Rebuilding Paradise

The profile pic is all that remains of our home after the Camp Fire destroyed it. I was stuck in traffic for 3 hours in Paradise trying to get home only to have to abandon my car on the side of the road. The fire moved so fast. In some places, I was less than 10 feet away from the flames and pieces of homes and tress blew over me as I walked out with only my purse and work laptop. The smoke was as thick as San Francisco fog and I could only see a couple of feet in front of me. I had not talked to my husband in hours as cell calls wouldn't go through so my only thought was I had to get home to because he was waiting for me. He wasn't there but that meant he had gotten out with our three large dogs and three cats. I hoped. The fire was coming in from the woods behind our house and from across the street so I left my house for the last time and started walking. I eventually found an evacuation area and was taken down to Chico in a Cal-Fire truck. After 6 hours of being in the fire, I reunited with my husband, dogs and cats. I am truly thankful that we made it out alive but all we have left is each other. This picture is Sadie, our Great Dane, and our other dogs are Max and Ragnar. Our three cats are Pip, Solomon, and Oscar. We are sharing a room that our friend is generously letting us use at his house but it's a hard transition to go from a 1600 SQ foot home to one bedroom. We want to rebuild as our house was our sanctuary. But that will take time so we are hoping to find a rental house but will need help as we have nothing to put in it. I'm usually the person who helps others in need so it is difficult to ask for help, but we need to. Any donations you give will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.