Union Fire: Senior-Citizen Mobile-Home Park Evacuated As Flames Crept Close
DIAMOND SPRINGS (CBS13) — The Union Fire forced the evacuation of a senior-citizen mobile-home park.
"Get the hell out of your house, there's a fire behind you."
That's how Barbara Varner found out about the fire. Many without a clue it was that close.
"All I saw was the yellow in the sky, I had just come home."
Barbara grabbed her cat and got out as sheriff's deputies implemented a mandatory evacuation that sent this aging community into panic.
"You could see the flames behind the trees, and they were dumping water on the mobile homes."
Some residents of the Lake Oaks we spoke to have lived here for more than 15 years, and they've never been told to evacuate.
With temperatures in the 90s, those living here made their way from the fire lines to the clubhouse to keep hydrated—something important, especially for seniors.
"I had fire coming up to my shed, and I was putting it out, and then I went over to my neighbors and I was putting it out, coming up to him."
Gerald Kyle said he was putting out flames with his hose before he had to leave. He and his neighbors left, praying firefighters worked quickly.
"We don't know when we'll get back in, and that's fine, as long as they save our houses."
