Grizzly Flats Man Watches Home Burn In Caldor Fire: 'It Didn't Seem Real'

GRIZZLY FLATS (CBS13) — A Grizzly Flats man watched as the Caldor Fire burned down his house. His Ring doorbell camera captured the chaos as the flames crept toward his home on Golden Aspen Drive.

"We watched the neighbor's house catch fire and then the small part of our yard started to catch fire. Then the internet lines cut off; The internet lines must have got burned or something," Brennan Williams said.

By that time, Williams was safe at his brother's house in Auburn.

"It didn't seem real. You're sitting there watching it and you don't just don't think it's happening to you," he said. "And we were hopeful it might not have gotten to our house."

Williams went to work Monday to head home and grab a few things.

"We honestly didn't think it was going to get as far as it did, so we didn't pack up any valuables," he said.

While there, he and his wife spotted crews prepping.

"I saw PG&E spraying retardant on the poles, and that was enough for me to say 'They expect something, we got to get out of here,' " he said.

They left and kept an eye on their cameras. They saw cars coming and going, so they figured they had time to return and grab some more valuables and sentimental items. Before long, they knew it was time to get out.

"If you looked in the rearview mirror, you could see flames above the tree canopy," he said.

Watching the video still leaves him stunned. So much of the town he loved is gone.

"Grizzly Flats was a kind of a place—smaller community—everybody waved as you went by," he said with a smile.

He's thankful he has family to help.

"I just hope everybody else up there has the same," he said. "It's a rough time for all of us."