Listen to Christina describing her evacuation/ escape Thursday morning started like any other day.  Christina and Jason Smith woke up in their Paradise, CA  home with their two   daughters Rebecca (7) and Samantha (10).   Around 7:30am Christina took the girls down the hill to school in Chico.. they smelled a faint scent of smoke but saw nothing.. thirty minutes later Christina learned that her entire town of Paradise was under a mandatory evacuation order.    With her daughters safely at school she raced back up the hill to get home to try and save her dog and some valuables..  she met her husband Jason there and they quickly grabbed anything they could shoving them into two vehicles.   By this time the sky was turning black and thick smoke filled the air.  Jason and Christina started driving the evacuation route..   Christina was driving their suburban and Jason driving an RV bus.   They sat in traffic for hours while they watched the sky turn day into night while debris and ashes littered their windshields...  the fire was close..  They could now see the flames coming towards them.   There was nowhere to go.  Christina and Jason ran from their vehicles, abanoning them and sheltering with firefighters and police officers  down the hill.   When flmaes passed they saw a stranger with a pick-up truck.  They jumped into the bed of the truck with their dog an he drove them to safety.    Their daughters were safe at school and had no idea what a harrowing ordeal their parents were going through.   A friend picked them up from school and Christina and Jason picked them up there.  They've lost everything they own but they are lucky because they are all safe, alive, and have already found a rental home thanks to the family of one of thier daughters best friends.  Any money that you are able to give will go to rebuilding their lives, buying clothes for their family and whatever other unforseen expenses they'll be facing in the days and weeks ahead.   Their entire city is gone... there is nothing left of Paradise.   Their paradise.   

** My name is Jen Watts and Chirstina was my sorority big sister 20 years ago at Chico State.  I now live in Los Angeles  and work in the news business.. I called Christina when I learned of the fires.. and did a phone interview for our broadcast while she was evacuating... in the middle of our interview we lost the connection.. thats when the flames started approacing her car..  I now just want to help their family rebuild..  they're not ones to ask for help but realize in times like this its ok to say I need help right now**