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California wildfires: 360 video shows extreme damage caused by flames

What's left of one California neighborhood
Posted at 3:51 PM, Oct 17, 2017
and last updated 2017-10-17 16:05:49-04

The chilling words of one long-time firefighter:

"None of us have ever seen anything like this," says Bryan McClean of the Cosumnes Fire Department. Even veteran fire crews are overwhelmed by just how bad the destruction is in California.

 

 

360° Views from the fire line

 

The Coffee Park neighborhood of Santa Rosa was one of the hardest hit areas by the fires. It went from house to house to house, basically burning down the entire neighborhood.

A neighborhood that you would see in any one of the cities, just an average neighborhood, so when one catches on fire, it spreads to the next to the next to the next.

"It's just us, law enforcement and PG&E (Pacific Gas and Electric). PG&E is here taking care of their utilities and making sure that any of these trees, what's left of them, could fall an injure someone that those are taken care of," says McLean. "None of us have ever seen anything like this."

"I've been doing this for over 22 years and been to numerous house fires or wildland fires that have spread to a group of homes, but the sheer scale of this," McLean said. "I mean, it basically takes your breath away. As far as you can see, there's nothing."