My Fire Evacuation Drama

Last Thursday my family was evacuated due to a fire (the Rancho Palos Verdes Fire). The fire began at 8pm about 2 miles from our house and by 9pm it was raging up the canyon directly next to us. We actually had no idea. We were in bed getting our girls ready for bed, reading and cuddling and doing all those bedtime things. Then someone started banging on our front door, it was like they were trying to break down the door so I was freaked out and had my husband go see what the crazy banging was all about while I closed the door in the bedroom to keep my babies safe. Then, I heard some screaming and I opened to door and my husband said, “There is a fire!”. It was one of our neighbors who came to notify us.

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I ran to the back of the house and opened the blinds in the living room only to see a wall of red. Nothing but red flames and red smoke. How did we miss this? The fire was extremely close and in the darkness, I saw nothing but flames. My mother bear instincts kicked in and all I wanted to do was get my babies out of there. I looked at my husband, trying not to panic in front of the kids and said, “We have to leave, right now”. At that moment, nothing else mattered, I did not care about any material possessions, I was just so scared that something horrible could happen to my babies. I grabbed a few things the kids might need, diapers, clothes and covered shoes. As we were running around, my 4 year old was incredibly concerned, she was saying that she was scared and asking what was going on. There was no time to sit her down and explain so I tried my best to convince her that everything was ok. My husband found the carrier for the cat, we put her in there and we were out, within 5 minutes.

It wasn’t until we got in the car that we thought about where we were going. Luckily, one of my best friends lives close by, but far enough away from the fire. In the car, my 4 year old voiced her stress, she said that she wanted to sit on my lap “right now” because she was scared and didn’t know what was happening. I assured her that we are ok now, we are safe and that we will cuddle very soon. But my voice was shaking and I had developed a sharp pain in my ribs and had a hard time breathing. When we got to my friend’s house, she got milk and cookies and put on a video for the kids. But all they wanted to do was cuddle with me as I watched the news, which was our only source of information. It was kind of surreal having to rely on local news to find out if our lives were going to dramatically change in the next few moments.

All news reports assured us that the hundreds of firefighters who came from nearby cities were doing an amazing job keeping the fire at bay and away from homes. The moon and city lights (and the fire, too, I guess) were bright enough to allow helicopters to work through the night, strategically dropping water on “hot spots”. We decided that it was safe for my husband to go back and get some important things (some paintings, passports, computer and we were advised by my friends to take a quick video to inventory major things in the house for insurance purposes). My stress was already at maximum capacity so seeing him drive off, back into the fire, was numbing.

He did return safely but shortly after, the official evacuation orders came for our area. We left long before the order, but hearing that bit of news only strengthened my concern and the strange pain in my ribs. The kids did eventually fall asleep in my arms, but of course we stayed up all night watching the news. And we pondered and contemplated over what he could have also taken out of the house. I started a list of things – he got the hard drive that had our babies’ pictures on them, but I completely forgot about my baby album (my mother-in-law still has my husband’s), there was also the file of documents with the kids’ immunization records, birth certificates, newborn hospital bracelets, etc. – but nothing was really important. We can easily continue our lives happily without any of that, including all my clothes, shoes, jewelry and bags. We got out what was truly important, our kids. I had everything I needed.

After a while, I was desensitized by the images of fire and I was able to relax and fall asleep. The next morning I woke up at 7am and immediately turned on the news. It was good. The fire was 70% contained. We waited for evacuation orders to be lifted, anxious but anxiety ridden to go home. The kids played with my friend’s son, who my daughter loves. They had such a good time and I was really happy that our evacuation turned into a fun adventure for them! My older daughter drew the picture that I posted here. I asked if the house is on fire and she said no. I asked her what all that green stuff was around the house and she said, “I don’t know”.

At 1pm evacuation orders were lifted and we went home to find our sweet home perfectly intact, untouched, with only some ash and heavy smell of smoke as signs that anything had happened. We immediately looked out the window to see where the burned areas are. It was close, way too close for comfort. Some of our neighbors’ backyards were charred and the fire literally licked the sides of their houses, turning the walls black but they did not burn. No homes were destroyed, only 6 homes had minor damages and a gazebo and a shed were the only structures burned down.

My 2 year old had no idea anything had happened. My 4 year old however knew everything, she always knows everything. Since the fire, she talks a lot about fires, sings songs about fires and houses burning down and asks questions about what happened. She is processing and working it out and I am not concerned that she has suffered any trauma over this. As soon as we got home that day, she found her new doll whom she had not yet named. She picked her up and told her dad, “My new doll’s name is Ashie”.

I will always be thankful to the firefighters who worked so hard to keep us safe and protected our home.