What's the Real Cost?
As we are working on our documentary film The Last House Standing, the same question keeps popping up in my mind, “Why do people risk everything they care about and not prepare properly for a weather disaster?”
It’s possible to admire someone for their stoic attitude and spirit to rebuild, while at the same time feeling heartbroken for what they have lost. Ninety-year-old Richard Corman lost a lifetime of memories in last fall’s Malibu, California fire. The Cormans are artists and collectors, so an insurance adjuster writing a check would never be able to replace what was lost.
The ashes and rubble have been cleaned up and now there’s just a large dirt area where the house once stood which is where we met Richard Corman on a sunny morning. Many of the Corman art pieces consist of rocks stacked atop one another as well as various shaped bits of metal hanging from trees, amidst the ruin.
A sign lay near the Corman’s driveway “thanking” a trucker for destroying a 100-year-old wagon wheel that had managed to survive the blaze, only to be flattened in an act of either malice or carelessness by the driver. You can’t underestimate the disruption disaster causes people. Corman’s 86 year old wife suffers from dementia and now she’s in a totally different environment, one that lacks the feeling of comfort you get when you are in the home you’ve lived in for years.
As we interviewed Mr. Corman for our documentary film The Last House Standing, his small dog sat contentedly in his lap as he described the quaint home that once stood on the lot, how he raised his son and daughter there, his daughter wanting a horse and his son wanting to be able to surf. Their Malibu home near the coast proved to be a good location for both. When asked about the things that were lost Corman said, “ …they were more than memories. They were actual artifacts we had. But they’re gone. They’re gone forever.”
Other items lost include a 1951 MG TD, and an old Mercedes which melted down during the fire, leaving a puddle of aluminum, which ultimately became an art installation on their property. Corman went on to list the various other possessions which were lost, including his coin collection which he regrets leaving behind when they evacuated. Thankfully the entire Corman family made it out alive, and his daughter was able to save her horses.
Corman’s son, also named Richard, lived in the barn adjacent to the house he grew up in which also was completely destroyed by the fire. “The barn was an old redwood barn that I made into a house and it had a beautiful tile floor that was all kinds of tiles, all different mosaic patterns. It was just a beautiful barn with all sorts of funky artwork”, Corman explained. Much like with his father and his coin collection, young Richard lost many things that cannot be replaced such as his Telemark leather ski boots which he had owned and skied in for 40 years, and various works of art he had made over time as well as the photographs he had taken on his safaris in Africa. We asked about a sculpture in the middle of where their house once stood and he told us, “That’s like the phoenix rising from the ash heap.”
As we walked the property we came upon a cast iron skillet that was completely melted through. The skillet was hardly recognizable. An object that was designed for cooking with heat, designed to withstand fire, melted and warped.
Despite the tragedy that struck them, the Cormans are in good spirits and optimistic about the future. They’ll have to start creating new memories now. Disasters don’t discriminate what they take from people, which makes it even more important to find ways to protect and preserve what we have.