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Valley Fire Helping a Neighbor
First, we did not immediately jump on the news story. Why? The Two roads leading in and out are extremely narrow. Meaning, we could be in the way of both responding fire units and evacuating civilians. That is a very bad spot to be in. Even if we are credentialed media, we chose to cool our heels, and instead listen to fire comms, and follow using topographic maps.
This meant that we were up before the crack of dawn. We arrived after sun up and encountered road blockages. The California Highway Patrol was manning them. Bear in mind, when we got there it was already in the low eighties.
One car sat across the road where an access point was blocked. It was one of the homeowners who had to evacuate overnight. The fire as of last night was at 1500 acres, as of this morning it had grown to 4000 with no containment. So understandably he was worried. Was his home still around?
He gave us the address and we went in. The roads in this area of the county are very rural and very narrow, giving little room for either our Jeep or fire trucks. We followed the directions of our GPS and we found ourselves in front of his home about ten minutes later.
His house is literally where the fire crews stopped the progress in that area of Lawson Valley. All he lost was a trash can and his pile of wood. Homes and I suppose businesses down…