Placer County Mobile Home Residents Escape Destructive Path Of Grass Fire
PLACER COUNTY (CBS13) - Part of a Placer County community was burned to the ground as one man was forced to save his neighbor from fast-moving flames.
It happened in a rural Roseville community near the intersection of Walerga and PFE Roads. CBS13 spoke to a man who may have saved his elderly friend's life.
"He's watching his house burn down. Watching his whole livelihood go to hell!" said Bill Hodge, the man's neighbor.
Frustration and heartbreak.
"I seen the flames yeah. It went up really fast," said Connie Casperson, a neighbor.
Firefighters were having a tough time containing the four-acre blaze as it ate a chunk of a Roseville neighborhood.
Some homes are a total loss.
There's plenty of tall, dry fuel here.
"It's very dry, particularly this time of year, especially with the drought conditions that we've had," said Cal Fire Captain John Hotchkiss.
There's no word on how it started.
"It's horrible," said Casperson.
Some people lost even pets or can't find them. But fortunately some were saved.
"We went on the side of the house and found this little guy pinned up," said a firefighter.
"I got a 71-year-old man in the house and I got him out," said Hodge.
Some neighbors were rescued too. Floyd was having a difficult time getting out of his burning home until Hodge ran in and found him.
"I was inside the building and I can't get around because I got Parkinson's," said Floyd Whittney, a resident.
Many people in this community have little income.
"These poor guys have nowhere to go. No medication. Everything they own is in that place, you know," said Casperson.
There's no word yet from fire investigators on how the fire started.
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