High Park Fire Victim Loses Everything But Porch Table And Umbrella

LARIMER COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4)- All the remaining evacuation orders for the High Park Fire were lifted Saturday. Some residents will return home others will find only the remains where their homes once stood.

Gyorgy Vidacs fled his home country of Hungary some 50 years ago. Now he's dealing with the loss of his home in Rist Canyon.

Vidacs, 85, returned to look at what's left of his home this week.

"I lived her 50 years plus 10 days exactly," said Vidacs.

The umbrella and table are the only things left standing after the High Park Fire turned his home to ash.

"Now it's deja vu. I have to rebuild this whole damn place not really because I want- but because I have no choice," said Vidacs.

Rebuilding will be a long process, he says, but it will be worth it.

"It's very simple, like or don't like, this is what you have to do," said Vidacs.

Many Rist Canyon residents wearily returned to survey the damage for themselves on Thursday.

"That's the most difficult thing to look at, is the view," said resident Ryan Houdek.

He was relieved to see his house still standing and credits his defensible space and the engineering of his home for withstanding the intense heat.

"All of this is concrete siding so all of this is fire-one rated concrete. This is not burning," said Houdek.

While many are contemplating how to put their lives back together after so much devastation, Gyorgy said the most important thing is to remain positive, "You cannot afford permanently to be in a sad mood."

Many residents returning home in Rist Canyon still don't have power restored to their homes.