One of the first to be evacuated

Charlene MacLeod came home to find the hill near her mobile home had burst into flames.

She had gone to get something to eat and when she returned to the Fremont Heights Mobile Home Park in Yucaipa that houses 114 units, "the hill was burning up," the 81-year-old resident said.

MacLeod lives in the highest part of the complex. Her home sits in a prime area, with one of the best views of the valley below, but she was one of the first to be evacuated after the Pendleton Fire flared up.

San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies came about 5 p.m. Monday and told residents in the small cul-de-sac to leave the immediate area.

"I grabbed my clothes and my medicine and some water and the bills I owed for next month, that's about all I brought," said MacLeod, who has lived in the park since 1987.

She grabbed a few things and headed down the street, where evacuations were not mandatory. MacLeod waited there with some other residents and family members, who were packed and ready to leave at any moment.

"An officer came down the hill and said 'lady, you've got to go' and I said, 'sir, I've already grabbed my box of things,' " MacLeod said.

- lori.consalvo@inlandnewspapers.com