ATHOL, Idaho – Level 3 “Go Now” evacuations expanded Friday afternoon as more individuals on the northside of the Sunset Fire are placed on alert.
Evacuee Katie Greenough shared her experience after being forced to leave her home on Wednesday.
“I’m just hoping everyone’s still alive,” Greenough said of her 11 bottle-fed kittens, who she was forced to leave behind in the evacuation.
“I was literally freaking out— he was like you gotta go now,” Greenough said.
Katie Greenough did say her home remains undamaged.
The Anderson family was not as fortunate.
Their home was destroyed by the fire on Wednesday night.
“But it was the loss of a dream, that’s more what it was about,” Nona Anderson said.
The Andersons had hoped to build a home on their land.
“Everything’s gone, the houses. There were 3 families living up there,” Anderson added.
The extent of property damage caused by the Athol fire is still unknown. An Idaho Department of Lands Representative told Non Stop Local fire crews are working to prevent the fire’s forward progression before evaluating homes.
David Senft, another resident under evacuation notice, gathered his neighbors after receiving the evacuation order on Thursday night.
“There was a bunch of people there and I was telling people, go meet — wait at the mailboxes,” Senft said.
He directed them to the Cocolalla Bible Camp, the new Red Cross shelter location. Despite the evacuation notice, Senft returned to his home.
“I said I’m going to go up there because I didn’t see any flame, I could see the stars, there wasn’t a smoke cloud, and everything looked like we were past any danger,” Senft said. “Then all of a sudden you could hear the planes back.”
A low-flying jet sprayed fire retardant at the end of his street Friday afternoon. As evacuations continue and more people are displaced, Katie Greenough emphasized the support from the Red Cross and others.
“It can be hard but hold in there,” she said.
The Idaho Department of Lands urges residents to heed public safety announcements as fire crews and aerial support continue to battle the Sunset Fire.
