From the Ashes of Her Home, a Tea Fire Survivor Finds Strength in Art

On the Tea Fire's three-month anniversary, many survivors are still sifting through grief, endless paperwork and the remnants of their past. For Melissa Marsted, a new future is rising, too.

By Melissa Marsted, Noozhawk Contributor | Published on 02.12.2009

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Izzy Greer, a Laguna Blanca School junior, crafted an elaborate sculpture out of items found in the rubble of family friend Melissa Marsted's Montecito home.
Izzy Greer, a Laguna Blanca School junior, crafted an elaborate sculpture out of items found in the rubble of family friend Melissa Marsted’s Montecito home. (Izzy Greer photo)

Should at that moment the full moon
Step forth upon the hill,
And memories hard to bear at noon,
By moonlight harder still,
Form in the shadows of the trees,
Things that you could not spare
And live, or so you thought, yet these
All gone, and you still there,
A man no longer what he was,
Not yet the thing he planned ...
— Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950)

Today, Feb. 13, seems particularly significant — it comes four days after the lunar eclipse, three months after the Tea Fire and the day before Valentine’s Day. It’s a day to stop and reflect.

The Tea Fire consumed my house, the only home that I have owned in Santa Barbara, and the only house my two sons knew. More than 220 homes were destroyed on Nov. 13, 2008, and many of them also housed renters, some with insurance and others without.

Fortunately, I was home that early evening as the moon was rising right above the Tea Gardens. Periodically I would check on the fire above the hills, which was burning about a mile from my house as a crow might fly. As the fire neared our home, my 13-year-old son and I raced to pack the car. We saved as much as we could during nearly an hour of packing. I pulled belongings while he loaded. We saved art, photographs, soccer trophies, some jewelry and clothes, musical instruments and computer equipment.

I am thankful for what I have, and have been shocked to uncover additional memories in the remains of our home. These treasures include a heart-shaped cookie cutter and two fully intact piggy banks. Inside a storage container I had filled during the past year, partly in fear of fire but also as a way to clean out my garage to treat myself to a new washing machine and dryer, I found a letter that my grandfather wrote to my father on the day I was born.

Many of Melissa Marsted's surviving personal mementos, including a plaque she received for running a marathon along the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu in seven and a half hours, have been incorporated into a powerful work of art.
Many of Melissa Marsted’s surviving personal mementos, including a plaque she received for running a marathon along the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu in seven and a half hours, have been incorporated into a powerful work of art. (Izzy Greer photo)
Meanwhile, a daughter of a friend whose family evacuated the night of the fire and took us into their home for nearly two weeks after the fire crafted some unusually beautiful and meaningful sculptures from the burned, melted and mangled remnants that were part of my love before the fire. I love them, and they have inspired in me an idea to help other artists who lost so much more than I did that November night.

A few weeks ago, I reached a point where I could no longer focus on the daily insurance e-mails and claims, the calls from the contractor on decisions to be made, and the shopping sprees to replenish basic living items. It felt like the process would never end. The healing needed to begin. Heart-shaped stones gathered from Summerland Beach provided more inspiration for the creative process.

My boys and I seemed to have enough –– and maybe even more than enough –– in such a short time. I finally had a chance to register with FEMA (for which I didn’t qualify) and then with the American Red Cross-Santa Barbara County Chapter, and then realized that most people evacuated with nothing only to find that their insurance didn’t cover their needs or the insurance delayed their payments. What could I do?

Inspired by Izzy Greer's
Inspired by Izzy Greer’s “art from scrap,” Tea Fire survivor Melissa Marsted is organizing an art show of fire memorabilia for Art from Scrap. (Izzy Greer photo)
As a board member of Art from Scrap, whose mission is to support art, education and the environment, and with the vision of the new art pieces that were coming into my life, I offered to host an art show with Art from Scrap called Phoenix Rising.

It remains in the planning stages, with the ultimate goal to have a show during the Tea Fire’s six-month anniversary in May. We are seeking donations of art made by artists affected by the Tea Fire. Art from Scrap will host a silent auction to benefit artists and musicians who lost materials, supplies and instruments in the wildfire. For more information, please e-mail Art From Scrap at afs@afsfromscrap.org, or melissa@marsted.me.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for supporting the hundreds of people affected by the Tea Fire, three months ago today.

Melissa Marsted is a Noozhawk contributor, author and freelance writer. Her home was among the first to burn in the Montecito foothills.

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» Justice on 02.13.09 @ 06:02 AM

The story of the insurance companies and their abysmal behavior in the aftermath of the Tea Fire needs to be told and dealt with - all of us are struggling with reams of ridiculous paperwork - ridiculous in cases where our houses and all our possessions were completely destroyed - and are experiencing long delays in receiving even the smallest of payments. The insurance commissioner’s office and local entities need to step up and do something, anything at this point - individual policy holders are not in a position to do much and are overwhelmed with many other things simply in order to carry on with some semblance of their lives, as Melissa describes.


» Naomi on 02.13.09 @ 07:41 AM

Very gracious and inspirational. Thank you.


» Wei-San on 02.13.09 @ 07:49 AM

I really Like the sculpture that sybolizes the Tea Fire.
I really love the story by Melissa


» Raven on 02.13.09 @ 07:52 AM

How sad and also how glorious that loss and grief and confusion can lead us to a desire to recreate ourselves. I honor your process, Melissa. Your spirit is very strong and so very resilient. Blessings to you and to all those who have lost so much in the fire. Keep on creating what you can, and in the process you will create a new life.


» Leslie on 02.13.09 @ 08:58 AM

What a wonderful way to pay tribute to your losses and help others at the same time. Great story, Melissa!


» Justice on 02.13.09 @ 02:22 PM

The story of the insurance companies and their abysmal behavior in the aftermath of the Tea Fire needs to be told and dealt with - all of us are struggling with reams of ridiculous paperwork - ridiculous in cases where our houses and all our possessions were completely destroyed - and are experiencing long delays in receiving even the smallest of payments. The insurance commissioner’s office and local entities need to step up and do something, anything at this point - individual policy holders are not in a position to do much and are overwhelmed with many other things simply in order to carry on with some semblance of their lives, as Melissa describes.


» Axel on 02.13.09 @ 06:10 PM

How about naming some of the good insurance companies and bad ones so that they can be held accountable.  Otherwise the bad ones will have no reason to improve until they are exposed.


» Doug Crawford on 02.14.09 @ 06:58 AM

This story reflects the tragedy and the beauty of fires that destroy homes but not lives. Our home on Las Alturas also burned to the ground. However, on that night our lives were saved by a friend’s repeated phone calls to warn us of the impending danger. Other evacuating friends called later to see if we were safe. Still others called to ask how they could pray for and help us. All of the “fruits of the Spirit” have been showered down upon us…and for this we are eternally grateful.
Our insurance agent Paul Cashman of State Farm called us several times to tell us he was thinking of us and to offer advice and comfort. When it was determined on Friday that our home was lost in the fire, Paul called to provide sympathy and bright hope for tomorrow.
We have not experienced “abysmal behavior” by anyone or any organization or any agency. Quite to the contrary, we have been amazed by the excellent organization and responsiveness by everyone.
Today, it was announced that 10 young lives have been spared the pain and suffering of being charged in setting the Tea Fire.
Our prayers have been answered in this regard as well.
Bright Hope For Tomorrow!


» San Roque on 02.14.09 @ 01:53 PM

Beautiful, heart felt essay. You and your family are credits to the whole community.
May your spirit and courage inspire other families wrestling with this loss, and the
rest of us who are trying to figure out how else we can help.


» Shoreline Shark on 02.16.09 @ 03:26 PM

Today, it was announced that 10 young lives have been spared the pain and suffering of being charged in setting the Tea Fire.

========

Hopefully they’ll get a taste of the pain and suffering they’ve inflicted on others through a massive civil lawsuit.


» MARIA SEGAL on 02.16.09 @ 03:55 PM

I think it is remarkable what Melissa is doing.In spike of her own loss she is able to help others and be creative at the same time by letting Izzy Greer create these wonderful sculptures from the ashes of the fire.


» nufareddy on 02.16.09 @ 06:15 PM

To Shoreline Shark, and others who want so badly to punish the unfortunate people who are responsible for the Tea Fire—
Have you ever run a light, or talked on your cell phone while driving, or committed any other potentially devastating crime? Ever?
Have you been adequately “punished” for every mistake you’ve made, large and small, public and private?
Has someone you love ever done something reprehensible, for which they are immeasurably sorry?
You could be driving down the street tomorrow, going just a little over the speed limit—we all do that, and most of the time there are no consequences… but there’s that one time when something irreversible could happen, and still we do it.
One of the scariest things to come out of all this is those desperate to find and punish the unfortunate “10.”
Judge not, and have mercy for all who have been affected by this tragedy.


» Alethea Tyner Paradis on 02.17.09 @ 12:26 PM

Izzy Greer is more than a stunning high school artist: she is a sensitive humanitarian, who perceives existential struggle and then renders it in form beyond language. She has ventured to sites of great tragedy—-concentration camps in E. Europe—-using the experiences as a launching point for provacative art installations. In Vietnam, Izzy traveled with me and her classmates to volunteer her time to kids with Agent Orange-related health complications. Izzy is also star student in my Crimes Against Humanity class, an elective course at Laguna Blanca School which explores the concept of systemic evil through film, history and law. She is the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor, Maria Segal, with whom she marched arm-in-arm in candlelight vigil on the 70th anniversary of Kristallnact.

As a teacher, it’s energizing to see what transformative power educated kids can inspire. While deliberately cruel or even just passively negligent human activity can cause immeasurable pain, healing can be found over time in the most unlikely of places: broadly educated youth.


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