Cal Fire Lifts Robbers Fire Evacuation For Some Families

FORESTHILL (CBS13) - The Robbers Fire is now 70 percent contained and is expected to be completely under control by Saturday.

It's the news homeowners have been waiting to hear.

Ralph Twichell will tell you flat-out, he doesn't like going into town.

"I try not to," said Twichell.

No, Twichell likes his privacy and loves the view.

Wednesday night, he's back on his favorite perch.

"Long as it's all here and not black like the other side of the hill," said Twichell. "Them boys did a great job."

Cal Fire lifted Robbers Fire evacuation orders Wednesday morning for families in the Brushy Creek and Yankee Jims areas.

"I thought my house was going to burn down for more than a week almost," said Mark Sugar, another evacuee returning home.

Twichell's neighbor, Sugar, is relieved to come back to the home he feared was lost.

Flames came within a few hundred feet of some of the houses before the weather took a turn for the better and fire lines held.

"It's like a vacation you didn't want and you didn't take any money or clothes with you," said Sugar. "It was horrible."

Sugar remembers a few years back when another wildfire burned in the area.

There was no evacuation order. It's what made him so nervous this time.

Twichell saw the smoke and two hours later got the phone call to get out.

"I was laying on the couch and rolled over and looked up and said 'oh no,' because the column of smoke was straight out my front door," said Twichell.

Eight days and 2,600 burned acres later, people in the remote area of Placer County are finally getting back to enjoying a little peace and quiet.

However, there was one family that never left.

Even with an evacuation order and even as just about everyone else left, Eric Lauder and his wife stayed put.

"My children may differ with that opinion because they were calling every 15 minutes and telling us to get out," said Lauder.

Eric prepared with sprinklers on his roof and a pump house.

"We had our car ready to go so there's no reason to leave," said Lauder.

Instead, he helped firefighters on the front lines, offering his pool as a water source and his expertise of the rugged terrain.

"They showed me maps and I said 'yeah this road goes to here' and they marked it and stuff like that," said Lauder.

Not everyone was allowed to go home today. Evacuations are still in place for people who live along Kings Hill Road.