Some Of The First Caldor Fire Evacuees Begin Journey Back Home

POLLOCK PINES (CBS13) — The last two weeks have been a blur for Caldor Fire evacuees who have been waiting for word to return home, though some mandatory evacuation orders were lifted across the area.

Home was in Kathy Clark's heart as she watched her Pollock Pines home from afar.

"I would just like to go back and water my flowers. That's all we wanted to do," she said.

She and her husband, some of the first evacuees, packed up and left, staying at two evacuation shelters before moving to an RV park in Plymouth.

"We had four dogs, four cats in the trailer, horses transported by an emergency rescue team to the Plymouth fairgrounds," she said. "Pretty complicated trying to keep the cats in and let the dogs out."Cheryl romaine 2137 we're glad to be back home.. We missed our little retreat here 40

Their neighbors stayed at their daughter's house in Elk Grove.

"We've never had this happen before. During the King Fire, we only evacuated for one day—and that wasn't even mandatory. But this one I guess just went crazy."

Most of Pollock Pines was still a ghost town, with National Guard troops manning areas still closed off to residents.

Despite all the hassle, that's how Clark and her husband feel—grateful to get back to their garden.

"We've been working. We worked til 10 last night. Got up 4:30 this morning, still working. But it's here. It's here," she said of her home.

As people come back and water is turned on across the area, authorties are asking people to run the water in their tap for a few minutes because there could be issues in the line.