For generations, Kacey Collins’ family has owned a ranch in rural Arroyo Grande that ended up in the path of the Gifford Fire.
Kacey Collins’ dad, Scotty Pearl, came from Oregon this week in part to check on their ranch after hearing from a family member.
“I got a call and, it was going to be one way or another because there was enough information coming in…he called me and said the ranch is still there,” Pearl said. “It meant a tremendous amount.”
Pearl said he’s been going to his family ranch since he was five years old. Now 67, he says many memories and family history have happened on that ranch.
He shared the property's importance to his family with people working on the Gifford Fire.
“You could kind of feel that passion and determination that was conveyed to me that anything and everything within the power to save that ranch, will be done,” Pearl said.
Collins said she and her father are extremely grateful for the first responders who were able to save their home.
“To me, every single firefighter that I see is someone that fought for it, whether or not they did or they didn't,” Collins said. “That's how I feel about it, because it's just what they do is so important. But their faces are lighting up being able to actually hear a story that was worth it.”
She said it is important for residents of Arroyo Grande to share their support for firefighters involved in the Gifford Fire.
“Everything they do is personal for people that live locally,” she said. “It's like you can tell it means a lot to them, too, that they actually get to hear how much it meant.”
As a former police officer, Pearl said gratitude for a first responder goes a long way.
“You have the capacity to be able to make a difference on something that is really meaningful,” she said. “It just it takes you to a different level of your job, where it ceases being your job and it becomes your mission to make that happen.”
