Residents are going through the grieving process, after the Erskine Fire ripped through their neighborhood, randomly burning homes to the ground and scorching mountains.
Theresia Ross has lived in the Squirrel Valley area for more than two decades and this fire now has her feeling like a prisoner.
"No power, no cell service, the water they're saying is still not drinkable," Ross said she's thankful she's stuck at her home because when she drove up Thursday evening, it felt like a nightmare.
"Down there in Mountain Mesa, looking up here it was like straight up out of hell," Ross said the smoke clouds were all consuming and she was terrified, with questions running rapidly through her mind.
"Do I have a home? Do I start all over? Am I going to be saved? Am I going to be spared? Do I have part of a home? What do I have?" Ross said.
She was able to get past the road closure and drove up to her home that was still standing with scorch marks outlining her property.
Ross said her two neighbors saved her with the watering hoses.
"They were putting water on the back of the old automobiles here, and Adam was over here with the water hose doing the driveway and the things that were on fire!" Ross said.
Ross had things like a lawnmower and a bucket of old pictures on her driveway that caught fire. Seeing how close the fire got to her home, Ross said she is unbelievably thankful.
The headlights of two cars in her backyard melted and look like something out of a horror film. A dog house burned as well as the satellite dish right next to her home.
Now she's hoping her neighbors will be able to come home and rebuild.
Officials say that could take a long time, years even, for these neighborhoods to resemble what they looked like before.
