A brush fire that broke out Monday morning in Simi Valley, Calif., forced thousands of residents to evacuate their homes as it tore through nearly 1,400 acres, darkening the skies and filling neighborhoods with smoke. By Tuesday, with winds beginning to settle, authorities reported that the fires hadn’t grown overnight and were beginning to be contained, and many residents were able to return home.

The Sandy Fire ignited around 10:45 a.m., destroyed one structure and kept firefighting aircraft busy throughout the day. For many in the area, the disruption stirred frightening memories of the Palisades fire and other blazes that have devastated Southern California in recent years.

Rabbi Nosson Gurary, who has directed Chabad-Lubavitch of Simi Valley alongside his wife, Bassie, since 1998, said the community’s response this time was noticeably calmer.

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“The difference between them is night and day,” he said. “By now, people are used to fires and can anticipate how disruptive and destructive each one is going to be. This time, there wasn’t a sense of widespread panic.”

The Chabad center is several miles away from the fire and isn’t under an evacuation order. It stood ready to shelter anyone displaced by the evacuation orders, though that ultimately wasn’t needed. Several community members forced from their homes joined the Gurarys for supper and waited there until they were allowed to return to their own houses later that night.

A Lag BaOmer celebration at Chabad of Simi Valley.
A Lag BaOmer celebration at Chabad of Simi Valley.

The Gurarys were already in full swing preparing for the upcoming holiday of Shavuot, which celebrates the giving of the Torah to the Jewish people at Mount Sinai. The holiday begins Thursday night, May 21, and continues until Saturday evening. “I expected to spend the day making calls today, inviting community members to shul for Shavuot,” Gurary said. “Instead, my calls were about making sure everyone was safe and accounted for.”

With evacuation orders continuing to be lifted and the fire’s advance largely checked, the rabbi said attention is shifting quickly toward the holiday ahead.

“After a tense event like this, it’s important for the community to be together,” he says, “and we’re expecting a large crowd. Shavuot is a time to come to shul, hear the Ten Commandments, and celebrate our peoplehood together.”