KTLA

Firefighter battling Caldor Fire in El Dorado County has full-circle moment

The more than 200,000-acre Caldor Fire threatened communities around Lake Tahoe as fire crews continue working to extinguish the flames.

One of the firefighters battling the massive wildfire experienced a profound full-circle moment. 


Firefighter Stephen Castañon with the Waterloo Morada Fire District, along with his crew, was sent to protect a group of threatened cabins off the Highway 50 corridor. 

The flames were close to homes as Castañon worked to extinguish them when childhood memories began coming back to him. 

That was when he realized he had successfully saved the cabin that he went to with his family when he was a child. 

“I felt in my heart after we had put out the fire and I stood on the porch. Call it fate, call it destiny, call it miracle, I don’t know,” Castañon said. “They sent us to that area, it was meant for me to be there that day.”

Meanwhile President Biden is expected to be in the Sacramento area Monday, touring the damage done by the Caldor Fire.