A golden hue bathed Piute Meadows on Tuesday afternoon as sunlight peered through the Stagecoach Fire’s dark, towering plumes of smoke.
Patricia Paine, a resident of Piute Meadow Ranches, examined the damage on her 20-acre property adjacent to where the wildfire began Monday. Fortunately, her home wasn’t damaged in the blaze that engulfed much of her and her neighbors’ properties Monday evening.
“The fire stopped (a few hundred feet from my house) where my son cleared the area,” Paine said. “My son was here throughout the whole night. He’s protecting mom’s house.”
Paine was in Northern California visiting some friends when her son, Michael Paine, called at about 3:30?p.m. Monday telling her he saw smoke nearby. She said this is the first wildfire impacting her property during her eight years living in the quiet mountain community.