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Our family lost everything in the Camp Fire in paradise California. We lost our home and our car in the horrible mess. I was self employed so I also lost my job and all my tools, were slowly trying to rebuild our life one day at a time. Anything helps
Here is our story of what we went through that day:
November 8th, 2018
8:00 woke up to get ready for work and my first client said she was getting evacuated
8:20 my neighbor (god bless her) came pounding on my door saying we were being evacuated and we needed to leave right then
8:30 we head to my moms to get her because we have her car and she's stuck at home! So we're racing down wagstaff to Pentz to get her and there's a tree on fire so I drive faster because I start freaking out realizing that it's really happening. We get to the stop sign on Pentz and start to go up, the "future park" was all in flames we got stuck next to it for about five minutes while they were directing traffic off Merrill. Freddie jumped out of the car to run and grab his dogs from his moms, and I'm screaming because I think that I'm gunna die with kam in the back seat all the way to my moms.
8:45 we get my mom my dogs and Freddie into the car and proceed to go up Pentz because obviously we can't go down
9ish we make it to the top and I try to go right up skyway because I thought there'd be less traffic We ran into flames and we had to turn around
9:45 we've been stuck at the top of Pentz and skyway for what feels like forever and we weren't moving... people started getting out of there cars
11:00 we still haven't moved so we're all freaking out and i go out and ask whats going on
They then tell us "we're trapped and surrounded by fire, we need you to get in your vehicles and turn them off and let the flames just pass over" I lost it. I got in my car and cried to my family because of what they said and we prepared to say goodbye. We sat for 10 minutes and then water came dropping from the sky. That made me even more scared because that meant it was getting closer. All of a sudden the cars started moving up! Yay I thought we were going to get out! Wrong, we moved right next to the propane place. I lost it again, I started thinking of all the worst things.
We sat there next to it for about another five minutes before we hear " please pull your vehicles up as far as you can and get out and walk to the parking lot of the optimo"
We sat there in the parking lot with at least 100 people for an hour at this point listening and watching the destruction around us. We had to stay low and and cover our mouths
12:55 we all get a random burst of service after nothing for two hours, I posted and asked for prayers because I didn't know what else to do.
1:30 the fires getting really close and the propane place starts to blow up. The noises were so loud and terrifying we thought for sure we were going to die. So we said our good byes again. And started making what we thought were gunna be our last messages
After this we didn't have any phones because they all went dead. but a lady's jacket caught on fire and so did a corner of the parking lot, so then they had to bust down the glass doors of the buildings next to us because hot ashes were going everywhere. A police officer found food for Kam because he hadn't eaten all day in this crazy mess We sat in that building for what seemed like forever watching it come closer and closer prepared to move to the next building if it caught fire..I'm sure everyone was thinking the same thing at that point.. it was so smokey and firey there was no way.
4-30ish And then all of a sudden cal fire calls everyone to be quiet and he says "if you have a vehicle get in and go down Clark" everyone scrambled to get in their cars and we had to be escorted through Armageddon just to get to safety. Somehow we made it.
I was told that the optimo eventually burned, I'm not sure about the buildings we were in I've never been more scared in my life than I was that day, I thought my son was going to die. I hope no one ever has to go through what everyone in that parking lot did that day, and i hope everyone recovers. So even though we've lost everything, we still have each other and that's enough for me.
Here is our story of what we went through that day:
November 8th, 2018
8:00 woke up to get ready for work and my first client said she was getting evacuated
8:20 my neighbor (god bless her) came pounding on my door saying we were being evacuated and we needed to leave right then
8:30 we head to my moms to get her because we have her car and she's stuck at home! So we're racing down wagstaff to Pentz to get her and there's a tree on fire so I drive faster because I start freaking out realizing that it's really happening. We get to the stop sign on Pentz and start to go up, the "future park" was all in flames we got stuck next to it for about five minutes while they were directing traffic off Merrill. Freddie jumped out of the car to run and grab his dogs from his moms, and I'm screaming because I think that I'm gunna die with kam in the back seat all the way to my moms.
8:45 we get my mom my dogs and Freddie into the car and proceed to go up Pentz because obviously we can't go down
9ish we make it to the top and I try to go right up skyway because I thought there'd be less traffic We ran into flames and we had to turn around
9:45 we've been stuck at the top of Pentz and skyway for what feels like forever and we weren't moving... people started getting out of there cars
11:00 we still haven't moved so we're all freaking out and i go out and ask whats going on
They then tell us "we're trapped and surrounded by fire, we need you to get in your vehicles and turn them off and let the flames just pass over" I lost it. I got in my car and cried to my family because of what they said and we prepared to say goodbye. We sat for 10 minutes and then water came dropping from the sky. That made me even more scared because that meant it was getting closer. All of a sudden the cars started moving up! Yay I thought we were going to get out! Wrong, we moved right next to the propane place. I lost it again, I started thinking of all the worst things.
We sat there next to it for about another five minutes before we hear " please pull your vehicles up as far as you can and get out and walk to the parking lot of the optimo"
We sat there in the parking lot with at least 100 people for an hour at this point listening and watching the destruction around us. We had to stay low and and cover our mouths
12:55 we all get a random burst of service after nothing for two hours, I posted and asked for prayers because I didn't know what else to do.
1:30 the fires getting really close and the propane place starts to blow up. The noises were so loud and terrifying we thought for sure we were going to die. So we said our good byes again. And started making what we thought were gunna be our last messages
After this we didn't have any phones because they all went dead. but a lady's jacket caught on fire and so did a corner of the parking lot, so then they had to bust down the glass doors of the buildings next to us because hot ashes were going everywhere. A police officer found food for Kam because he hadn't eaten all day in this crazy mess We sat in that building for what seemed like forever watching it come closer and closer prepared to move to the next building if it caught fire..I'm sure everyone was thinking the same thing at that point.. it was so smokey and firey there was no way.
4-30ish And then all of a sudden cal fire calls everyone to be quiet and he says "if you have a vehicle get in and go down Clark" everyone scrambled to get in their cars and we had to be escorted through Armageddon just to get to safety. Somehow we made it.
I was told that the optimo eventually burned, I'm not sure about the buildings we were in I've never been more scared in my life than I was that day, I thought my son was going to die. I hope no one ever has to go through what everyone in that parking lot did that day, and i hope everyone recovers. So even though we've lost everything, we still have each other and that's enough for me.
Organizer
Liz Sherer
Organizer
Paradise, CA