Two neighbors stay behind to protect their homes and neighborhood during Carr Fire

The Carr Fire burned through Shasta County two years ago on July 23, the memory still fresh in people.

But some people in one Redding neighborhood stared down the fire to protect their homes.

Through shasta county two years ago this week.

That memory is still fresh on people's minds.

Action news now reporter ana torrea spoke with some survivors... who stared down the fire to protect their homes and neighborhood.

Take so* ((cover with b- roll)) trt:117 gary lyon retired cal fire battalion chief once it jumped the river i knew the neighborhood was going to be impacted, i came back to the house and told lori we were going to stay// with my experience i just felt obligated i think to stay and do what i could// you can attribute that to my 30 years in the fire service, gary lyon -- a retired cal fire battalion chief for the tehama glenn unit says his instincts kicked in: stay behind.

Battle the fire.

Save his home.

Take so* trt:11 gary lyon retired cal fire battalion chief i just didnt feel threatened, i felt that it was a very bad fire but i didnt feel threatened in my own neighborhood, in my own home, so the decision was easy for me ana stand u* trt:16 ana torrea atorreanews gary and his wife lori were just one of the few people who decided to stay behind and battle the carr fire protect their home which is just right behind me over.

But also just next door is their neighbor roger who also stayed behind to battle the blaze take so* trt:25 roger gray stayed behind to battle carr fire and i said gary are you going to stay, and he said lori and i are going to stay, and i said well if youre going to stay im going to stay, and he said if we get hit hard, and the services might get overwhelmed and we maybe here and if you leave you may not have a home to come back to.

And help didn't arrive for hours.

Take so* trt:14 gary lyon retired cal fire battalion chief i even called 911, thinking i got a shot in the dark here that maybe if i tell that we're losing homes down here on west harlan drive, that they might allocate some resources but that didnt happen, it was quite awhile.

Leaving them on edge... take so* trt:14 gary lyon retired cal fire battalion chief it was very frustrating because here you have this huge neighborhood that is in the path of the raging fire and nobody came to see if we were making it down here.

Using what he had--a watering hose and the fire prep he did all day: retired navy veteran roger gray protected his home.

While his wife left for safety.

Take so* trt:10 roger gray stayed behind to battle carr fire i knew what prep for fire meant, that meant take care of everything burnable get it out of the yard and do your yard work and i immediately started prepping for fire gary teamed up with other people in the neighborhood-- trying to save as many homes on as they could.

With limited resources.

Take so* trt:03 gary lyon retired cal fire battalion chief about 6 of us stayed behind to protect our homes take so* trt:19 roger gray stayed behind to battle carr fire when everything started blowing up, lori my next- door neighbor's wife, who very bravely stayed, i could see her headlight in the dark and in the smoke cover to the fence, come over to me and she's yelling at me, "rog, rog are we going to die?"

And i said nah it's going to take more than that to kill us both houses still stand todayã two years later.

Take so* trt:20 gary lyon retired cal fire battalion chief you feel a lot of empathy for those folks who lose their home and everything, as a fireman we used to go to those structures fire and we put the fires out and we leave and we dont have much follow up with them but here they're our friends and neighbors and there's a lot of fellowship going on with the neighbors and even though some homes on harlan drive did burn downã others survived thanks to a neighborhood coming together in the face of destruction.

Reporting in redding, ana torrea action news now coverage you can count on the carr fire scorched over 200-thousand acres and eight people died... including three firfighters##