Hours after Dane Cameron, who’s slated to join Acura Team Penske in 2018, finished second in the Petit Le Mans, the home in which he grew up was burned to the ground.
The 28-year-old racer’s childhood home in Glen Ellen, Calif., like roughly 1,500 other buildings, was destroyed Sunday by the wildfires that have ravaged more than 100,000 acres in northern California, according to RACER.
Cameron’s father, Ricky, an engineer for Visit Florida Racing, and his mother were visiting him in Georgia when the blaze claimed their house. One of Dane’s brothers was still in Glen Ellen as the fires progressed, but left before it was too late.
“I called my middle son after getting alerts from my brother Stephen around 4 a.m.; we’re still out here and were going to spend time with Dane and his family,” Ricky told RACER. “I told him to grab the case with the social security papers and the passport and the business documents, and get the animals, get in my truck, and get out. He and his girlfriend went and got her family and they drove to a safe place.”
The Camerons’ insurance reportedly is expected to cover most of the damages, which include everything they owned — apart from what they packed for Road Atlanta.
“It’s more the memories that are lost than anything — all the childhood pictures of the boys on the wall and the other stuff we’ll never get back,” Ricky said. “We’ve been flooded before, lifted the house after, I never thought the house would burn. I thought it might flood, but never burn. All our neighbors lost their houses. It’s not pretty.”
Firefighters were battling the flames in California for two days across multiple counties, including Sonoma County, where Sonoma Raceway is located. Although the track itself escaped damage, the surrounding land was completely scorched.
Thumbnail photo via Cadillac
