Massive wildfires have ripped through Northern and Southern California this year. Thousands of homes have been destroyed within those deadly fires. There have been billions of dollars’ worth of damages. People have lost their lives and homes. Firefighters and search-and-rescue teams continue to look for bodies; at last count, effective Dec. 1, 24 people are still missing in the Camp Fire wildfire. The fire is said to be the most deadly fire in California history.
In Butte County, about 80 miles north of Sacramento, sits the small town of Paradise, California. The Camp Fire wildfire that hit Paradise swept the entire area and cleared it out. Wildfires ripped through the town of Paradise leaving 90 people dead and almost 19,000 buildings, including businesses and homes, destroyed. The small town’s police department tried to defend the town, but the fires were too fast and big.
One of the University of Houston–Clear Lake’s (UHCL) own, former employee Michael Talamantes, who worked as a computer coordinator II in the University Computing and Telecommunications (UCT) department assigned to the College of Human Sciences and Humanities (HSH), was impacted by these roaring fires. Talamantes’ great-grandmother perished in the flames and his grandparents’ house that he grew up in was taken out by these wildfires.
Talamantes is a United States Coast Guard veteran. He was with the Coast Guard for almost seven years. Talamantes grew up with his grandmother in Paradise. In these wildfires, his family has lost five homes in total: his mother’s, grandmother’s, uncle’s, cousin’s and brother’s houses were all destroyed. His mother is renting a house for now, and his grandmother, uncle, and brother are all in trailers set on their property in lieu of houses. His cousin is moving to Ohio because of the fires so he can finish school there.
“It has been heartbreaking for my family to see the destruction to our houses, and we lost my step dad’s grandma in the fire,” Talamantes said. “We are just going day by day to improve my families living condition.”
Burned trees from Camp Fire’s path in Paradise, California. Photo courtesy of Michael Talamantes. Stuart Larson, associate professor of graphic design, previously worked with Talamantes in the computer labs.
“Mike helped with the high-end computers and worked extensively with the digital program,” Larson said. “Thanks to Mike we were recognized nationally for our E-Sports program. He spent additional time for the E-Sports community. He was really personable and upbeat, and was always enthusiastic.”
Talamantes’ aunt, Mandie Orlando, has set up a GoFundMe account for anyone who would like to help out Talamantes and his family. Only two homes out of the ten family member’s homes are still standing. Many have lost everything and had to leave with just the clothes on their backs. Orlando is also selling strength bracelets with the profits going to the families.
Word of Talamantes’ hardship has traveled all the way to Clear Lake. Kimberly August, senior business assistant, Veronica Ortiz, administrative secretary, and Jennifer Roberts, senior secretary, sent out a joint email on Nov. 16 informing all of the Human Sciences and Humanities College staff and faculty about Talamantes.
“It’s a difficult situation for everyone,” August, Ortiz and Roberts wrote in the email. “Ideally helping everyone is what we’d all like to do, and while there are avenues to do that, very often we want to know that the support provided is really being used to address that urgent need. We want it to mean something. For us, for now, Michael is the face of that need and whatever you can do to help is very much appreciated.”
The email then directed recipients to the GoFundMe account.
CORRECTION: 12/16/18 – Talamantes’s previous position at UHCL was corrected to state “computer coordinator II,” as it incorrectly stated “computer programmer.” The UCT department was also incorrectly written as “University Computing and Technology,” and has been corrected to “University Computing and Telecommunications.”