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Cascade Fire: Surviving The Flames

YUBA COUNTY (CBS13) - More than 200 homes burned to the ground in the Cascade Fire and four people were killed. Residents said the devastation left behind is unbearable, but there were also those stories of survival in a community that banded together.

"This is it. There's just nothing left," said Carla Albert, who lived off Loma Rica with five children.

She believes it's a miracle her family survived.

"My chicken coop had blown over and that's what I heard from inside my house and that's what made me come outside," she said.

The wind-driven flames came without warning.

"There was literally seconds to get out," she said.

They escaped driving through a burning tree, but were forced to leave everything else behind.

"All of my kids photo albums. Every picture that I had of my kids as a baby is gone. There's nothing. Just a truck. It's just hard to come back and know that we have to go through all of this and try to find anything that we can save," she added.

Among so much heartache she could only hope her animals would make it.

"My horse, which is the gate right here that we left open for him," she showed us.

In less than 24 hours, crews with the Sutter Sheriff Posse were trying to wrangle up horses left behind.

Carla and one other resident were lucky to have good news.

"I just wanted to let you know that we found your horse we got it loaded in the trailer," said one volunteer.

"Oh my God thank you so much," said the resident.

The Posse shelter at the fairgrounds became a refuge for nearly a hundred horses.

"The next thing we knew we had enough panels here to house 83 horses and I think that's what we ended up with," said Joleen Barmettler, who is also a volunteer.

"I am forever grateful for them," Carla said.

Her horse Johnny and her two pygmy goats still have temporary housing. But much like the other homeowners that lost everything, there's still so much uncertainty.

"We have somewhere to go and we are really thankful for that. But it's not their home. This is their home and I don't even want to bring them out here yet," she said.

Her children are 5, 6, 10, 11, and 14-years-old. The community and school district have been extremely charitable helping families like Carla's get through this.

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