After losing her home and almost her life to the Mountain Fire, firefighters helped give a Camarillo woman and her husband a glimmer of hope.
Alia Phillips recently returned to the ash and rubble left of the Camarillo home she shared with her husband Sal for two years.
On Tuesday, she was building a life inside – but by Wednesday she was fighting for her life to get out.
Moments after the fire jumped Highway 118, Alia was scrambling to evacuate as the flames narrowed in on her home – but was stopped.
“When the firefighter comes in and says it’s safer for you to be in your home than trying to escape because there is fire all over the road that was really scary,” Alia told KTLA’s Angeli Kakade.
A few moments later, she was told the time to escape was now.
“I drive a Prius Prime – that car saved my life. I drove through fire,” said Alia. “There were logs of fire on the road.”
Video taken by a neighbor minutes before Alia managed to get down the narrow road shows just how close the flames were.
“So I was just praying that God would just get me through.”
Alia’s prayers were answered, and she got to safety and reunited with her husband.
“‘Baby,’ I said, ‘I think our house just burnt down,’” Alia recounted from when she got to Sal. “He just said ‘The house doesn’t matter, what matters is that you’re here.’”
Then, amid the piles of ash that used to be their home, came a glimmer of hope. Firefighters went above and beyond to find and bring back her wedding ring.
“The odds of finding it were probably less than finding a needle in a haystack and the fact that we were able to go over and help them, and it was probably the worst day of their lives – bring a little joy to them is something that will take us forever,” said Kevin May, a Nevada fire captain.
As the Phillips try to find meaning in the ruins “And rebuild a beautiful home here where we can make more memories as a family again,” said Alia, they’re thankful they have a future together.
Friends of the newlyweds set up a GoFundMe to help them rebuild.
The California Fire Foundation is going to be handing out cash cards to the estimated 130 residents who have lost their homes.
For more information on how to help, visit Cafirefoundation.Org.
