This Ojai man lost everything in the Thomas Fire, and he's never been happier

A safe distance from where flames raged, consuming thousands of acres, sending wildlife fleeing and reducing hundreds of homes to ash, Werner and Janice Gerhardt watched. From their home in El Rio, they learned from TV and online reports about the Thomas Fire devastating their community.

About 25 miles away in Ojai, Augustin Romero scrambled to grab important documents before fleeing the cabin he had called home for five years. He stayed in a hotel for a week, learning during that stay his place had burned to the ground.

Both the Gerhardts and Romero reached out to the County of Ventura — the Gerhardts with an offer to help, Romero looking for a hand.

Homeshare:Program to fill empty rooms, house those in need set to expand

Within days, their lives had merged. Romero moved into a studio apartment attached to the Gerhardts’ longtime home just outside Oxnard. Romero doesn’t speak much English and the Gerhardts don’t speak much Spanish. It has been a perfect match.

Dreaming of America

Romero was born in Argentina in 1936, a tumultuous time politically and economically in the South American country. Even as a small boy, Romero dreamed of living in the United States. By 1958, he had begun exploring the world as a mariner, crossing paths with author William F. Buckley Jr. In fact, photos and memories of Romero made it into Buckley’s book “Airborne: A Sentimental Journey.”

Romero’s travels took him to New York City, where he lived for a few years and worked as a truck driver. In 2002, he ended up in California, Santa Barbara to be exact, at the recommendation of a friend. He worked as a painter for several years there before a job introduced him to the eclectic town of Ojai. He befriended the owner while he painted her house and decided to stay.

He rented a cabin on a larger property and continued painting, enjoying the tranquility of his surroundings. Often, he just stayed in. He’s an avid reader. 

Romero became a citizen in 2011.

“I’m proud of my life,” he said. “When I went to become a citizen, I had an excellent record.”

He’s never taken for granted living in this country.

“I always say, ‘This is the United States. Everything is here,’” he said. “I know the world. I’ve seen the world. People don’t know how to appreciate what they have.”

Rescued in Germany

Werner Gerhardt was a small boy living in Germany when World War II ended. There was no food, his father wasn’t around and his mother had no idea how she would feed her family. She was sitting on a bench crying when she met her future husband, a U.S. Air Force sergeant.

“He saved our lives. We were starving,” he remembered. “We wouldn’t have made it.”

The sergeant gave them peanut butter. The food’s richness and fat, long absent from his diet, made Gerhardt incredibly sick. It would be two decades before he would touch peanut butter again.

Gerhardt followed his stepdad into the Air Force. After leaving the military, he became a firefighter, retiring from the Ventura County Fire Department.

As Gerhardt watched the Thomas Fire batter the region, he felt close to the situation — his son is also a county firefighter. He had seen that agencies were asking for help with housing, and he reached out.

“He decided to do it because he saw what was going and I agreed, because the people lost everything,” Janice Gerhardt said.

Matched by fate .. and HomeShare

Launched by the county government in 1982, HomeShare typically matches people looking for homes with those looking for either help with rent or services in exchange for a place to stay. The county screens both parties and works to find people who might be compatible living together.

“Really, it’s a program designed to boost the quality of life for people looking for companionship or a way to fill any kind of financial void by having an empty room,” said Jannette Jauregui, spokesperson with the Ventura County Area Agency on Aging, which oversees HomeShare.

The county matched 27 people last year and 12 so far this year, she said.

Of those, three came together after the Thomas Fire. That includes the Gerhardts and Romero.

The Gerhardts have a studio apartment attached to the house, where in the past family used to stay. They rented it out briefly but had a bad experience and weren’t eager to go that route again.

When Romero arrived, the place had a bed, table, sofa, television, refrigerator, toaster oven, microwave oven and everything else he needed. Far from missing Ojai, Romero instantly loved the community near Oxnard. Being at a lower altitude has helped with his respiratory issues and the property, with its fig, apricot, orange and apple trees, makes him feel comfortable and at ease.

“Everything worked out. I’m happy,” he said.

Romero lost just about everything in the fire: photographs, clothes, music, all his work-related painting supplies. But he doesn’t think much about it.

“When you’re older, you don’t miss much,” he said.

His faith is strong, and he knows God knew exactly what he was doing. 

Friends with no language

The Gerhardts instantly liked Romero and vice versa. It’s working out so well that Romero is planning to move into a single-family house on the property later this year. The Gerhardts own neighboring homes; one of them is Janice’s childhood residence.

Romero’s days are quiet. He enjoys reading, watching the news and visiting with friends, who often come calling. On this visit, he was in the middle of “Fuego y Furia: Dentro de la Casa Blanca de Trump,” Michael Wolff’s book about President Donald Trump. Romero follows international news closely, particularly if it involves Argentina.

The Gerhardts travel in their RV often, and Werner goes to the gym almost daily. He sometimes stays up late listening to Latin jazz or Cuban rhythms. The couple has been together since they met at an Air Force dance at the Elks Lodge in Oxnard 60 years ago. That night, Janice told her mom she had met the man she would marry. Decades later, there’s no doubt she would do it all again. 

“He’s like a fine wine,” she said. “He gets better with age.”

Romero usually does his thing, and the Gerhardts typically do theirs. But when their paths cross, they are glad for it.

Janice Gerhardt calls their home paradise.

“He helped it be paradise, too,” she said of Romero. “We lucked out. We got the best.”

Want to be part of HomeShare?

What: A program that matches home providers with home seekers.

How: Fill out an application at: https://bit.ly/2wSPGUg, call 477-7300 or email home.share@ventura.org.