Northern California resident Nallely Orozco harbors a deep love of raising and breeding reptiles. As she opened Killer Clutches, she funneled her passion into a full-time career.
The family-owned business in the town of Cohasset did a “little bit of everything”: breeding, teaching students about the animals’ wonders and carrying husbandry supplies, Orozco said Thursday.
But waves of panic attacks and crying spells befell Orozco as she evacuated from California’s largest wildfire this year, the Park Fire burning in Butte and Tehama counties. Orozco cried as a reporter informed her that flames decimated her business, which is also attached to her home.
“It was probably the worst night of my life,” Orozco said in a phone interview.
The blaze exploded, growing nearly 20 times bigger bigger from Wednesday evening (6,500 acres) to Thursday evening (120,312 acres), Cal Fire said, sending residents racing to evacuate from homes. Firefighting crews had reached just 3% containment as of Thursday evening, as thousands of people have been uprooted from their homes.
A man has been arrested on suspicion of arson, accused of setting a vehicle on fire and letting it roll down a gully at Bidwell Park outside Chico.
A 3-hour escape on logging roads
Cohasset community members leaving Cohasset Road — the only thoroughfare leading out of the area, which was on the brink of being consumed by the fire — encountered dangerous conditions.
But contractors and employees with Sierra Pacific Industries helped usher residents to safety with Cal Fire, saving nearly 40 people, an evacuee said. Sierra Pacific representatives guided people out of Campbellville in Tehama County, and were available at every intersection to steer them the right way through back roads, according to archived audio dispatch calls reviewed by The Sacramento Bee.
Sierra Pacific’s help was confirmed by a company spokeswoman.
Nikko Shelton, who lives on Cohasset Road with his wife Melissa, their dog Luther and two cats, recalled driving down Cohasset Road to only be told the path was closed as black plumes of smoke loomed in the distance.
They had to take logging roads to escape, Shelton said in an interview.
“I’ve never driven out the backside of Cohasset at all and I’ve heard a lot of stories about it being a very difficult road to drive on,” he said. “It was certainly worrisome knowing that that was the only way out.”
They started the drive down and stopped in a small clearing near radio towers. RVs and cars towing boats crowded the space. It felt “claustrophobic rather quickly,” Shelton said. He and his wife decided to move to a less packed spot further down the road, eventually waiting nearly 90 minutes for Sierra Pacific employee who opened gates onto their lands to drive them out.
The group of about 20 cars struggled to drive through unpaved roads in near pitch-black conditions. He could hardly see as his headlights bounced off clouds of dust. Two vehicles slipped into a ditch, with one abandoned outright, he said.
Despite the tribulations, Shelton said he believed everyone made it out OK through the three-hour journey to Highway 32.
The loggers made the difference in saving lives, Shelton said.
“Honestly, for the most part, everyone was just really helpful, looking out for each other,” he said. “You know, a couple vehicles didn’t have very much gasoline and they were all willing to offer up what they had.”
Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea implored the community to heed the evacuation warnings and orders, and to know the correct zones. He spotted residents without gasoline Wednesday night on Cohasset Road.
“It is maddening that we are here again,” Honea said during a Thursday news conference streamed on social media.
Now, Shelton and his family wait to see the fate of their home.
“The direction of the wind looks like it’s pushing towards my house,” he said. “It looks like it’s about a hundred yards away from my house.”
‘I don’t know what to do’
Orozco always had an evacuation plan, but she’s now mired in uncertainty after losing her home and business.
There’s little choice but to be prepared when her business boasts about 400 animals of all shapes and sizes. She personally owns seven animals — including a goat that often thinks it’s a dog, she said.
Orozco saw evacuation orders issued around Chico Municipal Airport and began to load up her animals immediately. Her animals are divided between six homes as customers and volunteers helped to evacuate animals, she said.
“That was a blessing — we couldn’t have done it without our community,” Orozco said.
She created a GoFundMe page here to help with recovery costs.
Orozco’s family and friends’ “overwhelming support” helps her weather each difficult day and helps to keep the panic at bay, she said.
But she still feels guilty about leaving her area because many residents relied on her store to surrender their animals and to be educated about reptiles that are often misunderstood.
“I don’t really know what to do,” Orozco said.
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