Former news anchor watched Park Fire burn her home down in real-time through security camera

By Kayla Moeller

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    CHICO, California (KOVR) — As the Park Fire continues to rage near Chico, we spoke with a former news anchor who watched her house burn through security camera footage in real time.

Julia Yarbough looked onward to what was left of her Butte County home.

“There is no rhyme or reason. Our house is gone, their house is OK. The house next to it you can see it’s gone,” Yarbough said as she showed us the aftermath of the flames in her neighborhood.

Flames ripped through her neighborhood off Cohasset Road overnight and she watched her house burn down live through her home security camera.

“It really is almost a numbness. It’s surreal,” she said. “It probably won’t hit me till later, I’m pretty sure.”

Dave Zebley lives just a few houses down from Yarbough, but his home made it.

“I served in the military for 30 years overseas and I’ve seen some devastation,” he said. “And I thought this was a warzone.”

Cal Fire and other agencies are using every resource available to get the fire under control, but heavy wind has helped the fire spread.

The sky was filled with smoke. The atmosphere turns a purple hue as the red-orange smoke covered the blue sky. We’ve seen planes, engines and choppers fighting relentlessly to put out flames and continue to provide structure protection.

“Stuff doesn’t impact me. I’m thinking about people. I’m so happy our neighbor’s house survived and that everyone is OK,” said Yarbough said.

Yarbough is a former news anchor for Action News Now, a CBS affiliate in Chico. She was also an anchor and reporter for KCBS in Los Angeles.

In just over 24 hours since starting Wednesday afternoon, the Park Fire had burned more than 120,000 acres in Butte and Tehama counties. A Chico man has since been arrested and accused of arson.

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