3 years ago
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SOMERSET (CBS13) — After starring a tiny service that stayed down to combat the Caldor Fire flames, Robert Reid was backmost astatine it connected the bulldozer.
“Last nighttime was the archetypal nighttime I slept successful 9 days,” said an exhausted Reid.
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He was checking a occurrence interruption helium made.
“It saved this guy’s house, it saved everyone’s house,” Reid said. “It saved the schools that I went to, everything.”
This Somerset autochthonal knew the Caldor Fire was getting adjacent to his home, excessively close.
“So we’re watching it from close present wherever we basal connected the ridge top. We figured this wasn’t going to enactment and determination was cipher here, truthful we conscionable benignant of got aft it,” said Reid.
Neighbor Job Giles, a begetter of nine, joined what came to beryllium known arsenic the Ant Hill Road Army.
“He got the dozer and I said I tin enactment immoderate occurrence lines astir neighbors’ houses,” said Giles. “It rapidly became much than what we anticipated.”
They began battling the Caldor Fire with everything they had.
“We enactment this 1000-foot hose laic successful ourselves,” said Reid.
They worked and worked.
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“We had radical connected saws, we had radical dragging, radical connected Bobcats,” said neighbour Matt Peterson.
They worked on with much than 2 twelve volunteers who answered a telephone for assistance connected Facebook.
It didn’t spell unnoticed; authorities stopped by.
“And he got retired and looked up the canyon and said bash not stop!” said Reid.
“They looked astatine america and said, ‘You did this?’ They were conscionable awestruck,” Job said.
That radical of men punched a occurrence interruption 600-feet wide by two-miles agelong each the mode from Perry Creek Road to Grizzly Flat Road.
Donations of substance and nutrient came successful arsenic they pushed backmost the flames on with the assistance of a monolithic back-burn by Cal Fire.
They looked backmost connected what they accomplished arsenic the Caldor Fire continued its propulsion up the mountains.
“To ticker that occurrence travel to the enactment and ticker that occurrence get lit and halt wherever we went, it was surreal,” Reid said.
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As of Friday, the Caldor Fire has burned much than 143,000 acres and is 12 percent contained.
Rachel Wulff
English (US) ·