Emotional homecoming for Lower Lake community a month after Clayton Fire

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. (KTVU) - Homecoming came to Lower Lake Friday, almost one month after the Clayton Fire swept through town.

The blaze, which started August 13th, destroyed about three hundred homes, barns and businesses. 

But anyone who was free at 4pm Friday afternoon set aside all thoughts of fire to enjoy a parade.  

"We are the Trojans, mighty mighty Trojans," roared the football team as it marched down Main Street.

It's the same Main Street where houses and businesses burned.

But the crowds lining the sidewalk were focused on the kids, decked out in costumes, and expressing school pride.

"They're resilient, and they've got such good hearts," science teacher Alexandria Dorsaneo told KTVU as she clapped for the marchers and floats.

"These kids have been through a lot, so this is cool."

Coaches at Lower Lake High School say sports have restored a sense of normalcy.

"Homecoming is special this year," Head football coach Justin Gaddy told KTVU.

"I think when everyone sees the lights on for the game, it brings us together. And that type of support is good, not just for the kids, but for the entire community."

No one on Gaddy's squad lost their home, but one aspiring firefighter helped save his family ranch as fire rained down around him. 

"Coming up here and playing football with my brothers, I love it," senior Reed Diener told KTVU, "and it takes my mind off things, it helps me."

The celebratory mood is reminiscent of Middletown High School last fall after the Valley fire, that killed four people and destroyed more than 1,000 homes. Middletown had to postpone its homecoming game and dance, but Lower Lake remained on schedule although 60 students and staff in the Konocti Unified School District lost their homes.

"I was worried about applying to colleges and everything, it's my last year of high school " fire victim Shayna Pike told KTVU, looking out at the charred wreckage of the home she shared with her mother and brother.

Pike credits her friends for helping her through the past month.

"They've helped me with clothes and places to stay, and they've just been here for me."

The school of seven hundred students didn't burn, but most of the nieghborhoods around it did. The sites await hazardous materials cleanup. Until then, they are daily reminders of what was lost, but also what was learned.

"Our students have learned about overcoming, and being grateful, and being there for each other, " LLHS Principal Jessica Taliaferro told KTVU.

"Kids came out and donated what they had. Kids in our community are not wealthy by any means and they were giving up the clothes off their back to take care of each other."

Homecoming 2016 will be remembered as the year the Trojans reclaimed main street.