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Fire destroys home of Berkeley urban farmer who donates food and plants trees
A weekend fire destroyed the Berkeley home of Wanda Stewart, an urban farmer who donates food, plants trees and maintains school gardens.
BERKELEY, Calif. - A weekend fire destroyed the Berkeley home of a longtime urban farmer who donates food, works with schoolchildren and plants trees throughout the community.
Wanda Stewart said she, her son, her dog and her cat were safe after the fire destroyed the inside of her home. While she lost her home, she vows to thrive and rise from the ashes.
"Blessed — only blessed," Stewart said Friday while sitting outside the charred remains of the house.
Fire destroys Berkeley home
What we know:
The fire broke out around 7 p.m. Sunday at Stewart’s home near California and Carleton streets, where she had lived for 26 years. Stewart was home when she heard a pop and a bang.
"[I] thought it was the cat knocking something over," she said. "Began to see smoke, ran and realized there was a fire in the back."
What we don't know:
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
What they're saying:
Stewart said she suspects the fire may have been caused by paint rags belonging to her son, who is an artist.
"My son, who also lives in the house, is an artist, and what we suspect is paint rags that did the spontaneous combustion," she said.
From the exterior, the home appeared fine, but the inside was heavily damaged.
"It does need to be completely rebuilt," Stewart said.
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Although sparks flew into the air, Stewart said her yard and trees were left intact — a testament, she said, to the resilience of plants.
"I’ve been put in a situation where I also have to grow my own life from the ground up," she said. "So from the embers. From the, you know, inside my house is like ‘biochar.’"
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Local perspective:
Stewart is the executive director of Common Vision, an organization that supports school gardens, food giveaways and tree planting.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Stewart has donated free food on Thursdays. She has also worked with schoolchildren at campus gardens for years.
The fire has been devastating, but Stewart said she is trying to keep the loss in perspective.
"I know that when mayhem and chaos and catastrophe strikes, that in the imbalance of that, hold on to those kinds of things," she said, clasping her hands to her chest.
KTVU previously spoke with Stewart in 2022 when she planted trees at a San Leandro park.
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Stewart said her career began after she struggled to find reasonably priced organic vegetables in the community where she lived. She eventually took matters into her own hands.
"Created this sort of small urban farm that then turned into a career around building gardens and working with children and communities," she said.
Neighbor Sonya Tafoya said she was grateful Stewart and her family were safe.
"She’s just like an anchor for our neighborhood," Tafoya said. "She’s just like week after week after week, just feeding the community and helping out and being there for people."
Stewart said she has insurance. Her family has also created a GoFundMe campaign to help pay for temporary housing, cleanup, repairs and a possible rebuild.
Henry Lee is a KTVU reporter. E-mail Henry at Henry.Lee@fox.com and follow him on X @henrykleeKTVU and www.facebook.com/henrykleefan
The Source: KTVU reporting