Neighbor Angry CHP Wouldn't Let Him Try To Save Woman Who Died In Valley Fire

ANDERSON SPRINGS (CBS13) — Cooler conditions are allowing firefighters to get a handle on the Valley Fire.

The fire has burned 67,000 acres, but containment is now up to 30 percent. Hundreds of outbuildings and businesses were destroyed, along with 586 homes.

Nowhere was hit as hard by the Valley Fire as Anderson Springs, where there are far more homes that burned than the handful that are still standing.

"Out of about 170, there was about seven just randomly," said Jovial Just.

It's where Just grew up and where he was raising his four children. It's also where his elderly neighbor—a disabled, retired teacher named Barbara McWilliams—died in the fire, unable to evacuate her burning home.

"Heartbreaking is a nice way of putting it," he said.

As flames overtook the community, Just says he came back to try and rescue her, but he was turned back by a California Highway Patrol officer.

"I felt I had to get my neighbor," he said. "I told him she was in there and needed to get her, and he did not let me in."

In a statement, the Lake County Sheriff's Department says the call for evacuation assistance came in at 7:12 p.m. on Saturday. By 7:29, officers and deputies responded to the areas, but were unable to reach McWilliams as the subdivision was already engulfed in flames.

The CHP did not respond to calls from CBS13 for comment.

Just sees it much differently. He believes more should have been done to save his friend's life.

"I believe it was our responsibility to get her out of there, and if they weren't going to let me, I believe authorities needed to be in there immediately," he said. "There wasn't anybody."