Siskiyou County, Cali. — According to Cal Fire, a grass fire near the Hornbrook area broke out shortly before 4:30 p.m. Tuesday evening.
It forced dozens of people to evacuate from Moore Road, Juniper Road, Flamingo Drive and Whidgeon Place.
Suzi Brady with Cal Fire says the fire in the Hornbrook area burned nearly 46 acres and threatened 40 structures, but is now 50 percent contained.
No structures were actually burned and nobody was injured, but it did take three air tankers and two helicopters to help contain the fire.
Melissa Helms who lives in the area says she was shocked to see a fire in Hornbrook so early in the season.
“I got off of work in Yreka and I saw the smoke. I couldn’t really tell where it was coming from… I thought it was my house down there. So I raced home and I saw that it was on White Pine and my parents live right at the top of the hill,” Helms said.
Helms says after many calls to her parents cell phones since the phone lines were down, she eventually got ahold of them and found them to be safe in their home.
Another resident who lives right down the hill from the fire says he was about to take his dogs to the river when his stepson saw smoke behind their house.
He says they never evacuated, but his family was ready to leave with all their essentials packed.
“My wife’s computer, and I took my two dogs, sleeping bag and my guitar. I think that’s it… what we need in this life,” Sergey Terpenev said.
Brady says the wind made it a challenge to contain the fire as it was pushing the fire in many different directions.
Due to power lines and hot spots, crews remained in the area to make sure it’s safe for residents.
Brady says they are still investigating how the fire got started.
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