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Long-time friends and neighbors Mike Rodman and John Silva are getting a bit of an unwelcome, front-row seat to an all-out attack on the Electra Fire in Amador County.

“It truly does feel like a war zone with the air tankers, the helicopters, the jets, the D-10s and other aircraft,” Silva said.

Their homes in the Pine Acres community of Pine Grove are under evacuation orders from the Amador County Sheriff’s Office.

“I really wanted to stay,” Silva explained. “I felt safe enough to be able to stay and monitor things and take care of my property.”

Knowing the potential risk, both decided to stay at their respective homes based on their experience living through a previous wildfire.

“Sometimes lightning does strike twice, or in this case, a fire does strike twice in the same area,” Silva said.

Things are a bit different with the canyon’s landscape since the Butte Fire tore through the Mokelumne River Canyon in 2015.

“Back then there was a lot more woodland in terms of trees and manzanitas, so the fire burned a lot more hot,” Silva said. “Since that time, with all those being burned off, there’s a lot more grasses and shrubs and things of that nature. So it’s a different type of burn this time around.”

While it's nerve-wracking to see the flames get so close to the ridge where their homes sit overlooking the canyon, they say they’ve prepared their homes as best as they can with defensible spaces – hoping that, along with fire crews’ efforts, it’ll be enough to keep their homes safe.

“We just kind of keep our fingers crossed and hope the weather cooperates and that we make it through this OK,” Silva said. Returning home in Calaveras County after an earlier evacuation

In Calaveras County, some homeowners decided to go back to their properties – despite the evacuation orders remaining in effect – to check on their properties.

KCRA 3 caught up with ranch owner Kristina Wuslich and resident Joe Campra, who both live on a ranch off Highway 26, near the Rich Gulch area. They said they followed the mandatory evacuations after seeing the flames firsthand.

"It rapidly got closer and larger and got to the point where we made the call, started loading up the animals,” Campra said. “You got to get out. It's not worth trying to chance it.”

Campra said he and Wuslich came back to the property to grab supplies for the animals they had evacuated, and to also finish fire-proofing the structures.

"I wanted to just make sure that any hot ashes that came down didn't cause any problems,” Campra said.

Wuslich explained the precautionary measures they take during situations like the Electra Fire, including putting water on the ground and on the roofs of all structures.

“We go all around the perimeter of the property,” Wuslich said. "We do our fire brakes and we do all our weed eating.”

Wuslich also said she wanted to make sure the flames stop spreading.

"Everything that can help the firefighters, as well as not pose a secondary risk of fire,” Wuslich said.

| RELATED | Get the latest updates on the Electra Fire and evacuations

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