Fires threaten Pescadero, families flee the flames

pescadero farm animals — Farm animals belonging to a Pescadero area farmer are moved to safety Wednesday as a raging wildfire looms. AP photo.

This story was originally published Thursday, Aug. 20, in the Daily Post. Pick up the Post in the mornings at 1,000 Mid-Peninsula locations.

BY SARA TABIN
Daily Post staff writer

Ann and Bobby Johnson didn’t have time to grab their family photos or passports when they were forced to flee their home in Pescadero with their kids Tuesday night because of raging wildfires. The couple, who divide their time between Palo Alto and Pescadero, returned yesterday to pick up their things even though they weren’t supposed to go back.

“That hill you can see, that’s where we live,” Ann Johnson said pointing to a smoke-en-gulfed ridge above town. “It looks like an atom bomb just went off. When the wind shifts direction our house is gone I think.”

The Johnsons are two ofabout 1,000 Pescadero residents who evacuated from their homes because of what San Mateo County Manager Mike Callagy said was the largest fire the county has seen in 100 years.

Lightning strikes on Sunday morning ignited the fires …

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