In Greenville, residents had also been reluctant to evacuate, certain the blaze would not reach their town. “I tried to defend it to the last second, and the fire just pushed me out,” said Jose Garcia, 34, who lost his home and his taco restaurant. “We lost everything.”Others said that they had been reluctant to leave after evacuation orders were later lifted, and then reinstated. “I knew our town was going up,” she said. “No one expected to lose the whole town.”By the weekend, Greenville — a Gold Rush-era town once lined with historic buildings — was left in charred ruins; lamp posts were buckled and trucks were nothing but smoldering husks.

Source: New York Times August 08, 2021 00:00 UTC