Andrew Mastro hiked 19 miles up a steep, charred San Bernardino County mountainside, ignoring dead rattlesnakes and rabbits as well as human authority to make sure his small stucco house had been spared by the wildfire that attacked the mountain village of Rimforest.
The hunger for home, even if their homes are gone, has become a famine among Southern Californians displaced by wildfires over the past week.
Many have been permitted to return. Many others have not. Some of the latter, like Mastro, satisfied themselves anyway.
Authorities, citing safety concerns, continued Friday to prevent 45,000 to 50,000 anxious residents of the Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear communities from returning to check on their homes.
But a handful of people managed to circumvent police barriers to join several hundred others who had disobeyed evacuation orders.
"Maybe 300 stayed behind," said Mike Zack, 38, whose family owns a chain of mountain grocery stores.
"Others are sneaking up on back roads or on motorcycles."
San Bernardino County authorities said it may be days before roads are reopened. Mountain refugees, who have jammed hotels from Redlands to Pomona and filled a temporary shelter at a local airport hangar, have flooded government offices with requests to return.
California Highway Patrol Traffic Officer Richard Fonnet said he has heard every argument in the book from desperate mountain dwellers in the several days he has manned the roadblock at the San Bernardino base of Highway 18 leading up the mountain.
Many people, said Fonnet, claim to have left medicine, animals or even elderly relatives behind in their homes.
"One guy," Fonnet said, "begged me to go up so he could save his valuable Japanese Koi fish. He said they cost $3,800."
Residents turned back were frustrated. On Friday, three protesters on Highway 18 held signs that said: "Prevent Looting. Let Us Return to Our Homes."
By the time Mastro neared his home -- after a five-hour hike -- the area was covered in dense fog. He did not see his house, said Mastro, a father of three, until he was almost on top of it.
He was overjoyed to see that it had not been damaged, although 16 homes and businesses in Rimforest had been destroyed, including those of two close friends.
"I don't have a million bucks," said Mastro, peering down to the flatlands 5,000 feet below. "I don't live in Malibu. But look at this view."
