The Brown family lived in a park ranger house within Davis Creek Park. Andy Brown, a park ranger and district manager for Washoe County Parks, lived there with his wife Annie and their three daughters.
Their home was filled with love and happy memories—until Saturday, when it became one of the first structures lost in the Davis Fire.
“My family and I are safe. We're okay. We're very fortunate in that we were not home at the time of the fire starting, things could have been very different,” Brown said.
He was in Reno with his family when they heard the news of the fire.
“It burned so intensely when it began that it was really difficult to get close to the area, and so we weren't able to return,” Brown said.
This meant they couldn’t take anything with them, including their pets. Fortunately, community members were able to find two of their dogs, though their cats remain missing.
“Both Wally and Jasper had managed to escape. One of them was rescued by Truckee Meadows fire personnel. And then I was informed the following morning that someone had located one of our other dogs,” he said.
The Browns are now staying with family and are in need of basic items like clothes as they begin to rebuild.
“We're extremely blessed to have this much support,” he said. “It's somewhat difficult for me, just because I'm the type of person that's more likely to help someone than accept help from others. So, it's extremely humbling.”
The Sims family is also facing loss after their home was caught in the direct path of the fire.
Aaron Sims remembered the moment he realized the entire house had burned down.
“I was actually up at Northern Nevada pride that day, and I got a call from my mom at about 2:30 p.m. saying that they're all being evacuated from the house,” Sims said.
By the time Sims arrived there, his six family members had evacuated.
“But the real shocking part of it was the next morning, when we found out for sure that the house had burned down, completely,” he said.
The Sims family was able to recover their pets, but the loss of family memorabilia has been especially painful.
“Thankfully, all of them were saved,” he said. “What really is devastating, I think, to us the most is that all of our like family memorabilia was there, all of our like pictures, going back several generations of our family.”
The Sims Family is temporarily staying in Carson City and is in need of clothing, school supplies, food, and medication.
Both families are working to get back on their feet with the help of the community. Two separate GoFundMe campaigns have raised thousands of dollars in just a few days.
“We are extremely thankful, grateful, and just our hearts are so warmed by the entire Northern Nevada community, everybody has just been so incredible to us,” Sims said.
The cause of the fire is still unknown. As of Sept. 9, officials report that at least 14 structures have been impacted.
Help the Sims family recover from the Davis Fire here.
Help the Brown family recover from the Davis Fire here.
