Community holds birthday party for 5-year-old displaced by wildfire

CALISTOGA (KRON) – Days after the Valley Fire disaster it is still a rough haul for the evacuees camped out in Calistoga.

But despite the dire circumstances hundreds pulled together Thursday to make sure a 5-year-old boy still felt special on his birthday after he lost his home.

Since Saturday, mother Jessica Cline has done a lot of crying, but Thursday, she shed tears of joy.

“Everybody is so wonderful,” she said. I thank you with all my heart – I feel so blessed thank you.”

Her home in Middletown burned down. Left homeless, and stuck in a tent, she is using porta-potties, like the rest of her neighbors.

“You’re getting these horror stories of what happened, but in those horror stories, you’re seeing these things of beauty where the community – man its just been incredible,” Cline said

Ron Ogden was helping to lift spirits.

His group, the Good Ol’ Boys Motorocycle Club of Cotati, learned Cline’s son George turned five Thursday.

And they wanted to wipe away the pain even for just a day, and give George a birthday he’ll always remember.

“Said he liked monster trucks, so I put that out on Facebook and everyone responded 10 fold,” Ogden said. “We got him a mini-monster truck today.”

George was in awe when he finally saw the mini-monster truck. It was an uplifting moment for a community in desperate need of one.

“It’s been some terrible days, and this has been awesome,” Cline said.

George also got hooked up with a couple tickets to the next monster truck show in this area.