Armorer for Olympic Fencing Team Loses Home to Clayton Fire

LOWER LAKE -- He helped the U.S. Olympic Fencing Team win four medals in Rio de Janeiro while he lost everything back home.

Matthew Porter, who maintained the team's equipment, returned to Northern California Tuesday to find his home and business were among the hundreds consumed by the Clayton fire.

Porter and his wife Karen moved from Pacifica to the Copsey Creek subdivision in Lower Lake on June 1, just days before he reported to Brazil.

"It was where we were planning to settle down," Matthew Porter, 59, said in a phone interview Thursday. "It's quieter, a little slower and more out of the way than Pacifica."

The loss of the dream home, however, did not overshadow his experience at the Games.

"It in no way detracts from the pride I feel in being a part of the team and the happiness I have at their historic accomplishments as far as fencing goes in the Olympics," he said.

Greg Massialas, head coach of the men's foil team, credited Porter for the team's success.

"Matthew made sure our weapons were in absolutely top shape and was critical in making sure that we did not miss a single point due to our equipment," he said in a statement Thursday.

"It is a shame that after he spent so much of his time making sure Team USA had the opportunities for success, he lost everything."

The men's and women's foil teams took home bronze medals. In addition, Daryl Homer won silver in individual men's saber and Alexander Massialas won silver in individual men's foil.

The medal for the men's foil team was the first since 1932.

The U.S. Olympic Fencing Team also made international headlines when Ibtihaj Muhammed, a member of the women's saber team, became the first American athlete to compete in a hijab.

As of Thursday, the Clayton fire had burned nearly 4,000 acres and was only 60 percent contained, according to Cal Fire. Nearly 316 structures have been torched.

Karen Porter, 70, said she fled the fire Sunday with little more than the clothes on her back, the couple's two small dogs and a stray kitten that wandered into the home Saturday night.

"When I left, the air was smoky and orange, and the fire department was going around checking to make sure people were leaving," she said. "It was hectic. It was pretty scary."

A longtime friend of the Porters, Rob Bradshaw, set up a gofundme page Thursday (https://www.gofundme.com/2kg64t5p) to help the couple get back on their feet. As of about 7:30 p.m. Thursday, the page had raised nearly $13,000 from more than 100 donors.

"Frankly, they don't have a lot of money and we're not certain if the insurance will cover (the loss of the home and business), and if it doesn't, they just own an empty lot now," said Bradshaw, 52, of Oakland.

The Porters said the home wasn't insured, but they are planning to rebuild. The outlook for the couple's home business, which sold fencing supplies, was less certain.

"We lost a lot of equipment used to manufacture these things and a lot of stock," Karen Porter said.

For now, the Porters are staying with friends and finding some solace in the fact that they still have each other.

"As Matthew said when he heard I was OK, as long as we're safe and we have each other, the rest is just paperwork," Karen Porter said.

Authorities have charged Damin Anthony Pashilk, 40, of Clear Lake, with 17 counts of arson in connection with setting a series of fires over the past year, including the Clayton Fire.

"I can't fathom someone doing that," Matthew Porter said. "If he is in his right mind, he's got a lot to answer for. He's disturbed the lives of many people who have never done him any harm. And if he's not in his right mind, honestly, he's really sick."

Contact Jason Green at 408-920-5006. Follow him at Twitter.com/JGreenMercNews.

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