‘It looked like hell.’ Stories of loss and survival from inside California’s Caldor Fire

Hazy smoke obscured the sun Wednesday as ash rained from an orange sky over evacuees who took refuge throughout western El Dorado County. The devastating Caldor Fire raged to the east, displacing tens of thousands.

The evacuees sat with their children and pets. They gathered in parking lots and outside emergency shelters, telling stories of narrow escapes along crowded highways and the homes they lost. Some said they would likely never rebuild in a state where rural towns are under constant threat from wildfires.

Sacramento Bee journalists spent this week with several families who fled the Caldor Fire, which destroyed much of the town of Grizzly Flats. By Thursday, the fire had grown to more than 65,000 acres and was threatening an estimated 6,900 homes, business and other buildings.

A ‘huge red ball’

Robert Troyer, a 40-year resident of Grizzly Flats and Navy veteran, said he and his wife received a notification to evacuate around 9 p.m. Monday, and by then evidence of the fire was visible from their property, a looming red glow in the distance.

Troyer, 77, and his wife loaded their belongings along with their dog, Shiloh, and cat, Mouse, into their RV and drove to safety. Troyer returned to his property around 1 a.m. to load his tools into his red 1989 Ford pickup truck. Things were much worse, he said.

“It looked like hell, I’ll tell ya,” Troyer said. “I left a lot of stuff, another vehicle and a trailer that I wanted to get on there and bring on down, but the fire was getting too close and besides the flames there was this huge red ball all the way around it.”

With winds whipping and blowing ash and embers, Troyer drove out of Grizzly Flats to the intersection of Mt. Aukum and Grizzly Flat roads in Somerset.

“I did forget the air hoses for the air compressor,” he said, laughing. “You get a little nervous up there.”

Their home on Mt. Pleasant Drive did not survive the flames, Bee reporters found Wednesday. The house and garage were reduced to a heap of ash and mangled metal. All that remained was a few outdoor yard decorations, a red, white, and blue pinwheel among them.

Troyer said he and his wife will likely not rebuild and probably leave the state.

Taking what they could

Joshua Feis, a local construction worker, lost his home on Quietwood Court he had spent the last four years remodeling.

Feis, 32, saw the fire growing on Sunday morning and began preparing to leave. He stayed until Sunday night, packing up his home and moving out most of his furniture ahead of the mandatory evacuation notice.

“It was pretty calm and then all of a sudden it started raining ash,” he said outside the In-N-Out Burger in Placerville. “You could see the sky just turn red.”

He took his animals, his dining room table, and eight vehicles. He had to leave his flatbed truck behind, he said.

“I left about 8:45 p.m. and I don’t know why the evacuation wasn’t called at that point, (the fire) was already coming up the hill on the other side towards the pub,” he said. “It was nuts.”

Reporters confirmed Wednesday that Feis’ home was destroyed in the fire. The flatbed truck parked on the street in front of his home appeared untouched by the flames.

“I knew it was going to happen, I mean they’ve been talking about it for years,” Feis said. “And I knew when I moved up there it was a fire danger.”

More devastation in Grizzly Flats

Matt Toffey, another Grizzly Flats resident, suspected his home had been lost when his Ring doorbell camera stopped working around 1:30 a.m. Monday.

“I saw nothing but high winds and ashes blowing so fast that everything was horizontal until the security system went out,” he said over the phone.

Toffey left his Grizzly Flats home on Sunday morning without giving much thought to the fire, he said. There had been fires in the area before and he didn’t have reason to believe it would sweep through his neighborhood.

By 11:30 p.m., he received a red alert to evacuate. His fears were confirmed when he saw the burnt ruins of his beloved home in a Sacramento Bee photo published Tuesday.

“It’s the kind of thing you read about and never expect it to happen to you,” he said.

Choosing what to take

Aimee-Joy Janzen and her husband Rob packed their belongings Sunday night. They included some clothes and photos, later returning for larger items like their snow blower.

They left water for firefighters, and a note that read, “We are gone.”

“You look around the house and think, ‘What can I be okay with that will just burn?”

Rob Janzen walked out of their Grizzly Flats home for the last time, looking back at the garden where he planted vegetables. The tomatoes and bell peppers had finally grown after eight attempts.

“And he didn’t get to pick them,” Aimee-Joy said. “But we are the fortunate ones.”

The Janzens lost their home — the home that they raised their two daughters and step-son in.

“From the pictures, it looks like a slow burn,” Aimee-Joy Janzen said. “There are just ashes everywhere.”

The couple were in the middle of a remodel. They had just installed french doors, new windows, and purchased a new couch from Naturewood. They had long discussed moving to the Black Hills of South Dakota.

Through pictures taken of the home, Aimee-Joy Janzen can see that the woodstove and smoker are intact. Their refrigerator is still standing. Their new furniture is destroyed.

The Janzens said they plan to rebuild their home to sell the property.

“We are still responsible for the mortgage,” Aimee-Joy Janzen said.

As the couple settles into their RV at a Shingle Springs KOA campsite, Rob Janzen spent his afternoon calling their insurance provider to ensure their belongings will be replaced. Aimee-Joy Janzen said she was disheartened to learn their clothing won’t be covered.

“We work really hard; we work overtime hours,” she said. “How long will our money last?”

A knock on the door

Jessica Turnbull and her family were camped next to their cars, using a beach umbrella to block the sun. Turnbull evacuated with her son, Deaken, and their dogs and pet lizards, Sigurd and Indominus, Wednesday morning.

“I could see from the highway it was glowing,” she said, sitting in a camping chair, her dogs laying near her feet and her lizards resting in the shade of a nearby tree.. “You could see the smoke plume.”

Nearby Michael Signor, a 50-year resident of Pollock Pines evacuated with his daughter Jessica and their neighbor, Maggie Spalding, after a sheriff’s deputy knocked on their door and told them they needed to leave. They left with some clothes and their 21-year-old cat, named Post-it.

Signor said he could see lots of smoke from his home, but no flames.

“We just hope there’s a home to go home to,” he said.

Some good news from the fire

By Thursday, a few residents such as Pat O’Brien were able to get back into their neighborhoods to retrieve belongings.

After fleeing Monday, O’Brien was allowed through the law enforcement roadblocks and returned to his Caldor Road home, which survived the fire. He loaded up his trailer with giant plastic bags full of household belongings.

But before he got out of the evacuation zone, his pickup truck broke down on Grizzly Flat Road and he spent Wednesday night parked and waiting for help.

Thursday morning, he was still waiting. “I camped out here last night,” he said. “I had a comfortable bed, and my neighbor’s texting me telling me we’re OK.”

A friend had warned him about returning home, saying “that’s how people get killed.” But O’Brien felt the dangers were minimal.

“At least I have a plan,” said O’Brien, who’s lived in Grizzly Flats for 26 years. “I can get on a motorcycle, I can get in a car. I’ll get off the mountain. I’m a survivor.”

This story was originally published August 20, 2021 at 5:00 AM.