Corral Fire evacuees relieved to be back home after wind-driven wildfire
TRACY – People living in Tracy are relieved to be back home after evacuating during the Corral Fire Saturday night.
"I was telling my parents that we had to go right away because I could see the really big flames and stuff," said Nayana Goolore who evacuated with her family.
Nayana and her family evacuated to a friend's home nearby while they waited for the evacuation orders to be lifted. The San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office downgraded the mandatory evacuations to warnings at 6 p.m. Sunday.
"I was freaked out because it was a mile away from my house," Nayana said.
The trio moved into their Tracy home last month and their neighbors across the street moved in just last week.
"We saw fire clearly," said Krishnasagar Vermurakond who moved into their new home in Tracy a week ago.
He and his family evacuated to a friend's house.
"Earlier we could see the yellow grass and now everything is burnt out, it's black," said Vermurakond.
The grassland fire was fueled by fierce wind gusts close to 60 miles per hour Saturday making direct attack difficult.
Slower wind speeds on Sunday gave firefighters the ability for air attack and hand crews a better handle on zeroing in on hot spots.
"If people are looking for a sign, that it's time to get prepared for peak fire activity, this is the sign," said Cecile Juliette with Cal Fire.
Juliette said as the weather heats up this week, so will fire danger.
"Just because we have had a few years where there was less fire activity, anything can happen this year," Juliette said.
Seeing a start to fire season like this in early June is a sure sign to stay prepared.
"We should be more prepared by keeping all the documents in one place, keeping all the suitcases and everything all the important things in one place," said Shruthi Goolore who was evacuated.
Power was out for over an hour Saturday night as folks were evacuating. One neighbor said he had to manually lift up his garage to get his car out so his family could drive to safety.
Cal Fire will continue to be out working towards full containment overnight and into Monday. One home was destroyed by the flames. Two firefighters were burned by the flames Saturday and sent to the hospital. They are expecting a full recovery.
