Before they knew it, there was a public call made for all of the locals of the Berryessa Highlands to evacuate and move to shelters somewhat nearby. The residents didn’t have too much time and needed to grab their belongings and move quickly. The only person staying behind was Evan because he had a plan put in place.
Evan’s father grabbed what he could before leaving. Once he left, Evan arrived at his dad’s place with an important idea in mind. He knew that this idea could possibly help his community, even if he wasn’t a firefighter. Instead of using his drone, he decided to use his phone this time.
Napa Is In Danger
The fires were so bad that the local residents surrounding Lake Berryessa were encouraged to pack their belongings and move to a safe area. Napa County’s wildfires were about to make history, if they hadn’t already. Evan Kilkus’ father thought that the fires were dangerous enough to reach his home as well, so he also joined the other local residents who decided to flee their homes over the first couple days of the wildfires.
Although everyone was leaving the area for safety at a shelter nearby, Evan was staying. But why? What could he possibly think he was going to do?
Safety First
People all around the area had fled and left most of their cherished belongings and homes behind. However, Evan Kilkus understood and felt that he needed to stick around for the sake of his community. He knew that he had a responsibility that not many other people had. In addition to working at the rental shop at Lake Berryessa, he was also a member of the local fire safety council for that area. As with most things in his life, he took this role very seriously.
In an effort to warn everyone in the area of the terrible conditions, he sent out mass text messages and posted on the internet that an evacuation was a must. The wind patterns at the time were showing that they were about to head directly in the direction of the residents and their homes. Then, Evan did the unimaginable.
Important Broadcasts
As you’ve probably gathered by now, Evan Kilkus had quite a few years under his belt using his drone to capture photos. In fact, he had become a YouTube sensation for it. Usually he would use it while he was on adventures and exploring the unknown.
The information that he was about to uncover and would provide to the local residents would be very important. Firefighters, even ones that had flown in from other countries, came in to battle the flames. Evan stayed behind to monitor the fires and see in which direction they would be going in.
In Need Of Some Help
You wouldn’t expect Evan to sit back and just observe the fires, and he didn’t. He took photos of the fire surrounding Lake Berryessa. He worked in shifts, sleeping a minimum amount of time so that he could monitor the progress of the fires. He wanted to be sure that they didn’t make it over the ridge of the hills, which were only about a mile away. He captured and recorded everything when he was awake and posted it on social media to share with the locals, especially.
He utilized Facebook Live mostly for the residents who lived in the area and were worried about their homes. He knew that this would relieve some stress for those who were concerned that they were going to lose everything they worked so hard for. But nothing comes easy, and everything was working against him.