More Evacuations Ordered As Sand Fire Rages On
AMADOR COUNTY (CBS13) – Cal Fire officials have announced new evacuations after the Sand Fire raging in Amador and El Dorado counties nearly tripled in size Saturday.
Areas now under evacuation orders are: Vintage Road to Sandridge Road, Buzzards Gulch Road, Vintage Road to Morning Canyon Road, all of Buzzards Gulch Road and the River Pines Subdivision. In total, about 450 homes are affected by the new evacuation orders.
An evacuation warning is also in effect for the Outingdale Community, Cal Fire notes.
Todd Jenson has not been evacuated himself, but many of his friends and neighbors have.
"Is their house still there? Are their animals still there?" Jenson said about his neighbors' concerns.
He has been going around checking on their properties, making sure they are still standing. But he's also preparing for that doorknock.
"You grab your family. That's the most important thing, that's what I told my wife. We have a two-month-old baby at home and a three-year-old," Jenson said. "My family is first."
Evacuations were already ordered in Plymouth for residents along Sand Ridge Road, Fresh Water, Burlwood, Morales Ranch Road, Vintage Trail, Upton Road and Twin Rivers Road New. About 750 people from 250 homes were affected by the evacuations.
Michelle Epperson has not been evacuated either. She made it home in time before road closures kept her from doing so. Her older children were not as lucky.
"My daughter was about 40 minutes behind me last night, and they wouldn't let her in," Epperson said.
But, she's ready for if and when the time comes for her to leave.
"[I'm] just hoping we can make it out," Epperson said about if the evacuation orders come.
Cal Fire announced later Saturday that the fire looks to have been caused by a vehicle that drove into dry vegetation.
As of Cal Fire's Saturday evening update, the Sand Fire is said to have burned 4,000 acres. Containment stands at 20%. About 515 structures are threatened, according to Cal Fire.
Five homes and seven outbuildings have already been destroyed in the fire.