A day after wind-driven flames from the Dixie Fire ripped through the Northern California town of Greenville, residents who had reluctantly left their homes behind sat at a picnic table under hazy skies in a parking lot about 25 miles away.
“I knew our town was going up,” said Teresa Clark, 34, describing the moment she had decided to evacuate, watching the flames approach as the air got hotter and the chances for escaping grew slimmer. “That’s when the sheriff pulled up and said, ‘You guys need to leave,’” she said. “I was scared to death.”
Inside the nearby Paradise Grill diner in Quincy, some Greenville residents spoke in disbelief about how quickly the flames had raged down the mountain toward their beloved community.
“We lost everything,” said Jose Garcia, 34, who sent his family away but stayed behind with his father, Juvenal Garcia, 70, vainly chopping down trees to create firebreaks.
