Valley Fire victim identified as 72-year-old woman with multiple sclerosis

ANDERSON SPRINGS, Calif. -- The fast-moving Valley Fire that's burning across three Bay Area counties claimed the life of a 72-year-old Anderson Springs resident. Cal Fire says they were unable to save her from the fire Saturday night.[br /][br /][b][url HREF="http://abc7news.com/news/donations-how-to-help-valley-fire-victims/982772/" TARGET="_blank" REL=""]DONATIONS: How to help victims of the Valley Fire where you live[/url][/b][br /][br /]So far, Barbara McWilliams is the only confirmed fatality in the Valley Fire. She suffered from multiple sclerosis and couldn't get out of her house on her own.[br /][br /]Deputies were dispatched to her home on Hot Springs Road in Anderson Springs near Middletown. But by the time they got there, the entire subdivision was engulfed in flames.[br /][br /]Along Highway 29 at the top of the mountain, less than 10 miles from Middletown, there is a CHP roadblock. It's a place of gathering frustration among fire victims.[br /][br /][b][url HREF="http://abc30.com/news/photos-crews-battle-valley-fire-in-lake-napa-counties/982771/" TARGET="" REL=""]PHOTOS: Fire crews battle massive Valley Fire[/url][/b][br /][post ID="982771" /][br /][br /]"I know that Middletown is burned down, most of it," said one evacuee.[br /][br /]Fellow fire victim Tyler Drew added, "There is too many people on that mountain right now. We can't turn these trailers around. We have to get through."[br /][br /]They have livestock to feed. And some of them might still have homes. For the others, homes along Highway 175 north of Middletown have been reduced to rubble and ruin. Testimony to heat, fury, and the illogic separating what burned, with what the fire spared.[br /][br /]"They were homes, beautiful homes," said Kelseyville resident Jennifer Hittson.[br /][br /][b][url HREF="http://abc7news.com/news/resources-valley-fire-evacuation-centers-school-closures/982676/" TARGET="_blank" REL=""]RESOURCES: Valley Fire evacuation centers, school closure information[/url][/b][br /][br /]She knew the Anderson Springs neighborhood especially well. Until Saturday, she served as a caretaker for McWilliams. When Hittson left that house at 3 p.m., they both knew of the fire, but not that it would come that way.[br /][br /]"She's like, 'No I'm fine, it's gonna be fine,'" said Hittson. "She did not understand the magnitude of it."[br /][br /]McWilliams had MS.[br /][br /][post ID="984430" /][br /][br /]By the time Hittson realized the danger and called the Lake County sheriff to evacuate her, that office was overrun with calls. They say it was too late.[br /][br /][b]Hittson:[/b] "I think they kind of just wrote it off as just another person who doesn't know where their family member is. I knew she was in the house, I knew she would be stuck, and had no way of getting out.[br /][b]Freedman:[/b] "And you told the sheriff that."[br /][b]Hittson:[/b] "I told them that. And I was told, quite bluntly, that they were busy handling evacuees and they would get to her when they could."[br /][br /][facebook URL="https://www.facebook.com/WayneFreedmanABC7/posts/905332146189258" /][br /]This has been so hard on so many people there on so many different levels.[br /][br /]ABC7 News spoke with the Lake County Sheriff's Department on Monday afternoon. They expressed condolences for all the fire victims. They say that this one in particular, the victim was unable to self-evacuate and responders were not able to reach her home before fire enveloped the structure.[br /][Ads /][br /][twitter ID="643562361337548800" /][br /][twitter ID="643549949544689664" /][br /][twitter ID="643545508137426944" /][br /][twitter ID="643543774472314880" /][br /][twitter ID="643507809632559104" /][br /][twitter ID="643506599571664896" /][br /][twitter ID="643531564832432128" /][br /][twitter ID="643426554681253888" /][br /][twitter ID="643427601248182273" /][br /][twitter ID="643417839685099521" /][br /][twitter ID="643424983474028545" /][br /][twitter ID="643424430954164225" /][br /][twitter ID="643249942136406016" /][br /][twitter ID="643241696403193856" /][br /][twitter ID="643236536092356608" /][br /][twitter ID="643210976783925252" /][br /][twitter ID="643225592637210625" /][br /][twitter ID="643220769724469248" /][br /][twitter ID="643217593231237120" /][br /][twitter ID="643184645991874561" /][br /][twitter ID="643205041076072449" /][br /][twitter ID="643044675901763588" /][br /][twitter ID="642931283677437952" /][br /][twitter ID="642961682524827648" /][br /][twitter ID="643130974696443904" /][br /][twitter ID="642951360539856896" /][br /][twitter ID="643044265904336897" /][br /][twitter ID="642972420131807232" /][br /][twitter ID="642953522527408130" /][br /][twitter ID="642936729494667264" /][br /][twitter ID="642868554295963648" /][br /][twitter ID="642876172401905664" /][br /][twitter ID="642915625870856192" /][br /][twitter ID="643091579142430720" /][br /][twitter ID="643090423955623936" /][br /][twitter ID="643109421892022272" /][br /][twitter ID="643123183462158336" /][br /][twitter ID="642888700360269824" /][br /][twitter ID="642863145959096320" /][br /][twitter ID="642886346277720064" /]tagboard ID="abc7now/243287" /]