Dozens of Camarillo Heights residents lose everything in Mountain Fire

CAMARILLO, Calif.— Residents evacuating their homes in Ventura County are trying to find silver linings in the wake of the devastating Mountain Fire.


“ Things are just things. Most of it can be replaced. May take a long time, but they can't be replaced,” said Patricia Luijt, who lives in Camarillo.



The Mountain Fire started Wednesday morning near Moorpark, scorching thousands of acres in a matter of hours.



“When we left, there was fire on both sides. Our neighbor's house was very black, smoke all over. We could see the road. So it's amazing. I'm so grateful,” said Donna Herleikson, who has lived in her Camarillo Heights home for 60 years.

All her memories are still in tact, though her neighbors’ homes are gone.

She says the fact her home is still standing is a miracle.


Though no humans have died, some animals suffered a horrible fate. 


“We went down there to help our friends get their horses because I have a couple of horses and chickens and like farm animals and stuff. And we were able to get the horses, wrangle them into the trailer. But it all happened really quick. And so she wasn't able to get her chickens or her birds or anything like that. And we went down there late last night, early this morning. And they were they were all gone,” said Suzie McMullen, who lives in Camarillo.

 


Evacuations have been extra stressful for the elderly and disabled. 


“She has a fungus in her lungs, so she could hardly breathe with it with the smoke. So she packed her cat, and she packed Rosie. It looks like a cockatiel. I don't know what it is, but it's huge. But she couldn't get to the two parrots and pack them because she didn't have space for them because of everything that she had already packed,” said Luijt.



Fire insurance companies will handle the losses for homeowners lucky enough to have coverage. 


“Fire insurance up here is extremely difficult to obtain. But for my thinking, this is the first fire I've ever encountered in our neighborhood in almost 40 years,” said Lujt.


Even though the dust has settled, people are anxious for what’s to come. 


“ What’s really ugly is how it bared the hills because that's going to present another problem to us when the rains come,” said Lujt.



Fire crews in Camarillo heights are putting out hotspots so that the fire doesn’t spread if winds pick up again.