Homeowners in Camarillo have begun returning to their scorched neighborhoods after the devastating Mountain Fire swept through the area earlier this week.
While some houses remain standing, many others have been reduced to rubble, with random furniture and appliances left behind.
The fire, which has so far burned more than 20,000 hectares and destroyed more than 100 homes, broke out on Wednesday and grew quickly thanks to strong winds blowing through the area.
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It started in Moorpark before they jumped SR-118 and entered neighborhoods in the Camarillo foothills, where Jamie Randall and her husband Tyler Farnworth returned earlier this week to find their home gone.
“I feel like the shock is wearing off a little bit,” Randall said. “It’s hard to watch this. It’s even harder for me today than it was a few days ago to wrap my head around the seriousness of what happened to our house.”
The couple lived in the house with their children and were among more than 10,000 residents who were forced to gather what they could and flee at a moment’s notice as the fire swept through the neighborhood.
Randall said she packed two suitcases and grabbed some important documents, expecting to be able to return home after the fire was handled by the fire department.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I think this would be the last time I would stand at my house,” she said.
They say the fire gutted their home, reducing everything inside to ash.
“There are a few things we would have liked to have addressed. Some things from my parents that are no longer with us,” Farnworth said. “Stupid little things, you know.”
They say it was more than just their home, but a community for the family, who owns a dance studio called Bobbie’s School of Performing Arts.
After word spread about their home, they say they were contacted by an overwhelming amount of friends and families showing them love and support.
“It spread so widely, the amount of love they showed us and continue to show us,” the family said.
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While they’re still unsure what their next steps will be, they take one sign from the rubble as a bit of positivity: a laughing Buddha statue that survived the flames.
“This is our house. This is our house, this is our street, these are our neighbors,” Farnworth said. “I feel like everyone feels the same way.”
