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Residents of the west Redding neighborhoods most devastated by the Carr Fire began returning to their damaged homes this weekend, marking the first steps of a long recovery ahead for the town and others throughout Shasta County affected by the blaze. Some made the familiar drives to their houses only to find empty lots piled with ash and debris.

Justin Sanchez, who lived in the Lake Keswick Estates neighborhood, described a chaotic scene the night he and his family pushed through bottlenecked traffic to escape a fire tornado that ripped through the area. Like many others, he said he did not initially believe the fire would jump the Sacramento River to reach his neighborhood. The situation escalated quickly, he said.

“I just knew this thing was going to take our whole neighborhood,” he said. “I’ve never been so scared in my life.”

All he was able to grab on his way out were some photos from the walls. Today, that’s all his family has left; when he returned one week later, he found everything burned down.