Advertisement

Elderly couple die side-by-side in California wildfire

 
Burned rubble is all that remains of the residence where two elderly residents were killed trying to escape the Erskine Fire on McCray Road in Squirrel Mountain Valley, Calif. [Gina Ferazzi | Los Angeles Times via TNS]
Burned rubble is all that remains of the residence where two elderly residents were killed trying to escape the Erskine Fire on McCray Road in Squirrel Mountain Valley, Calif. [Gina Ferazzi | Los Angeles Times via TNS]
Published June 29, 2016

LAKE ISABELLA, Calif. — Bill Johnson could spot the two-story, red barn-style house from across Lake Isabella. It always told him he was getting close to home.

The distinctive house belonged to Byron McKaig, 81, an Anglican priest, and his 90-year-old wife, Gladys.

On Friday morning, after the Erskine fire tore through the neighborhood, Johnson ventured into a neighbor's yard, and from there, spotted Gladys' red Kia Spectra near the burning stubs of their home. He spotted another burned car that belonged to the elderly couple.

"They didn't get out," Johnson thought. Then he spotted the McKaigs lying against a corner of their fence, a tree near their bodies smoldering like their house.

Their clothes did not appear to have been touched by flames. Johnson said Byron looked like he died trying to protect his wife.

"He was like on top of her, and they were together, like he was blocking her from the fire," Johnson said. "It made me sick because immediately I saw and knew exactly what had happened — that they were alive and ran out of this burning inferno and got stuck, and that was where they ended. I thought it was terrible for those people to go like that. Just horrible. They didn't deserve it."

He flagged down a woman who told the California Highway Patrol about the bodies. Johnson told the officer it was his neighbors, Gladys and Byron.

The McKaigs are the two known casualties of a fire that has burned over 46,000 acres, destroyed more than 200 structures and homes and is only 45 percent contained. The cost of damage to date is $13 million, according to Inciweb. An investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing.

The fire impacted several small communities in Lake Isabella, among them South Lake, which was nearly wiped out by the fire. The majority of people living in South Lake were retirees living on fixed incomes, many of whom lived alone.

On Tuesday, an acrid, burning smell hung in the air outside of the foundation of the McKaig's home. Ash littered the ground and the trees on the property were blackened like used-up matches.

In the ruins Johnson could make out a desk, a freezer and a washing machine. Other items were so twisted and warped by the fire that they were difficult to identify.

Johnson said he remembered how Gladys used to drive around in an old pickup, her red hair tucked under a bonnet.

"She was just a sophisticated lady," he said. "She was like a tough, country woman."

Johnson said Gladys used to play the organ, and he would hear the music drift over toward his home.

He recalled when folk music singer John Denver died in 1997 because Byron played his music loudly and belted out songs like Take Me Home, Country Roads.

Now, Johnson said he wonders how many families will be able to rebuild after the catastrophe.

Keep up with Tampa Bay’s top headlines

Keep up with Tampa Bay’s top headlines

Subscribe to our free DayStarter newsletter

We’ll deliver the latest news and information you need to know every morning.

You’re all signed up!

Want more of our free, weekly newsletters in your inbox? Let’s get started.

Explore all your options

"Gladys' house — I don't know if her daughter will want to rebuild. Probably not," he said. "It'll probably be an empty lot now, so it'll be a big hole in our community. . You always expect to see Gladys' home sticking out," he said. "You'd always see it."

Geralin Montgomery lived across from the McKaigs for nine years. She didn't know them well, though she said "they were very, very, very religious."

Montgomery said Gladys would pass out religious pamphlets and would often play the organ.

"The whole neighborhood could hear," Montgomery said.

Ray Conner lives along McCray Road, where Gladys and Byron also lived.

"They never went anywhere without each other," Conner said. "And that's the best way I'm going to describe them. They were just together all the time. Through it all, they were together."

On Friday morning, Conner and his wife had taken a drive to check on a friend's home, when his wife wondered aloud if the couple had made it out.

When news came out about bodies being found, they were sure it was the McKaigs.

"We knew right away who it was because we knew the location of the house," Conner said.

While he lamented their deaths, he said he was relieved there wasn't a greater loss, considering how quickly the fire moved.

"It's a miracle more people didn't lose their lives," he said.

"Knowing that a lot of my friends have lost their homes and lost everything, you don't know where to begin," he said. "The one thing I can say about the Kern River Valley is that we came together as a community to help everybody we possibly could."

The couple would visit Nelda's Diner in Lake Isabella a couple of times a week, choosing a booth on the right side near the windows facing out on Lake Isabella Boulevard.

They would stay for a couple of hours, enjoying cups of coffee and conversation.

"They were really nice people," said waitress Suz Humphers. "Been coming here for years."

Humphers said that Gladys and Byron got around slowly. When Gladys would get her food, and it was arranged to her taste she would exclaim: "Oh this is just lovely," Humphers recalled with a smile.

Frank Brassell, who co-owns the diner with his wife, called Byron a "sharp guy" and said Gladys was very proud that Byron had studied at a seminary and was an ordained minister.

"He was devoted to her," Brassell said. He said he wouldn't have been surprised if Byron had tried to protect Gladys from the fire.

"He would have stayed past the last minute in order to save her," Brassell said. "I know he would have."

©2016 Los Angeles Times