Fire in Isleton

This is my secret nightmare. Things seem calm and orderly, and ten minutes later, you're homeless. I see no reason why fires like this couldn't strike neighborhoods like mine in Sacramento. It's so damned dry:

They were all gone within minutes, Sarah Thompson’s place and Jeff’s and Pam’s, too.

Dustin Brandon barely escaped his trailer. He pointed to the ash that was left. Dennis Barbour’s home was one of the first to go — 30 years of memories gone in three minutes.

Barbour’s 74, his mother’s in her 90s. They’re safe — they’re all safe — but everything they had at Rancho Marina Mobile Home & RV Park in Isleton is gone. 

“I’ve lived here 30 years, Barbour said, using a cane to gingerly walk alongside Brannan Island Road, the levee road that leads to what remains of Rancho Marina. “There’s a lot of stuff here. Irreplaceable.”

As many as 150 residents were forced from their homes as 42 structures in the community surrounded by the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta were destroyed in a devastating fire Monday.

Sacramento County spokeswoman Janna Haynes said 25 mobile homes and 16 RVs were destroyed, along with a park building.

Another 20 structures remained threatened Tuesday, but firefighters expected containment by day’s end, said Deputy Fire Chief Hugh Henderson of the River Delta Fire Protection District. The fire was 60% contained and holding by afternoon.

No injuries were reported. Firefighters received assistance from neighboring departments and air support from Cal Fire “which greatly reduced some of the damages” to the mobile home park, Henderson said.

Fueled by fierce winds that peaked at 35 mph around the time the fire broke out, the 40-acre vegetation fire raked across the community of mobile homes situated by the confluence of the Mokelumne and San Joaquin rivers in the far southwestern corner of Sacramento County. Those winds dropped to about 20 mph by 6 p.m., but gusted again Tuesday morning as River Delta, Isleton, Walnut Grove and Cosumnes Fire crews worked to stamp out hot spots.