When officials called for a voluntary evacuation of the town of Healdsburg, Calif., during the October wildfires that devastated Northern California’s wine country, Eric Ziedrich, president of Healdsburg Lumber, packed his truck, sent his employees home, and videotaped the yard and its contents. He decided to stay put, and told his insurance agent he hoped he’d have a lumberyard to come back to in the morning.
Wildfires When I was a child in Santa Rosa [15 miles south of Healdsburg] in 1964, a fire that started in Calistoga took four days to reach us. This time, the Tubbs fire, which also started in Calistoga, only took four hours. Whole neighborhoods burned, including Fountainhead, where over 200 doctors lived. We have a doctor living in our home right now.
Labor Pains The fires in Santa Rosa took out many of the homes of the families who work for us. Because of the fires we are preparing for more work. But where will our workers come from? There has been a significant shrinkage of young families able to live here because of gentrification. We will have to go further and further out of our geographic area to find workers, and it will make it more expensive for us because people don’t want the commute.
Back Story There’s been a lumberyard operating on our site since 1876. My father purchased it from Pacific Lumber in the 1970s and operated it for 12 years. I worked with my dad in construction, and on weekends at the yard, but I couldn’t wait to get out of it. I went into banking and moved to San Francisco. I did that for about a half a dozen years. My wife and I were both commuting into San Francisco’s financial district every day, and we had just had our first child, and we were eager to find other options. I was talking with my dad, and saying how simple and laid back life is in Healdsburg. My dad was eager to sell the yard, and he said, “If you think it’s so great, you buy it.” I ended up loving it.
