‘It was a miracle’: How cabin owners’ elaborate plans saved homes from the Caldor Fire’s rage

By the time the Caldor Fire tore through the forest and dozens of cabins above Twin Bridges Monday night, Branden Silva and Craig Watson were ready.

The two cabin owners on Tamarack Pines Road had been watching as the fire destroyed Grizzly Flats 50 miles away, and they were taking no chances.

The Silva family came up from their home in Lodi two weeks earlier, stopping at Harbor Freight Tools stores along the way to pick up $2,000 worth of pumps and 2- and 3-inch hose lines, while Watson picked up his own supplies.

Then, they spent two weeks drenching as many homes along Tamarack Pines as they could until the fire arrived Monday afternoon.

“Right over there along the tree line, there were flames 100 feet above the tops of the trees, at least,” said Silva, a 29-year-old who works with his father, Bruce Bates, in the mason business and have a 5,000-square-foot home they built that can hardly be called a cabin.

The Silvas stayed until the flames got too perilous, then headed up to Echo Summit for two hours, when they returned and got to work, placing pumps into the South Fork of the American River below their home and stretching hose lines up to the street.

They posted a sign at the entrance to their street along Highway 50 telling firefighters they had water and hose lines, and then the fire engines started to come.

“We probably filled up 40 fire trucks when we got back,” Silva said. “It made me feel good.

“A couple of firefighters came over and told me, ‘If you guys weren’t here doing what you’re doing we probably would have lost every home along here.’”

They couldn’t save every home. In one tract, only 14 of 72 survived, they said.

But given the ferocity of the firestorm, the men were pleased that they had saved as many homes as they could.

Watson, 61, has had family cabins in the area since he was a baby, and said the Silva pumps and one he provided saved the firefighters precious time from having to drive down to Strawberry or up to Echo Summit for the nearest available water.

“All the pumps that we had were ready for them, and they were filling up their engines instead of having to go all the way to Echo,” said Watson, a retired correctional officer whose grandfather built their first cabin in the area in the 1950s for $971 in materials.

Silva said he stayed up until 5 a.m. Tuesday, and that the night was terrifying as the fire ripped through the forest behind the family’s home.

“The flames were about 100 yards from the back there,” he said. “We got pretty scared. I’ve never been in a scarier situation in my life.

“I was doing, Hail Mary, Mother of Gods. It was a miracle, man. I’ll tell you.”

This story was originally published September 2, 2021 at 1:29 PM with the headline "‘It was a miracle’: How cabin owners’ elaborate plans saved homes from the Caldor Fire’s rage."