SACRAMENTO, Calif. — While temperatures have dropped since the record-setting heat wave earlier this week, smoke has filled the Sacramento Valley and the area surrounding the Mosquito Fire. Now, those who fled the area anxiously wait at area shelters.
Linda Hoffman left her home in Foresthill, fleeing to nearby Sierra College in Rocklin, California where an American Red Cross shelter has been established for those seeking refuge from the fire.
She brought a camping trailer, her adult children and more than a dozen show dogs. The dogs are being kept in crates until Hoffman is allowed to return. The woman, who is in her 70s, says she trying to hold it together for her family.
"When this is over, then I’ll collapse,” Hoffman said. “But right now I can’t.”
The haze in the surrounding area brought on by the massive smoke clouds from the fire have made it difficult for residents to locate where active fire may be burning. That has created an intense anxiety as many have deep concerns about their property and communities tonight.
Isabella Stigen, from Georgetown, described leaving the area in a hurry Thursday. She says she is trying to stay busy to keep her mind off of her concerns which remain out of her control.
“It was terrifying, cause I wasn’t sure If I was going to get out of there in time cause it looks so much closer than it is,” Stigen said.
Meanwhile, volunteers have flooded the area to help those being impacted by the fire. Nicole Orozco Briones is with Life From The Ashes, a group that formed after the Camp Fire in Paradise, California in 2018 which claimed 85 lives and more than 15,000 homes and businesses.
“Imagine yourself losing everything you own, your animals, fleeing with nothing, and then sleeping on a cot,” Briones said. “That’s all they have.”
Volunteers continue their outpouring of support as many evacuees across the area wait for developments in the firefight.
WATCH ALSO:
