Emergency Evacuation at Dawn

As I drove down my street, four fire engines were heading to fight the blaze. I saw firefighters in their full gear. They were running from house to house pounding on doors. To the left of them, houses were on fire; to the right, the hillside was on fire. They stood their ground.

As I drove away I saw all these houses ablaze. I was just shocked. All this happened within 15 minutes of me waking up. Half the cul-de-sac was now on fire. That's how quick it happened. When I went to bed the night before, at 12:30 a.m., the fire was 35 miles away. Nobody could have predicted that the winds would change. If I hadn't gotten that 911 call, I might have perished. I'd never have gotten out of the neighborhood.

When I woke up the next day [in a hotel in Mission Valley] I was overwhelmed by what had happened. When I pulled out of my driveway [the day before], I had said goodbye to all my memories, thinking the whole neighborhood would be leveled. I had prepared myself emotionally, knowing that I would lose every piece of my broadcasting history, every memento of my family. I didn't have time to fully pack the car.

At 4:30 the next morning, I drove up the hill toward my house, and I was shocked by the devastation. The whole neighborhood was charred. It looked like a wind tunnel of fire had gone through. By daylight I saw that only five houses on my side of the street were O.K. I called three of my neighbors at 6 a.m. and told them their houses were OK. They choked up. The house directly across from ours had completely burned to the ground.

When I saw our house, I started to weep. What saved it was a roof we put on two years ago. But my wife's best friend lost everything, their entire house.

I am so sad. I've lived here 22 years. We've been through two major fires in four years and two major earthquakes. I'm mostly numb.