Devastation Revealed As Crews Gain Ground On King Fire
EL DORADO COUNTY (CBS13) – As firefighters gain ground fighting the massive King Fire, it's now becoming clearer how many families have lost everything.
"Devastating, absolutely devastating because we built the house ourselves," said Garry Dykstra, whose family lost their home. "We saw and heard propane tanks going up, exploding and just going up one after another, and we … felt that our house was gone. I just kind of knew it," Sally Dykstra said.
Cal Fire says 10 homes in the White Meadows area have been destroyed. Sunday, crews could be seen cutting up fallen trees and fixing downed power lines.
The area is still unsafe for anyone who lives here to return. But CBS13 showed the Dykstra's video of some of their neighbors burned out homes.
"It's pretty hard because there's only 23 or 24 places up there, so that means just about all of us have had some kind of devastation," Sally said.
Meanwhile, Pete Lacombe has been living at an evacuation center with his dog for a week now.
"I put in 20 years at the fire department, I've seen these scenes all over during those 20 years, but I never been on this side. It's different. It's strange," Lacombe said.
His home off Mosquito Road is still standing, but evacuation orders for the area are still in place.
"It's all the wind, as soon as they get it out is when I'll be happy," Lacombe said. "[But] another wind could kick up. It ain't over till it's over. It's all on the wind."
But Lacombe knows he's one of the lucky ones who, unlike the Dykstra's, will eventually get to go back home.
"You can't replace it, there's no way that it can be replaced," Garry said.
As of Sunday night, the King Fire has burned 82,018 acres and is 17 percent contained -- almost double the just 10 percent containment number from Sunday morning.
