Home of Former Supervisor Burns
By Doug Mattson - Thursday, April 13, 2000
Firefighters battle a fire Wednesday at a trailer owned by Larry Filer, 83, a former county supervisor. Filer was uninjured. (Photo by John Hart)
Larry Filer's memory slipped on Wednesday night - long enough for frying bacon to become a grease fire that destroyed what he called "just accumulations" from his 52 years in Rough and Ready.
Filer - an 83-year-old former cowboy, miner and county supervisor - flashed a grateful smile as firefighters made sure the charred trailer at 10785 S. Ponderosa Way was totally out.
"I just feel pretty good because I lived," the 83-year-old said as neighbors and rescuers made sure he was OK. "I knew I'd (have a fire) sooner or later, just for being forgetful lately."
Neighbor Veronique Sepulchre reported the fire at 6:38 p.m. after seeing flames shooting from the trailer, about a half-mile northeast of Rough and Ready.
Before then, Filer noticed smoke coming from his trailer and realized he had left his stove on before walking outside. He briefly fought the grease fire with water - a no-no said one firefighter, who recommended baking soda or a fire extinguisher.
The Rough and Ready Fire Department and Nevada County Consolidated Fire District responded, as did the Sheriff's Department and Sierra Nevada Ambulance. No injuries were reported.
With Filer in a lawn chair receiving oxygen as a precaution, Sepulchre, her daughter and her daughter's boyfriend helped salvage what they could, but with little luck.
Sepulchre found slightly charred copies of Filer's children's book, "Hinney The Mine Mule," but flames destroyed most of Filer's possessions, including his only drafts of unpublished works.
"I did a lot of work on some of them, but they're gone now," he said.
Tapping his head, he added: "But I still got it up here, so I can go back to them."
A widower for the past 15 years, Filer planned to stay the night with one of his five daughters, Marilyn Meservey. He also has one son.
"I'm just grateful he's all right," said Meservey, who was also grateful that she had borrowed a suitcase full of her father's photographs about a month ago but neglected to return them.
Filer raises animals at his residence. He moved to Rough and Ready in 1948 and was a cowboy, a miner and the District 4 county supervisor.
Tom Nelson, Rough and Ready assistant fire chief, called Filer, "Mr. Icon."
Deputy Don Clark said Filer helped out kids and let them come by his place to play with his many animals.
"You can say he didn't own a whole lot, but what he has he'll share with anyone," Clark said.
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