Evacuation orders are shrinking, allowing some people to get back to their homes. But as officials reported yesterday, the Bug Fire has destroyed at least nine homes.
Right now, homes, the roads in the area or Red Rock, and the land is covered in black spots from the burns, and hot pink retardant has stained much of it.
Some folks had to rely on crews to protect their property from those impacts, but others created their own defensible space.
“Wednesday was the worst because this whole area blew up. So didn't know if we had a house or not",” said Douglas Brimhall, a homeowner in the area. “The neighbor's house on the other side, pictures were circulating of that burning down, which really kind of depressed us.”
Brimhall and his wife evacuated Sunday evening, taking with them everything important they could carry. He is a former wildland firefighter and says the lessons he learned during that time taught him how important defensible space is, which is what he says saved the home he built with his own two hands and his kids grew up in.
He dug not one but four different fire lines around his property and has continually maintained them for years in case of something like this happening.
“The bush caught fire, and then it spread out in the weeds that were there, but it stopped when it hit the next line,” said Brimhall.
His actual house was untouched, but trees and any type of vegetation around the property were almost entirely burned to a crisp.
He wants to thank the crews who worked to protect his and his neighbors’ homes, saying words can't express how much it means to him.
However, he expressed frustration at the lack of information he and his neighbors faced and asks that in the future officials find a way to do better.
