Murray Family" Camp Fire" Destruction Fund

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16 donors
0% complete

$1,650 raised of $10K

Murray Family" Camp Fire" Destruction Fund

Donation protected
November 8th 2018 was our 10 year wedding anniversary.  My husband just finished confirming our getaway for the weekend to celebrate this milestone in our lives especially after having a rough couple of years that had really tested our faith.  After saying our " Goodbye`s" I left for work.  Just like anyone else in Paradise/Magalia that morning nobody knew how our lives were going to change drastically, forever in a blink of an eye.  As I was driving to work, I could see in the distance what looked like a big bomb had just gone off.  The sky was a dark gray, almost black!  It looked surreal and close to us.  All the news at this point showed there was a fire heading towards Concow from highway 70 with  evacuations only in that area.  Not realizing it was something that was going to effect us I finally got to work after almost an hour of driving thats normally about 20 minutes.  As I'm walking into work at the Pharmacy in Feather River Health Center in lower Paradise I was told by a coworker that one of the other Tech's who also lives in Magalia not far from me just left to go home because they had to evacuate.  Shortly after we were being told in the pharmacy we needed to finish what we are doing and get out because the hospital was evacuating as we speak and now we needed to do the same asap!  At that moment I started to worry because I was driving on empty (something I always do, but after this will never do again).  After how long it took me to get to work I knew it would now take me even longer to get home which is in Magalia with a one lane road to get in/out of.   At this point my husband had called me at work and told me "Get home Now!"  They were now having Magalia evacuate and we needed to grab what things we could and leave asap! He said there is already fire on Pentz road which ties in to the one way home and part of the hospital was on fire.  I quickly told my manager I had to leave and get home.  I ran to my truck through all the ash falling which looked almost like snow covering the ground and all the vehicles.  I really started to panic but just took a deep breath and started driving .  While im driving up skyway all I can think about was the movie "Dantes  Peek" People were everywhere, the gas stations were filled with lines of cars waiting to fill up their tanks and the smoke was getting thicker making it look like night.  My sister called me worried saying she was picking up her oldest daughter from school and that she was scared, I was trying to reassure her everything is going to be okay and just relax because so many people are driving around frantically it wasn't going to do any good to do the same.  At the very moment I'm telling her everything will be okay, I saw in the corner of my eye what looked like an explosion of fire which pushed my truck and the vehicle in front of me off the road!  I quickly turned the wheel to get back on the road and drove my truck right through the fire.  Still on the phone with my sister and after telling her to relax it's ok, I freaked out and yelled out to her I just drove through fire and I had to go.  I was in such shock and realized at that moment how serious this was.  There was now fire on both sides of my truck and I could feel the heat from it. I called my mother in law who was heading down from Cedarwood School, upper Magalia, with my 8 year old daughter and told her it was getting bad and to be very careful.  I told my daughter I loved her very much and to just pray and not to worry because baba (what the kids would of called my mom as grandma before she passed away) was keeping us safe.  My son was already on his way with my husband's grandparents to Chico so I knew they were going to be safe.   When I finally got to Magalia , I just broke down. Everything was dark, I saw a truck push a car out of his way at the gas station and everyone was running red lights running into each other.  It was as if the world was coming to an end that day.  At that same time my daughter and mother in law were now driving down through what i just drove through and now right in the middle of the fire to where they were trapped.   My mother in law had told me she was so scared she thought this was it!  This was how they were going to die!  She just prayed and told Khlo to pray, and the way my daughter explained it to me, she said it felt like someone put the heater on full blast from all the fire that surrounded them!   Someone had then come up to their car and yelled to park the car and to just run with them to a near by building because they will not be able to get anywhere with their car.  Khloe and her grandma parked the car off the road and took off running still in the midst of the fire to a nearby antique shop where someone had broken a window to let everyone in.  After a few moments someone had noticed embers from the fire falling over the gas station across the street,  and without hesitation everyone got out of there and started running down the road until someone picked them up in a bus and headed to Chico where they were safe.  At that same time my husband and I were packing our small car that had gas in it with boxes of pictures I ripped off the wall, any albums, and some of Khloe and Kalebs things without grabbing clothes for myself or my husband.  We left with the clothes on our back but we were more fortunate then others and were able to grab some of our important paperwork and pictures.  My husband and I looked around again, locked up and got in the car and as we were pulling out we both looked at our home we bought together 9 years ago for the last time.  A flood of emotions came over me.  This was the home we brought both of our children to home from the hospital, and this was the home my mom proudly  got to see us purchase and start making memories in.  This was the home we now will never to get to return to and continue making memories in.  I thank God everyday that my family is safe and i get to hug and kiss my kids everyday.  Some people didn't get as lucky as we did and it breaks my heart everytime I hear about our little town no longer standing.  Right now we are staying in Sacramento, about 100 miles South of home until we figure out what's next for us.  Our family and friends have been so generous with donations of clothes, items for our baby, and even a birthday party for our daughter who turned 8 on the 17th and we obviously couldn't have the mermaid party we spent lots of time planning for.  We have been through a lot the past couple years from my husband breaking his foot, to getting robbed and my husband losing all his tools he uses for work to losing it all over again and more.  Any help to get us back on our feet is greatly appreciated! The funds raised will go to new tools for my husband so he can go back to work asap and also clothing, food and hopefully sooner rather than later things for our new home when we find a place to settle down and get to call home.  Thank you so much for everybody's support, prayers and donations!

Organizer

Lisa Murray
Organizer
Magalia, CA

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