Tulare County residents prep for another night away from home as Cedar Fire burns

TULARE COUNTY (KFSN) -- Day four of the Cedar Fire has been a challenging one for firefighters because dry dead trees are fueling the fast moving flames.

As of Friday, 9,500 acres have burned and Jesse Gardner was one of the several evacuated from his home Thursday Night in California Hot Springs.

"Better than inhaling smoke all night," he said. "It was reasonably cool and breezy which made me terrified, considering."

Tulare County deputies continued warning residents in Sugarloaf, Posey, and Pine Flat to evacuate their homes. But one group was still holding out and waiting for the fire to come over the ridge.

"I really don't worry about anything," resident Pat Austin said. "Just take one day at a time and I'm insured and nobody wants to lose their home, you know, I love it up here, but I don't want to leave. I don't want to leave unless it's really mandatory and the fire's on top of us. I just want to stick it out like these guys do."

Evacuees who stayed are closely monitoring winds, praying the flames move away from their homes.

"The fires create their own storms, so that's what's scary," Debra Jensen said. "It can shift at any moment."

At this point, no structures have been damaged but the fire is only 6 percent contained and evacuation orders remain for several areas.