Thursday 1 October 2020

Glass Fire destruction devastates Deer Park community

NAPA COUNTY, Calif. (KRON) -- Photos of the Deer Park community show a town mostly burned to the ground.

Homes, a school, and community center destroyed.

"See this came up sometime while I was sleeping the spot fire," Jim Shaffer said.

Shaffer was inside his home in Deer Park when the Glass Fire inched onto his property.

He used gallons of water he had in reserves to put it out.

And despite evacuation orders in Napa County, he has stayed back ever since -- keeping his home wet and others too.

"Sometime while I was sleeping, it crawled up in through there and then it caught up in here, and when I woke it was rolling," Shaffer said. "So, I spent the 400 gallons on it, hitting it as hard as I could. I'm getting it. I'm just trying to get it down as much as I can, and I'm all by myself -- nobody is here. So, then I get over here. I run out of water -- it's over in here. It's up in Melvin's gutter over here. And, I took a shovel, and I smacked that gutter. I got that fire down."

Family friend George Jones was evacuated from his home in the town of Angwin Sunday.    

He's been with Jim ever since.

"We kind of think tonight might be another big night for some reason. They said it was gonna hit winds. The winds are gonna come up tonight, and they said it's gonna be hot," Jones said. "It's not too hot yet today, I don't even know what time it is, I don't have a phone. Everything is dead. So, I mean, like, we're barely getting by. Water rationing. I mean, it's rough right now."

Deer Park Road is now a stretch of destruction.

Thousands of acres of land burned, homes destroyed, cars incinerated.

Much like Jim and George though -- community members are looking out for one another.

Some neighbors who have lost everything -- still leaving fresh food out for stranded pets.

Others whose homes are still standing, leaving water and tools out for fire fighters to use.

"Demolished," Jones said. "It's like a warzone."

"My wife passed away six years ago, and it's everyday is a little bit of a struggle, you know, to keep going," Shaffer said.

But his son and two daughters are still alive -- reminding Jim he's still got a lot of work to do.

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