Valley Fire victims being forced from temporary campground homes
HIDDEN VALLEY LAKE, Calif. (KGO) -- Valley Fire victims who lost everything say they're being forced from their temporary homes.
Dozens of families are staying in RVs at the Hidden Valley Lake campgrounds but officials say they must go because of flooding concerns.
The deadline was at noon on Monday, which several families missed.
"I haven't fallen apart yet but I'm that close," Cheri Kemp said. "I just want to go home. I don't know if people understand that. I want to go home and I can't."
Kemp lost her home in the Valley Fire. A friend loaned her an RV but now she and others have to leave Hidden Valley Lake Campgrounds, the only trailer site in the area.
"This is it and this isn't gonna work," Hidden Valley Lake Interim General Manager Bob Broyer said.
Officials are concerned that the nearby creek could flood. The Valley Fire damaged the watershed.
"The projections are that a 20-year rain event will trigger 100-year like flood conditions," Lake County Sheriff Brian Martin said.
Valley Fire victim Stephan Wasik questions whether that's why he and others have to go. When asked what he believes the real reason is, he responded, "Well, there's been some incidences here."
"We also have people here that were not fire victims but have taken the opportunity to kind of set up camp," Martin said.
Kemp is moving her RV to a friend's home, a good alternative but still not the one she wants most - to be back with her family.
"The stuff that we lost isn't as important as the fact that our family is all torn apart," Kemp said.
"It's never gonna be perfect. It's a tragedy and we're just trying to do the best we can to make it a little better for folks," Broyer said.
For full coverage on the Valley Fire, click here.
