California firefighter's home burns to the ground while he fights a different California fire

Several firemen lose their homes to the Valley Fire

Heroic California firefighters were out fighting the Butte fire when one fireman received word that his home was consumed in the Valley Fire.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA (Catholic Online) - A wildfire consumed the home of firefighter Justin Galvan, who was 150 miles away combating the fire crossing Sierra Nevada.

Unfortunately, Galvan was not alone. At least eight of the 585 homes destroyed in the Valley Fire belonged to firefighters. Several other firemen lost vehicles, saw property damage, or lost sheds and garages. When people were told to evacuate, the firefighters' families went with them.

After sifting through the remains of his home, Galvan said, "I just told my wife I'd look for anything that resembled something."

By Wednesday, California fire officials reported a containment of 30 percent of the 70,000-acre Valley Fire. Thousands of people remain homeless or displaced, forced to stay with friends or in emergency shelters. Few are allowed to return to their homes to sift through the remains.
Blockades have been erected to protect people from checking their homes.

The fire that took Galvan's home also affected the homes of other residents and firefighters, several of whom were either already fighting fires elsewhere or were attending an out-of-town children's football game.

Paul Duncan, a battalion chief for California's state fire agency, said, "The firefighter in me just wanted to step up and start doing something. That is what I wanted to do: I want to be going to the fire."

So far this year 13,750 square miles have been burned. Veteran firefighters admitted they were surprised by the speed and intensity of the blaze.

Duncan said, "It's so unpredictable, the intensity of the firefighting ... There's nothing you can do for a crown fire. It's incinerating everything underneath. What a nightmare."

When the Valley Fire reached his home in Hidden Valley Lake, his 15-year-old and 16-year-old daughters sent him texts, telling him they were surrounded by flames. Smoke choked the air, vehicles were on fire and it seemed hopeless. When the girls asked what they should do, Duncan replied, drive through the fire.

Luckily, they escaped the flames unharmed but their home erupted in flames, leaving nothing behind.

Galvan's friends sent him updates on the fire. The home he purchased when he was only 21 had been completely destroyed.

He told his supervisors, "I need to be home, I need to go see my home." Galvan said he and his wife had discussed building a home together to design the rooms and customize the flooring. He said they just didn't think the opportunity would present itself this way.

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