SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Caldor Fire burning in California’s Sierra-Nevada Mountain range has forced the evacuation of thousands. According to Cal OES, more than 53,000 have been evacuated across portions of El Dorado, Alpine, and Amador counties.
Fire evacuees have moved to campgrounds, parking lots, hotels, shelters and with loved ones across the region. Several families fled 40 miles to the West to Cal Expo in Sacramento where they have been staying for nearly two weeks.
“We took a picture from our deck at night and you can see the bright orange sky off in the background and, having never been through anything like that before, it was obviously very scary,” said Teresa Tobin of Somerset, California.
Hours after taking that image, she fled her home with her three teenagers, husband, and dog. They’ve been staying at the Cal Expo RV Park in a camper since leaving.
“As of right now, our home is still standing,” Tobin said.
The family used a Cal Fire resource, which mapped damages in the burn scar and evacuated area to confirm their home was still standing. Many families say they’ve been able to check on their home using that tool.
“Our daughter lives here in East Sac, and we stayed with them for a few days and they had this beautiful trailer we can stay in,” said Roy Turner of Camino.
He evacuated the area with his wife and dog. They say they packed up and left early before the were asked to evacuate. They plan to stay at Cal Expo until they’re allowed back into their home by authorities.
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