Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
String Musicians Lose Their Home to Creek Fire, Leaving Them Bowed but Unbroken
NANCY WEBSITE HEADSHOT 1
By Nancy Price, Multimedia Journalist
Published 5 years ago on
September 20, 2020

Share

Dieter Wulfhorst and Susan Doering were spending three to five hours each day over the summer, clearing out the dead wood and forest debris around their Bald Mountain Road home.

After all, they had plenty of time on their hands. Wulfhorst, a cellist, and his violinist wife normally would have been on the go, traveling to Europe and around the U.S. to perform individually and together as the Emerald Duo (emerald being the birthstone of May, the month they both were born), and to teach master classes.

When they’re home, they’d perform with symphonies and orchestras up and down the Valley, including the Fresno Philharmonic, and have taught at Fresno State and Fresno Pacific.

But the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled their performances and travel, and kept them close to their Mile High neighborhood home tucked between Auberry and Pine Ridge on the north side of Highway 168.

Nature Surrounded Them

From the birds that landed on tree branches around their home to the critters that crept up to snack on undergrowth and peek at them, Wulfhorst said, he and Doering were enjoying their mountain aerie while practicing music and preparing for concerts yet to come.

“Everything from bears to chipmunks, mountain lions, foxes, hawks and skunks, we loved being a part of nature,” Wulfhorst told GV Wire℠. “We were loving the opportunity to live in nature.”

But their pastoral peace was shattered on Sept. 6 when the rapidly expanding Creek Fire targeted their neighborhood.

The initial evacuation warning came at 10 a.m. When the mandatory evacuation order came through at 4 p.m., Wulfhorst and Doering still had time to collect some of the things most valuable to them — his cello, made in 1693 by Giovanni Battista Rogeri, her collection of antique bows dating to the 19th century and her violin, their passports and other important documents, some irreplaceable sheet music and some photographs, and their formerly feral housecat, Charlie — and load up their cars before heading down the hill.

Wulfhorst said that in their 19 years in the woods, “we are always ready to evacuate.”

Kind Friends Offer a Home

Within a few days they were invited to stay at a musician friend’s farm in Clovis while they waited to learn the fate of their home. Wulfhorst had been watching the fire’s progress when it broke out Sept. 4 near Big Creek and thought it might come up Bald Mountain Road.

Instead, it swept from Alder Springs through thickly wooded forest land and came up the back side. Two homes were lost to the flames — Wulfhorst and Doering’s, and a neighbor’s.

When the fire’s fury exploded that Sunday, the smoke was so thick that air tankers which might have helped save the Bald Mountain Road homes and others were grounded. Wulfhorst said he wonders why tanker pilots could not use the same night vision goggles that allowed National Guard pilots to land in thick smoke and rescue campers at Mammoth Pool and other campgrounds.

Some Lost Everything

But he knows it could have been even worse for them. What if there was no COVID-19, and they had been traveling when the fire struck? One of his neighbors was on a hiking trip when he learned of the Creek Fire, and could not return in time to retrieve anything before fire consumed his home, Wulfhorst said.

He also counts himself and Doering as lucky to have kind friends with a spare house on their farm so they can remain safe from COVID-19 concerns while they figure out what to do next. He’s not worried about having a new home someday — their insurance policy will cover rebuilding or buying another.

As to where they will wind up — Wulfhorst said it’s too soon to say.

“The beautiful forest we had, there will be no trees left,” he said sadly. “It’s like a moonscape.”

How to Help

Donations for Creek Fire victims can be made to the Granville Homes Creek Fire Relief Fund, with proceeds being provided to the American Red Cross of Central California.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Looking for a Perfect Companion? Mittens Is One Handsome Kitten

DON'T MISS

White Smoke Billows From Sistine Chapel as New Pope Elected

DON'T MISS

AI Execs Say US Must Increase Exports, Improve Infrastructure to Beat China

DON'T MISS

More Older Americans Worry Social Security Won’t Be There for Them

DON'T MISS

Head Start Gets a Reprieve From Trump Budget Cuts, but the Fight Isn’t Over

DON'T MISS

Sen. John Fetterman Raises Alarms With Outburst at Meeting With Union Officials

DON'T MISS

Catholic Cardinals Signal With Black Smoke There Is No New Pope Yet

DON'T MISS

Cancer Before Age 50 Is Increasing. A New Study Looks at Which Types

DON'T MISS

Trump Administration Invokes State Secrets Privilege in Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s Case

DON'T MISS

US Imposes Iran-Related Sanctions on Third China ‘Teapot’ Refinery, Port Terminal

UP NEXT

More Older Americans Worry Social Security Won’t Be There for Them

UP NEXT

Sen. John Fetterman Raises Alarms With Outburst at Meeting With Union Officials

UP NEXT

Fresno Man Arrested Again on Child Sex Crime Charges, Investigators Say

UP NEXT

Madera County Teen Revived With Narcan After Overdose, Ahwahnee Man Faces Felony Charges

UP NEXT

Special Report: At Social Security, These Are the Days of the Living Dead

UP NEXT

State Center Trustees Turn Deaf Ear to Backers of Downtown Student Housing

UP NEXT

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Douglas Kindle

UP NEXT

Finding New Uses for Farmland in the Heart of Ag Country Is a Daunting Task

UP NEXT

Tulare Murder Case Ends With Woman Sentenced to Life

UP NEXT

Wired Wednesday: Will Fresno County Measure C Tax Be Renewed?

Nancy Price,
Multimedia Journalist
Nancy Price is a multimedia journalist for GV Wire. A longtime reporter and editor who has worked for newspapers in California, Florida, Alaska, Illinois and Kansas, Nancy joined GV Wire in July 2019. She previously worked as an assistant metro editor for 13 years at The Fresno Bee. Nancy earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. Her hobbies include singing with the Fresno Master Chorale and volunteering with Fresno Filmworks. You can reach Nancy at 559-492-4087 or Send an Email

More Older Americans Worry Social Security Won’t Be There for Them

1 hour ago

Head Start Gets a Reprieve From Trump Budget Cuts, but the Fight Isn’t Over

1 hour ago

Sen. John Fetterman Raises Alarms With Outburst at Meeting With Union Officials

2 hours ago

Catholic Cardinals Signal With Black Smoke There Is No New Pope Yet

2 hours ago

Cancer Before Age 50 Is Increasing. A New Study Looks at Which Types

2 hours ago

Trump Administration Invokes State Secrets Privilege in Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s Case

2 hours ago

US Imposes Iran-Related Sanctions on Third China ‘Teapot’ Refinery, Port Terminal

2 hours ago

Fresno Man Arrested Again on Child Sex Crime Charges, Investigators Say

2 hours ago

Wall Street Bonuses to Drop as Uncertainty Prevails, Consultancy Says

2 hours ago

Madera County Teen Revived With Narcan After Overdose, Ahwahnee Man Faces Felony Charges

2 hours ago

Looking for a Perfect Companion? Mittens Is One Handsome Kitten

Mister Mittens is a classically handsome playful 7-month-old boy with dapper white feet. If he’s not playing with his foster siblings, you c...

22 minutes ago

Mister Mittens GV Wire's adoptable pet of the week, May 8, 2025
22 minutes ago

Looking for a Perfect Companion? Mittens Is One Handsome Kitten

White smoke rises from the chimney on the Sistine Chapel, indicating that a new pope has been elected at the Vatican, May 8, 2025. REUTERS/DYLAN MARTINEZ
45 minutes ago

White Smoke Billows From Sistine Chapel as New Pope Elected

Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Ranking Member Cantwell (D-WA) listen as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman testifies before a Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing titled “Winning the AI Race: Strengthening U.S. Capabilities in Computing and Innovation,” on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 8, 2025. (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)
47 minutes ago

AI Execs Say US Must Increase Exports, Improve Infrastructure to Beat China

1 hour ago

More Older Americans Worry Social Security Won’t Be There for Them

1 hour ago

Head Start Gets a Reprieve From Trump Budget Cuts, but the Fight Isn’t Over

2 hours ago

Sen. John Fetterman Raises Alarms With Outburst at Meeting With Union Officials

People watch as a screen shows black smoke rising from the chimney on the Sistine Chapel, indicating no decision has been made to elect a new pope, as seen from Rome, Italy May 8, 2025. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis
2 hours ago

Catholic Cardinals Signal With Black Smoke There Is No New Pope Yet

2 hours ago

Cancer Before Age 50 Is Increasing. A New Study Looks at Which Types

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend