Almost exactly one year ago, Everett Evans was burying his son's dog and sifting through the remains of his South Lake home after the Erskine Fire rolled through his neighborhood.
"You know it's the memories that you build in those homes with loved ones that you're gonna miss," Evans said on August 10, 2016 while standing on the ashes of his house.
Today, he was doing something much different. He and his team from Semper Fi Tree Care and Fuels Crew were working on getting a home in Wofford Heights ready in case of a wildfire.
After losing his home, Evans created the tree service and named it Semper Fi after his time in the Marines. He also spent time as a wildland firefighter with the U.S. Forest Service.
He and his crew focus on trimming back trees, shrubs and fire fuels in case of a wildfire. They're seeing so much business that they're behind on giving estimates on homes.
Evans nearly left the Kern River Valley after losing everything in the fire, but says he felt something calling him back.
"Just had that prompting," Evans said on Wednesday. "And Heavenly Father sent me back to this valley and said take care of the people of the church and the people of this valley."
The defensible space deadline, enforced by the Kern County Fire Department, passed on June 1. Evans and his team say that even though the deadline has passed, it's still important to keep up on defensible space.
For more information on defensible space and what you can do, click here.
For more information on Everett and his team, click here.
