Officials haven't even had time to assess the extent of the damage and the fire is only an estimated 5% contained.
The Valley fire in Northern California is raging out of control. Already
61,000 acres have been burned and it is only 5% contained. Lake County is just northwest of the Santa Rosa wine region.
On Sunday, Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in Lake and Napa counties. He'd already declared a state of emergency for Amador and Calaveras counties on Friday.
Residents had to get out quick, most are in shock:
At the Valley fire evacuation centers, many of the evacuees, still traumatized by their flight the night before, described frantic drives along smoke-filled, jammed county roads.
“I had a gut feeling, something's wrong," said Wendy Gattoni, 49, a counselor for Middletown schools. “And then you could sense the black clouds, and then I started feeling the heat. And then the wind. A wind and a sound that I can't even describe.”
One resident, who goes by the name
mulletFive on Youtube, uploaded video of his escape and notes there was no warning. Watch the terrifying escape below:
Fully agreed, we did wait way too long to get out. We are the last house at the very back of the Springs, down in a gulch. There was no smoke or ash coming our way, and there were no sirens or air support nearby, so we honestly didn't know how close it was. Once we drove up out of our gulch, we realized how close it was. There were no sirens or air support because there was zero firefighting effort in Anderson Springs. (This is NOT a dig at the firefighters, by the way! There was just way too much fire in every direction, and they didn't have the resources to send to Anderson Springs.) So anyway, that is how we ended up leaving WAY too late. In retrospect, we should have gone out for a drive to find out what was going on, but we were a little preoccupied with packing.
So far, one resident has been killed, four firefighters injured and more than 100 homes burned.