Creek Fire survivor prepares to evacuate as Basin Fire rages nearby

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) — Preparing for the worst and hoping for the best is the mindset of Shaver Lake resident David Hornor as the Basin Fire rages in the Sierra National Forest.

“As victims of the Creek Fire, we have become sensitive to other local wildfire threats nearby,” said resident David Hornor.

Last week, as he sat in his kitchen, he could see the fire and the helicopters working to fight the flames, so he started preparing.

“As we speak, we are still preparing things, because these are preparation steps in my mind.”

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Family members have opened their homes for him and his wife to stay in and one of his nephews will welcome his four fur babies.

“Because everything you see can be replaced, but not people, and not my dogs.”

His preparation is not something he learned overnight.

“We were not prepared for the creek to fall,” Hornor said. “I can see the scar of the creek, which formed 100 feet from our property, and about 400 feet from where we are right now. It’s emotionally difficult.”

He remembers 2020 like it was yesterday. He wanted to stay and protect his home, until his wife told him otherwise.

“I got a phone call around 5am on Sunday morning, and she said, 'David, I can't replace everything, but I can't replace you either, what do you say to that?'

Hornor said he still suffers from the trauma of the Creek Fire.

“I call it post-traumatic stress disorder. I had to see a professional therapist for two years after Creek.”

Now he is taking steps to try to heal his wounds.

Honor says that throughout the year and especially during wildfire season, he begins preparing his home with a defensible space.

He cleared all the vegetation and on Wednesday afternoon the California Fire Department came for an inspection.

“There were no violations found, I guess that means we were successful,” Hornor said.

And if he gets the call to leave soon, he knows what he has to do.

“I'm not going to stay, and I don't intend to stay,” Honor said.

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