CHINESE CAMP, Calif. - A Tuolumne County homeowner was able to save his home surrounded by wildfire thanks to some help from his friends – and a chainsaw.

Layne Smith's family has lived in the small Gold Rush town of Chinese Camp for four generations, like most people in the city that has a population of just 61.

The TCU September Lightning Complex wildfire , which encompasses 22 smaller fires, started Tuesday evening and has burned over 13,000 acres in Tuolumne and Calaveras counties.

As the fire got closer to his home, Smith and his six friends started chopping down trees around the perimeter of the home.

"I just started running a chainsaw, cutting every limb, every tree down," he said.

They cut down trees and sprayed nearby sheds with water, in hopes of saving the home he bough

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