decided to do what we could to help by raising money for the Valley Fire victims. There was no question about it, we must do something. So here we are. My son is now all grown up and he doesn’t have toys to donate but he sure loves music! We put the word out about doing a benefit concert and the response has been overwhelming. So many amazing artists and bands contacted us asking to play, how they could help. Stories of how their families or friends are being directly affected by the Valley Fire. We had so many great bands and we plan on putting on many more benefit concerts to help. So here is the first one!

We are working on a silent auction and raffle to raise money for the victims. All the proceeds will be donated to Lake County Organizations directly helping Valley Fire victims. http://www.lovelakecounty.org/. We will continue to update you on the Concert but for now, please share our flyer and come on out for a great night of music as we join together in helping those in need. You can purchase tickets now at The Phoenix Benefit – Ticketfly. If you would like to join us in raising funds and donate, click below:

Make sure to check out the bands listed and we will make sure to continue featuring more of these awesome bands.

~ Marisol

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