RAMONA, Calif. — Road closures in the Ramona area Wednesday night left many residents stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic for hours as they tried to reach their homes or get to evacuation sites.
As emergency crews raced to the Creelman Fire in Ramona, the gridlock reopened old wounds for residents who have lost everything to fires in the area before.
Juan Villasenor lost his house in the Witch Creek Fire in 2007 and was left with just the clothes on his back.
"You go from having everything to starting thinking about, 'Oh, I need to go get underwear and socks.'"
Just like Wednesday night, fear set in as roads began to close.
"We couldn't get up here for like four or five days and when we were able to come up here there was nothing left," Villasenor said.
Road closures in Ramona brought traffic to a complete standstill. Hundreds of residents were stuck waiting for hours trying to get to their homes.
Shanan Newman has lived in the area for about a year and said her home was not in Wednesday night's evacuation zone. Still she was stuck on Barona Road in gridlock traffic.
"We're frustrated. We want to get home," Newman said.
During the devastating Witch Creek Fire in 2007, thousands rushed to get out of harm's way and were stuck in gridlock for hours on Highway 67 and San Vicente Road after the eastbound lanes were opened only to emergency vehicles. An after-action report from the county found there was not sufficient traffic control.
Cal Fire said the Creelman Fire initially grew at a critical rate of speed, moving toward the San Diego Country Estates triggered the closures of San Vicente Road at Wildcat Canyon.
Sky 10 captured the damage the fire left behind during a Thursday flyover. One home was coated in bright pink fire retardant after crews made an aerial drop to save it. The footage also showed just how dangerously close the fire came to many homes.
Cheryl Rosenblatt lives in the Estates. The last time fire ripped through the area, she was out of her home for nearly a month.
"I'm just happy. It's not Santa Ana (winds) today. Because it could have been far worse with Santa Ana," Rosenblatt said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
