Some California Fire Evacuees Return to Little More Than Ash

Krystal La Plante and her boyfriend returned to the remains of their three-bedroom home to find only a ceramic drip coffee pot and one of her pottery pieces. Her little “piece of heaven,” flanked by trees as high as she could see, was gone."I kept walk...
Some California Fire Evacuees Return to Little More Than Ash
J.D. Roel salvages a scrap of melted metal from a friend's property after a wildfire raged through the Loch Lomond area of Lake County, Calif., Monday, Sept. 21, 2015. Gov. Jerry Brown requested a presidential disaster declaration on Monday, noting that more than 1,000 homes had been confirmed destroyed, with the number likely to go higher as assessment continues. AP Photo/Noah Berger
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Krystal La Plante and her boyfriend returned to the remains of their three-bedroom home to find only a ceramic drip coffee pot and one of her pottery pieces. Her little “piece of heaven,” flanked by trees as high as she could see, was gone.

“I kept walking around asking, ‘Where is my home?’ I don’t understand why it’s not here. This isn’t where I live,'” La Plante, of Anderson Springs, said Monday.

The scope of devastation from one of California’s most destructive wildfires is becoming clearer, and so too is the size of the humanitarian need in one of the state’s poorer counties.

Gov. Jerry Brown has requested a presidential disaster declaration, noting that more than 1,000 homes had been confirmed destroyed, with the number likely to go higher as assessment continues in Lake County, 90 miles north of San Francisco. Many others are damaged or don’t have power, leaving thousands in need of shelter.

“The biggest challenge is there aren’t enough hotel rooms in Lake County,” county Supervisor Jim Comstock said Monday. He lost most of his 1,700-acre ranch to fire, but his house was spared.

Jay Albertson searches for a cat named Blue in the remains of his home, destroyed by a wildfire, near Middletown, Calif., Monday, Sept. 21, 2015. Gov. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Jay Albertson searches for a cat named Blue in the remains of his home, destroyed by a wildfire, near Middletown, Calif., Monday, Sept. 21, 2015. Gov. AP Photo/Noah Berger