Butte Fire Evacuees Return Home And Find Nothing But Destruction
MOKELUMNE HILL (CBS13) – The Butte Fire continues to rage, but it's already left its mark - thousands of acres of torched land and more than 80 homes destroyed.
Steve Mortimer returned to see his two story house in Mokelumne Hill he built himself 13 years ago nothing but a pile of rubble.
He escaped just in time.
"It was in these trees and the embers were hitting me and I was going to take a picture, but I didn't even have time to get my phone out of my pocket to take a picture," Mortimer said. "It was that hot and that fast."
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Several homes nearby were also devoured in the fast moving flames.
"It's sucking oxygen from every place it gets," said Steve's brother
Even area wildlife was not spared from the fire's wrath; the body of a burned bear could be seen amongst ash.
And even a fire truck didn't make it out in time.
Hand crews worked hard in the heat on the ground.
"We might go back out to cut some more lines, so we gotta make sure we've topped off four quarts," a hand crew member said. "And three quarts we put into our Camelback here. We don't know how long we will be on that fire line."
But the explosive inferno continued to burn in the rugged terrain fueled by thick brush, forcing more and more people out of their homes.
"It's all about topography on what happens with mother nature," Steve's brother said. "This happens quick."
But for Steve, it's coming to terms with losing everything he owns.
"All that sweat equity I put into it, it's gone."