Los Angeles (CNN) Lisa and Dave Gott and about 15 other neighbors rallied as the fast-moving Tick Fire descended upon their neighborhood near Santa Clarita, California.

Firefighters were busy elsewhere and it was time for residents to do what they could to protect their homes north of Los Angeles late Thursday: They used garden hoses to lay down at least a little moisture.

"All those embers would have blown into homes," Dave Gott said Friday.

As it turned out, three homes in their Stone Crest neighborhood were destroyed.

The wildfire forces thousands of residents to evacuate their homes, fire officials said.