EAGLE -- Families in Eagle surveyed the damage today from Wednesday's devastating wildfire and reacted to what was left behind.
The so called Highway 16 wildfire charred nearly 5,000 acres north of Eagle and left three families homeless.
The flames came very close to many of the homes, in some case stopping just a matter of feet from them.
Unfortunately, three homes were destroyed by the fire.
Seventeen-year-old Makenzie Baker and 11-year-old Jennifer Kitzberger surveyed the damage of where their home once stood.
"Right here would be like our deck, where the barbecue, chairs , table and the front door would be where the cemented part. I never thought it could happen," said Baker.
Both girls were not at home at the time of the fire, but saw the smoke and were worried.
"I got a call from her and said that houses were starting to catch on fire and I was like, 'holy cow that could be my house,' and once I found it was, I like broke down," said Baker.
The family says the lost most of their belongings in the fire, including memorabilia, pictures, documents, clothes and toys.
"This morning when I woke up, it just look like an atomic bomb went off, it's just incredible," said Glida Bothwell.
Bothwell lives one street over from this family and says by the time they arrived home after being evacuated Wednesday it was dark. It was until this morning that she realized how lucky her family was.
"I thought our house was gone," she said.
"You know you never are prepared for it. And we're not the homeowner, we're just the firefighter, but you're not prepared to see it and not be able to do anything about it at the time because the conditions are beyond your capability," said Eagle Fire Division Chief Mark Rabdau.
Rabdau says it was a difficult fire to fight, but even more difficult is watching families try to pick up what's left.
"I keep telling myself it goes on, I mean it's here one day probably will be gone the next. We have other things that we need to worry about, other than this. It's just life," said Baker.
The family that we interviewed that lost their home say they were just renting and did not have renters insurance.
Two other homes in the foothills were completely leveled by the fire.
Those homes were located right next door to each other on Skyline Drive, which is the street adjacent to where the other home burned down.
