Ground zero victim survived in creek

Elisa Williams had been a lifelong resident of her Rice Canyon Road home before the Rice Fire started on her property and destroyed her house. The first resident to be impacted by the Rice Fire had to spend time in a creek as the fire surrounded her.

“I walked away from the fire that morning with my personal possessions being some of the clothes I had on,” Williams said.

The Rice Fire began when a power line on her property fell to the ground and caused a spark which ignited nearby vegetation.

“Other neighbors saw it before I did at an earlier stage,” Williams said. “What I heard was a very st...