'This is our home': Napa County wildfire evacuees in Pope Valley deal with loss, uncertainty
NAPA COUNTY, Calif. (KGO) -- On Wednesday, Napa County sheriff's deputies cruised through Pope Valley helping with evacuation orders.
Carlos Vazquez and his family have lived in Pope Valley since 1984. They were evacuated two years ago. He says this time it's different.
"All the years I have lived here in the valley, we have never had lightning storms," said Vazquez. "Monday morning, the lighting came down and it was just all over the valley here."
He thought they may have been safe until this new fire sparked on the hillside close to where they live.
Mitchell Busse and his family of four were evacuated on Monday. They live near Lake Hennessey. He came back Wednesday trying to find out the condition of his house.
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"It's crazy," said Busse. "Just worried about our house that we have lived in the past three years. It's everything we've got."
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Vazquez has similar concerns.
"I mean, this is our home," he said. "This is where we live. If this goes up, what is next? I can't afford to live anywhere else. I mean were are out here in the country where it is affordable still."
Vazquez works as a maintenance engineer at a local vineyard. He says this is the middle of the harvest. If the grapes are destroyed, so is his only source of income.
"There is a vineyard up the street we can't even pick right now. And if those grapes go bad, I mean, right now the sugar level is perfect for us to pick. It's going to cost something."
Get the latest updates and videos on the CZU, LNU and SCU Lightning Complex Fires here.
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