Some Lake County Residents Refuse To Leave, Despite Evacuation Orders
HIDDEN VALLEY LAKE (CBS13) – The people in one community hit by the Valley Fire are showing they are resilient; their toughness is on display as they take on the fight of their lives.
Hundreds of homes are destroyed. But they say that not only is this where they belong, this is where they'll stay.
"She came in screaming there's fire out front, and literally the lot across the street was burning ahead of the main fire body," Dan Beckwith said.
Some adrenaline pumping moments for Beckwith as he ran for a hose to douse the fast-moving flames creeping dangerously close to his home in Hidden Valley Lake.
"I grabbed my girlfriend and her kid in the car quickly and got them out of the driveway," Beckwith said.
The defiant homeowner refused to leave in the face of mandatory evacuation orders in Lake County.
"Was there ever a point in time when you thought to yourself, 'I made the wrong choice?'" we asked.
"Yeah, standing back here watching 30-foot flame lengths across the road here, hearing propane cooking off over there. Not really knowing, and just having a glow in just about every direction," Beckwith said.
His home was spared, but hundreds of other homes and businesses weren't so lucky.
One street was levelled in neighboring Middletown.
VIDEO: Situation Update On Wildfires In Northern California
The devastation seems more and more severe with each block you walk down Wardlaw Street. A gutted car, the remnants of a home still smoldering.
"I mean, this is people's lives. You see the rocking chair, the tub, the barbeques. It's the remnants of somebody's life," said Scott McLean, a Cal Fire battalion chief.
With hotels booked up and shelters full, many evacuees are choosing to ride out the fire in a shopping center parking lot.
Pamela Matchok just learned she has a home to go back to.
"I thought if one of those trees goes up, the whole house is going to catch on fire," Matchok said.
But with flames still raging along Highway 29, the orange glow of the fire hovers over the hillside as a reminder her destructive path isn't over yet.
"It's been rough, but we came out lucky compared to everybody else here. This is devastating," Beckwith said.
Cal Fire says it's still too dangerous for people come back into their neighborhoods because there are so many spot fires along the roads and downed power lines.
As for Beckwith, he says he's staying put while his family is safe with relatives.
