The welcome sign still stands, but the charred rubble of the rest of Ira and Carolyn Hodge's house is all that remains in the background.
Sage Van Wing
Carolyn Hodge was woken up in the middle of the night by the lighting strike that started the fire that burned down her home. But at the time she wasn't worried. She and her husband were used to wildfires in the wilderness area on the hill above their canyon home. And they had built their house with a metal roof, cleared the surrounding vegetation, and set it back a good distance from the surrounding trees – as recommended by the U.S. Forest Service.
But this fire was different. Several days after the initial lighting strike, what had been two smaller wildfires joined together to become a raging inferno. Carolyn and Ira Hodge had just a few minutes to get out of the house they had spent the last seven years building.
The Canyon Creek fire burned over 100,000 acres and at least 43 homes were destroyed.
This is part of our "At Home" series.
GUESTS:
- Carolyn and Ira Hodge
