‘We don’t have anything now’: Family loses everything in fire
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Nevada City, California (KOVR) — The Jones Fire has forced thousands to evacuate as 400 crews work to battle a beast of a blaze. Multiple homes have been destroyed in the fire, which has burned 650 acres and is 15% contained.
Amy Cooke lost her home of 15 years, but despite the devastation, she’s feeling lucky to be alive.
“It’s devastating to lose everything. We don’t have anything now,” Cook said.
The Cooke family asked CBS13 to check if their home was still standing Tuesday. We drove into the evacuation zone to find out. Unfortunately, it was gone. The family heard the evacuation sirens Monday morning and knew it was time to go.
“Get out early, don’t wait. The stuff doesn’t matter. You matter,” Cooke said.
Cooke was unsure if they’d have a home to come back to after they evacuated.
“You know, we thought some miracle, like some crazy miracle we would come back to our home. But that’s not going to happen,” she said.
The Jones Fire is one of several fires burning across California sparked by this past weekend’s lightning storms.
“We had a long series of lightning storms that came through the unit,” Cal Fire Chief Brian Estes said.
Despite the pain, the Cooke family is feeling lucky to be together.
“I’m just grateful to know. The not knowing has been so hard. You know, we’re OK, we’re going to be OK,” Cooke said.
As of Tuesday night, approximately 1,200 people are under in evacuation warning and 4,000 residents are under a mandatory evacuation order. The evacuation warning for the areas south of Ridge Road and Rough and Ready Highway has been lifted.
You can get the latest Jones Fire information on the Nevada County dashboard.
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