JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. — As evacuations for homes near the Quarry Fire lifted Tuesday, cars lined up to return home. Tom Stonebraker was more than eager to get back to the home he left Wednesday.
"We literally got the word at nine, grabbed our stuff and headed up the hill," Stonebraker said.
He looked forward to returning home for more than just sleeping in his own bed.
Stonebraker said firefighters set up on his land while fighting the Quarry Fire. He was able to watch their efforts from behind the fire line with the use of his Ring doorbell camera.
"I would pull up the Ring camera and tell my friends, 'Well I don’t see flames,'" Stonebraker said with a laugh. "That’s a good thing. But it really evolved from that joking to, 'My gosh, there are firefighters and Jeffco sheriffs, 24/7 working that fire.'"
At one point, he made contact with a first responder in the field: Mike Scott, Grand Fire Protection District's assistant chief.
"I was like, ''scuse me, ‘scuse me, Can you hear me?,'" Stonebraker recalled.
Once he got Scott's attention, Stonebraker expressed his thanks.
"I really appreciate [that] you’re saving my house right now and a whole lot of others," Stonebraker said in a recording of the interaction. "If there’s anything you need, come ring on that doorbell. I’m watching this and I’ll get you whatever I can from out here, okay?"
Scott responded, equally grateful for Stonebraker and other homeowners like him.
"We greatly appreciate that and everyone in the community who has already donated," Scott replied to Stonebraker. "We are really blessed to have folks like yourself help us so thank you so much."
"The fact that he was thanking us for the support is crazy," Stonebraker told 9NEWS. "Really you’re going to thank me? For what?"
Stonebraker shared the conversation on X which was reposted by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office.
"These are people stepping up to help complete strangers and they’re literally putting their lives on the line for us," Stonebraker said. "I just felt like it was really important with my Twitter channel to just say thank you. You really matter to me personally. You matter to me that you’re doing this to save stuff. That’s the why."
Stonebraker said he knows he and his neighbors are privileged to go home thanks to the work of those putting in long hours in tough conditions.
"All these people put their lives on hold," Stonebraker said. "We had a lot of volunteers that fought this fire and they saved my house which I was extremely grateful for."
Stonebraker followed back up with the team stationed at his home and continued to check in on Scott.
"I go, 'Mike, how you doing? I hear they’re calling you Hollywood now,' and they all started laughing," Stonebraker shared.
Now that he's been able to come back home, he wants to find Scott and continue to give his praise.
"If I got to drive to Grand County and shake his hand, I’m gonna shake his hand and thank him," Stonebraker said. "It’s important to me to personally say 'thank you.'"