at santa cruz's museum of art, nicky does an interview and schmuhl carefully photographs the objects.rought them everything from bowls to badges, tools to toys. >> it's made me think so much about how we infuse meaning and memory into objects and how those things can change. >> oh, yeah. >> reporter: schmuhl and nicky aren't exactly sure what final form this project will take. >> symbols that i evacuated with. >> those stories are critical to the historical record and to understanding this place where we live. >> when they bring their objects in and start talking, the flood gates open. and it's about far more than whatever objects. >> reporter: that's because they're stories not just of the fire. they're of lives split in to two parts. the before and after. and what people choose to carry with them from one to the other. garvin thomas, nbc bay area news. >>> it is 7:25. still to come on "today in the bay" -- the probe widening into the gun permit corruption in the santa clara county sheriff's department. the sheriff who is now indicted. we'll tell you the case goes next. >>> plus is t