Water Main Break Hindered Firefight Following Napa Quake

NAPA (CBS13) – Little remains except this patio set and bike after three mobile homes caught on fire after the earthquake that hit Napa.

Steve Francom helped his neighbors.

"We just watched her house burn," Francom said.

Francom immediately ran outside to see if everyone was okay and says he was startled when he saw smoke.

"There were flames coming out of the corner of the house like it was being projected," Francom said.

It didn't take long for the entire home to go up in flames.

"Siding debris and aluminum stuff. It was like a bonfire," Francom said.

A water main broke, making it impossible for firefighters.

"We had no water to take action with, so we just evacuated people to keep them from harm," said Captain Steve Becker from the Napa City Fire Department.

At that hour in the morning, a lot of people in the community had no idea what was going on.

"Some were in shock. Some were still asleep. We did have to rouse people from their bed," Becker said.

One of those people sleeping was Barbara Hornsby. She lives on the next street and tried to get out of her house.

"I was running toward the doorway and unfortunately a 6 foot bookcase fell on me," Hornsby said.

Despite the damage, she's happy everyone has been supporting one another as they try to clean up.

"[They] offered everything from putting us up and we feel very fortunate," Hornsby said.

Another mobile home in the same area was also destroyed. Firefighters don't know the exact cause of the fire but are looking into the possibility it may have been a gas leak.