Every year the Mammoth community has a 4th of July barbeque; a time for residents to catch up and celebrate the holiday. This year there's still a picnic, still food and catching up, but one thing has changed.

"The evacuees from Mammoth, they were looking for a place to have their 4th of July so they could all celebrate together and they're like family to us and we offered the park to them. They're in need so it's the only right thing to do," said Carole Carberry from the Pony Homecoming Board.

About forty people met in the park in Pony. They brought food, drink, and a positive attitude.

"It's great, it's the camaraderie that we have there. It's not as big as it would be on a normally 4th of July, but you can see this little tight-knit group which we have," said Mammoth resident Bernie Fisher.

Fire crews have been keeping residents informed, updating them nightly. But they don't know when they might return home.

"They have done an excellent job, but this is going to take a long time to extinguish this after they pull out. Because I know they're going to have smokes in the burned out areas until snowfall," said Dale Davis, who was forced to evacuate his home in Mammoth.

Residents said celebrating together gave them a chance to step away from fears of what might happen to their homes.

"It's fantastic that everybody showed up and can just forget about it for one day and I hope we can get back in the next five days," Davis said.

Those at the picnic were very grateful for the work the people working the front lines have done, at one point forming together and yelling out "thank you firefighters".

Wednesday's 4th of July celebration is proof that the Mammoth community may get knocked down, but that they will always get back up.