Fire Almost Ravages Dodger Furcal’s Home
The Dodger shortstop had the fire get within yards of his home. But his family and home are safe.
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It's hard for the Dodgers to not feel the impacts of a fire easily seen from Dodger Stadium.
Rafael Furcal is one of the lucky ones.
While he was on the road with the Dodgers in Denver last Thursday, the shortstop got a frantic call from his wife — their neighbhood was under manditory evacuation orders due to the growing Station Fire buring the areas north of Dodger Stadium.
"I tell my wife, 'You know what, get clothes for the kids and take the car and get out of there,'" Furcal said. "Life is more important than anything."
Furcal was one of the lucky ones, his home was not damaged and they were able to return on Sunday night after a few days in a hotel. Furcal was quick to credit fire fighters for the work they did in saving his home and his neighborhood.
"The fire was coming all the way down," he said. "It was as close to my house as home plate to first base. Very close. There's still a lot of security up there. You have to show your ID and demonstrate you live there. Many people don't want to come back to their house yet."
After all that Dodger manager Joe Toree gave Furcal Monday night off. He noted that the challenges of a baseball road trip were compounded for the shortstop.
Furcal’s is just one of more than 10,000 homes that have had to be evacuated due to the Station Fire, which has burned more than 127,000 acres. Two firefighters also lost their lives battling this blaze.
