Fire destroys home of Berkeley urban farmer who donates food and plants trees

A fire in Berkeley over the weekend destroyed a home belonging to a woman who helps the community in the form of food giveaways and school gardens. And now loved ones are hoping the community gives back to her. KTVU's Henry Lee joins us live in studio. And Henry, you spoke with the fire victim. Yeah, Claudia. Many in the community call her Mama Wanda. She may have lost her house, but she vows to thrive and survive and rise from the ashes. Blessed, only blessed. The cat, the dog, my son, myself, everybody is fine. Urban farmer Wanda Stewart escaped from a fire that destroyed her Berkeley home, where she's given out free food to the community since the pandemic. She's devastated, but keeping it all in perspective. And I know that when mayhem and chaos and catastrophe strikes, that in the imbalance of that, to hold on to those kinds of things. A fire broke out at her home of 26 years near California on Carlton Street at about 7 Sunday night. Stewart was home and heard a pop and a bang. Thought it was a cat knocking something over, began to see smoke, ran, realized there was a fire in the back. The cause of the fire is under investigation, but Stewart has a theory. My son, who also lives in the house, is an artist, and what we suspect is paint rags that did the spontaneous combustion. From the outside, the home looks fine, but the inside's a smoky mess. It does, it needs to be completely rebuilt. All those sparks flew into the air. Her yard and trees were left intact, a testament, she says, to the resilience of plants. I've been put in a situation where I have to also grow my own life from the ground up. So from the embers, from the, you know, the inside of the house is like biochar, right? Stewart's executive director of Common Vision, which nourishes the community in the form of school gardens, food giveaways, and tree planting. KTVU previously spoke to Stewart back in 2022 when she planted trees at a San Leandro park. Stewart says her career was launched when she could not get reasonably priced organic vegetables where she used to live, so she took matters in her own hands. And created this sort of small urban farm that then turned into a career around building gardens and working with children and communities. She's just like an anchor for our neighborhood. Sonia Tafoya is a neighbor who says it's time for the neighborhood to give back to Stewart. She's just, like, week after week after week, just feeding the community and helping out and being there for people. On the list of 100 most revered... She does have insurance. Her family, though, has set up a GoFundMe to help with temporary housing, cleanup, repairs, and a possible rebuild. You can find the link on our website, ktvu.com. Live in studio, Henry Lee, KTVU, Fox 2 News. Yeah, certainly devastating to see that damage. Looks like she has a lot of support, though, showing up for her. Thank you, Henry.