“This is it. Is our house going to burn down? Is our whole town going to burn down,” said Esther Platt, an Ashland resident.
That’s what Platt was thinking last Tuesday as the Almeda Fire began just feet away from her Ashland home.
Emergency responders rushed to the fire’s origin a little after 11 o’clock by the BMX park near Almeda Drive and Michelle Avenue.
The fast-moving fire would go on to burn over 2,000 homes and kill three people tearing through the neighboring cities of Talent and Phoenix, devastating entire blocks.
“Just an incredible, intense scene. Something I’ve never experienced before and I never hope to experience again,” said Chief Tighe O’Meara, Ashland Police Dept.
A week later, Chief O’meara says the investigation into what sparked the deadly fire is far from cold.