A senior man revealed how he lost his dream home in an instant after spending three decades working on it.
81-year-old Hank Hanson from California is one of many homeowners who have lost their homes amid devastating wildfires that are ripping through the state.
As the senior man explained, he and his wife managed to escape from their Vacaville home unscathed just moments before the blaze engulfed their dream home and razed it to the ground.
According to Hanson, the couple woke up on Wednesday night as the electricity was cut off and scorching temperatures took over their home.
After taking a look at the surroundings from his window, the 81-year-old noticed that nearby hills were on fire. “It started pouring toward us like a waterfall,” Hanson said.
While the couple is used to hearing sirens in the area prone to wildfires, the blaze allegedly came to their doorstep without any evacuation warning due to emergency responders being stretched too thin.
As Mr. Hanson recalled, he and his wife immediately fled their dream home in their truck. Meanwhile, they and other nearby residents started blaring their horns to wake up other locals and warn them about the fast-encroaching fire.
While the couple managed to escape the wildfire and settle at a hotel in Fairfield, their dream home, which they had spent thirty years building and improving, burned to the ground.
“I worked on it for 30 years. It was pretty nice,” Hanson said. As he added, the only thing to have survived the natural disaster were his tomato plants. “They escaped the whole deal. About the only thing I have left in the world is tomatoes.”
According to the couple, Hanson bought the property in question back in 1974. Over the next three decades, he had spent his weekends working on his new home and making his dreams come true.
Despite his home coming to a bitter end in an instant, Hanson remains grateful for surviving the ordeal unharmed. As for his plans for the future, the 81-year-old now intends to convert the area into a campground rather than trying to rebuild his home.
Replaced!