Oregon:George Coble returned with some of his employees Saturday to a wasteland of twisted, charred tree trunks set against a thick wall of smoke that gave the air an eerie yellow cast.
Coble lost everything in the fire: His fencing and post business, five houses in a family compound and more than two dozen vintage cars, including a green 1967 Mustang GTA and a 1969 Mercury Cougar convertible.
The family - three generations that lived in a large compound just outside Mill City, Oregon - had no warning as the fire swept in.
Oregon victims assess losses as fires still burn Coble saw it cresting a hill across the street through their French doors just after midnight.
They were able to evacuate with seven people, three horses, five dogs and a cat. His friend found a fourth cat, which had been missing, on Friday amid the rubble with burned feet and singe marks on his belly.
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He estimated his losses from the homes at close to $1 million and the business at more than $5,00,000.
Coble and a few friends were working Saturday to try to salvage some fence posts and other materials for his business.
"We lost 99.9% of our posts and our wire, all of our inventory and five different homes, five different shops, all the pump houses and probably about $2,50,000 in antique cars with no insurance on them – and all kinds of stuff we don't even know yet," he said.
"We'll just keep working and keep your head up and thank God everybody got out. As long as everybody got out, everything else can be replaced," he said.
As Coble walked his property, he spotted fire still burning inside an old lilac tree that has graced his front yard for years and somehow survived the flames.
He tossed a few buckets of water on it and then walked away into a tableau of destruction.
Authorities have said more than 1,500 square miles (3,880 square kilometres) have burned in Oregon during recent days, nearly double the size of a typical year and an area larger than Rhode Island.
AP
