Some El Dorado County Evacuees Return Home: 'You Can't Thank Them Enough'

EL DORADO COUNTY (CBS13) - Some evacuees in an area of El Dorado County hardest hit by fire have been allowed to return home, while others on the same street have nothing to return to.

In Grizzly Flats, there's grief and relief happening along the same street. Reality has set in for Janise Twomey who knows her Grizzly Flats home didn't make it.

"I've said goodbye to my things so many times that this time it just felt like well I think this is it," she said.

She patiently waits for her turn to return to the area as evacuation orders in parts of El Dorado County get lifted.

She hopes some of the belongings she was unable to take survived.

"I have one amethyst that is a geode that came from my aunt Norma," Twomey said.

While optimism remains for Janise, Bryan and Linda Katt consider themselves extremely lucky. Their home remained untouched.

"I didn't think that we would have a home to come back to," Linda said.

"Literally getting that text yesterday was like winning the lottery," Bryan said.

As they begin their cleanup process, they think about people like Janise who lost so much.

"Not knowing for three weeks and then getting that emergency alert saying you can go home was incredible, but I feel for all the people around us that lost their homes," Bryan said.

Janise is now looking at rebuilding, trusting her new journey.

"I'm ready for the new house I wish it wasn't this way because everybody lost but it's just it gonna be new at that's okay," she said.