>> you just got to push through. you do not stop. >> i said, "please send somebody." and she said, "there's nobody to send." >> it was, survivors said, like something alive -- a living, breathing giant that came out of the woods to hunt them down. the flames were so relentless, they burned for a month. so fast, they raced through roughly three football fields per second. hi, everyone. i'm lester holt. welcome to "dateline." it was california's biggest wildfire, one of the most brutal ever recorded. tonight, you'll hear from the people trapped in its path, how they ran for their lives -- against the flames, against the clock -- to escape. and it began in one of the most beautiful places on earth. >> it was perfect. it was our dream home. >> it's exactly what you want if you want to be away from a city. >> it's just so peaceful and so calming and just to me, it's heaven on earth. >> the mountains are gorgeous. it's the valley of the sun. >> i grew up in ramona. and i always loved just the people and the area. ramona is 30 miles east of san diego in the foothills of the cuyamaca mountains. >> i'm a huge fan of rescuing animals. my favorite animal that we have in 2003 is my horse fia, a clydesdale that we rescued at three months old from canada. she's my favorite and she's very special. i've raised her from nothing. we have two dogs that we rescued and a couple of cats and the two pot-bellied pigs were rescues because people got them and then decided they didn't want them anymore. >> i got the pig from a friend of mine who needed to find a home. and i gave it to her. and then because that pig was lonely, i had to get her another pig. and so i got her two pigs. unfortunately, it wasn't a great idea. you know, that's not the way to a woman's heart, i guess. >> i'm just not a pig person, i guess. >> we live in the community of valley center, which is northeast of san diego, probably about 50 miles. >> john and i actually decided to move to valley center when our children were small because we wanted them to have a more rural environment to grow up in. in 2003, asheleigh was 16. allyson was 20 and jason was 22. jason was always the one that was looking out and making sure that everything was okay. he was a complete boy scout. >> you know, i really tried to stay away from doing a lot of dumb things. i tried to be the more cautious of my family. >> allyson is a middle child. she was our risk-taker. she wouldn't test the water before jumping in, she'd just jump in. ashleigh absolutely loved irish dance. it just -- it was a part of her soul. and she just absolutely glowed when she was dancing. >> october 25th, 2003, my youngest sister ashleigh's homecoming dance, her first. she was just glowing and was excited about going to the dance. >> she picked out this really beautiful sleeveless red satin gown. she just looked so beautiful. she just looked like just the perfect little lady. >> and grown up. >> and very grown up. >> and we're thinking, "gosh, you know, time is passing so fast, and she's growing so quickly." so you just really wanna slow things down and just cherish every moment. >> saturday started out as a typical day for us. we had ally, our 18-month-old daughter. we did projects around the ranch and just took it easy. saturday, family day. >> it was a nice, relaxing day. but at the same time, it was dry and hot. so, you know, we also stayed close to the ranch when it was dry and hot. >> i work as a helicopter pilot for the sheriff's office. >> proceed northbound wind -- >> we received a call of a missing hunter in the cleveland national forest, east of ramona. dispatch called us as we were en route to the missing hunter. >> the winds were probably blowing 30 miles an hour at that time. >> and said now there was a column of smoke coming from the same vicinity of our missing hunter. and we realized as we got closer, "yeah, there's a fire on top of this hill." >> i went down to feed at around 5:20 in the evening, which is before dusk, because that's when animals want their dinner. and that's when i saw the smoke. it was a clear, blue sky. and out beyond us, over the mountains, it looked like somebody had taken a pencil and drawn a single, wispy line. it was just one single, little plume in the sky. and that was the start of it. >> coming up -- >> i just remember the smoke alarm going off. >> he was just yelling, "i smell smoke." >> concern begins to spread. but flames are spreading faster. >> the ash. it almost looks like snow. you know the fire is coming towards you. >> i said, "this is going to be bad, isn't it?" and he said, "yes, it is." with advil liqui-gels, you'll ask... what stiff joints? 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now i feel i can do more to go beyond lowering a1c. ask your doctor about jardiance today. thyou know what i do instead?eny your cravings. i snack on blue diamond almonds. wasabi & soy sauce?! mmm! don't deny your cravings. eat 'em! all the flavors you crave, in a superfood. blue diamond almonds. crave victoriously. you won't find relief here. congestion and pressure? go to the pharmacy counter for powerful claritin-d. while the leading allergy spray only relieves 6 symptoms, claritin-d relieves 8, including sinus congestion and pressure. claritin-d relieves more. it was just before halloween in 2003, and there was something frightening in the california forest. people outside san diego have begun to see tendrils of smoke in the air, the fingers of the beast. none of these families knew yet that it would be heading straight toward them. >> station 73 is situated just a few hundred yards away from our front door. the relationship between the fire department and our family started when ashleigh introduced herself. so she calls from the fire station one afternoon and she said, "so, mom, what are we having for dinner?" i said, "well, i'm fixing bean and ham soup." and i ended up with a dining room full of firefighters trying to stretch my dinner, which it worked. >> we ended up inviting them down for thanksgiving, for christmas, for new years. >> we had a halloween party, we had -- the firefighters came down. >> everyone was busying around. it was also busy because ashleigh, our youngest, was getting ready to go to her homecoming dance. so it was an exciting and very busy day. >> we had just entered a new chapter in our lives. our daughters were off at college. and we wanted a change. >> so in may of 2003 we moved into the canyon and were very naive, i think about the potential for fires in that area. >> we actually had gone to a halloween party for our dog club. >> we took tara to the party. and we took charter to the party. >> we had a blast. we had so much fun. dogs with fairy wings and dogs dressed as bumblebees. we got home from there about 10:00 at night. and i fell asleep on the couch in the family room. bob came rushing down the stairs. and he was just yelling. " i smell smoke, and i've never smelled it this strongly before." >> we live in the town of lakeside, and the particular area where we live is called barona, and it's extremely rural. where we live, our closest neighbor is probably a half mile to a mile away. it's just a wonderful place to raise girls. >> in 2003, i was 13 and my sister was 11. >> i just remember the smoke alarm going off and getting up. >> and so i go to my parents' room. and i ask my mom what's going on. >> i decided i would call the sheriff's department. the sheriffs told me that the fire was 10 miles away. at the time, the winds were not bad. they didn't think it was really gonna spread. and so for us just to go back to bed and things would be fine. >> thomas was always trying to get me to relax during fires because i would just hit the panic button every time, and i grew up in a city. had no experience with fires when i moved to ramona in 1990. >> i had evacuated numerous times growing up -- you know, you just, you know, there's a fire, you evacuate. >> i said to myself, "well, it's still light enough. i'm sure the planes will come. but i'm gonna go call 911 anyway because i'm paranoid about fires." >> the evening the fire started, i had just gotten home when the pager went off. and so i immediately, you know, said good-bye to everybody and loaded back up. i got about ten minutes from the house when i looked up the first time from 67 and was able to see fire, very briefly, but i was able to see that we did have an active burning fire. >> i went and got the scanner that we had. we had a fire police scanner because of incidents like this, so we could keep track of what was going on. >> just for your information, this is a confirmed fire, approximately 20 acres, mid slope. >> as i was listening to them, watching it get darker and darker, realizing that the planes were not going to come. >> do we have any, a way to get any aircraft down here, is there any available? >> division three, that's negative for aircraft. it's after cutoff. >> they had a very difficult time finding an access point to get to the fire. >> the fire still looks to be approximately 20-25 acres. very difficult access. we're still trying to look at some options to get in on this thing but it's going to be a while. not sure if we'll be able to get folks in tonight or not. >> the road structures were narrow, little, nasty -- a fire engine could barely make it down there, much less 30 or 40 of them, and crew buses and everything that's needed to -- to get in there. it was just a really bad scenario where that fire was. you could say it was the perfect storm. >> they were calling in crews from faraway, northern california, other states -- so i knew that response was going to take a long time. >> el coruso hotshots and vista grande hotshots are en route to your fire. copy, thanks. >> and so i tried to act as normal as possible because my daughter needed me to. i put her to bed at around 7:00 and i went upstairs to sit on the roof where i could get a really good view of it. the glow got bigger and started to spread from north to south. and it was around 10:00 the dispatch lady said, i'll never forget this -- she said, "the marlins won the world series and santa ana winds are expected to reach 60 to 80 miles an hour tonight starting at midnight." flame-driven santa ana fire is the most deadly kind of fire that we have in southern california because the combination of dryness and the wind speed means the fire can travel at 60 to 80 miles an hour the head of the fire. and i knew at that point that it was gonna be really bad. and i said to thomas, who at that point had joined me up on the roof, this is going to be bad, isn't it?" and he said, "yes, it is." >> it was moving faster than we thought it was. what the fire was doing, it was spotting, and when i say that, it means that you have a flame front, and then out in front you have different fires starting, because embers are getting thrown out, you know, a half mile, a mile ahead. and so, new fires are starting. >> i had all these things going on in my head. what are we going to do with the baby, with all the animals? i had to make the right decisions because, you know, making the right decisions gets people killed. . >> he said i need to video contents for the insurance company, i need to grab the camera and take video, that's how i knew how worried he was. >> i'm going to get the fire pump out and leave it. at one point i called my friend bob. "bob, there's a fire you need to be aware of it. it's coming at us. can you come over and help us prepare?" my mom's was a safe place to go. the fire was to the east. there's no way the fire would get to my mom's to the west. you know, i mean yeah, that's the way the fire is going. but it's ten miles away. the thing we start noticing is the ash. it almost looks like snow. when the ash starts falling on you then you know the fire's coming towards you. and then it's just like oh [ bleep ]. you know, that's the fire. i mean, that is like, step up your game. you got to get going. >> coming up -- >> it sounded like the roar of a freight train. it felt like a beast. this beast was everywhere. i said, "please, please send somebody." and she said, "there's nobody to send." drive safely.. . with drivewise. it lets you know when you go too fast... ...and brake too hard. with feedback to help you drive safer. giving you the power to actually lower your cost. unfortunately, it can't do anything 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our customers. at comcast, it's my job to constantly monitor our network. prevent problems, and to help provide the most reliable service possible. my name is tanya, i work in the network operations center for comcast. we are working to make things simple, easy and awesome. there's a fire in pomerado road, sycamore canyon area. and of course we have the big fire in ramona, lakeside. >> oh my god, there's three? >> there wasn't just one wildfire leaping from the forest. there were several. others had burst to life in the same area at the same time. there would be 14 fires in all that day, a perfect firestorm. and the roach family was right in its path. >> the fire is making significant increase and spreading now. we're probably less than an hour before we're going to start seeing some heat over here. >> we were aware that the cedar fire had erupted probably 25, 30 miles away from our house, so we weren't very concerned about it. >> when we really started getting concerned is when allyson called us. she was taking a friend home and said that the reservation was on fire. >> we could see that the fire was a couple miles north, so not heading towards our house. >> and we thought, "well, we should be fine." and we would just leave if we had to be evacuated. >> we'd been warned by the firefighters that if you get the evacuation notice, you need to be prepared to get out quickly. i took the photo albums out and put them in the truck. some of our paperwork, put that in the truck. and we hooked up the suv to our tank trailer and pointed all the cars down the hill in case we had to get out quickly. so our plan was to all get in separate vehicles and take all our vehicles off of the property. >> it was about 1:00 in the morning. allyson and ashleigh at that point were asleep. and we went into the girls' bedrooms and, we did have them get dressed and sleep in their clothes, just in case. >> so i asked jason, "can you please take the first watch and, you know, periodically, every 15 minutes, 30 minutes, go outside, check the fire. >> it looked like at that time that the fire was moving through the north end of valley center heading west, and it looked like that's where the largest glow was. at 3:00 a.m., i go around and tell my parents that it looked like the fire had moved into the center of valley center, away from us, and that i was heading off to go to catch some rest. >> and so at that point, i laid back down and thought we were in good shape, and i went down to sleep myself. >> just heads up, the fire has picked up quite a bit. >> i opened our bedroom door, and the smell of smoke was pretty overwhelming. we tried to find information about the fire. we went online. we went to the news sites. >> and then i was able to talk with a person at the barona fire station, just two miles up the canyon from us. and he said, "well, you're safe where you are because it's in ramona." so i sat there on a chair by our window and thought, "god help the people in ramona." >> horses are really good at, you know, feeling what their owners, the riders are feeling. so they know we're nervous, so they're starting to get nervous. they're starting to get jumpy, and they're starting to get dangerous. they're 1,000, you know, 1,100 pounds of muscle, and they're starting to jump around a little. >> when i heard that the fire was going to start moving at 60 miles an hour, i knew it was time to get the horses out of here, so i came down and i opened the trailer and i started to load them. the first horse loaded right in no problem. and then it was time to load fia, and she didn't want to go in. she knew i was upset, and she was getting more and more upset herself. and she's 1,800 pounds and she would put one foot in and back out, and put two feet in and back out. i tried cookies. i tried grain. i tried everything. i was pleading with her. i was crying, "you've got to get in this trailer. you've got to get in this trailer." and i had to make a choice between never seeing fia again and getting ally out. so i turned her loose and i said to thomas, "turn 'em loose, turn 'em loose. it's the only chance they have." and i didn't look back. you would think mother nature had a watch because right at midnight, the wind hit, and it hit hard. and it just -- the fire exploded. and that was when i could hear it. it sounded like the roar of a freight train. i looked up past the trailer to look at the mountains and where it had just been an orange glow, i could see flame. >> it was literally a firestorm. so we're bracing ourselves against the wind. we're hearing the roar, yelling to each other what to do. it went from a fire that was moving at, you know, maybe three miles an hour to a fire that was moving at 30 miles an hour. i could just feel it racing towards -- we could see it growing in height. >> it felt like a beast. this beast was everywhere. it was all around us. it had a sense of purpose, and the purpose was to go west at 60 miles an hour and eat everything in its path. there's also a sense of presence when there's that energy around you, you can feel in a way that is absolutely terrifying, because you know it's far beyond your ability to control or protect yourself from or do anything about. at that point, honestly, i stopped thinking. my vision got very narrow. all i could think was, "get ally out of there. get her out." >> the baby is the most important. so get ally out of here. i'm going to stay with the house as long as i can. try to take care of the horses. keep them calm. keep wetting everything down. and, you know, it'll be okay. it'll be okay. >> so i ran inside the house. i picked her up as gently as possible -- she was asleep -- and i loaded her in the car. at that point, i already had five cats loaded up in the backseat of the car. i got the dogs in the trunk. i called 911 before i left the house. it was a last ditch effort. i said, "please, you know, my husband is staying behind. please send somebody. send an engine. the fire is really close. i'm leaving with my daughter. please send somebody." and she said, "there's nobody to send." i drove down the driveway, and i turned onto the road, and i hauled ass, and i drove as fast as i could. and as i rounded a corner suddenly i realized that the bushes on either side of me were on fire. so i couldn't see the road. all i could see was flame, and i just drove through it because i had to. >> coming up -- >> we told our command that we can't fly anymore. it's too dangerous. >> up in the air. >> we felt like we were going to crash. >> down on the ground. >> it looked to me like the entire world was on fire. >> danger was everywhere. >> i just tell her, "run." but with olay regenerist whip spf 25, it's so lightweight. i love it. i'm busy philipps, and i'm fearless to face anything. imagine if we we would be such good friends. best friends. advantage ii, kills fleas through contact all month long. i mean he's a wreck without me. advantage ii, fight the misery of biting fleas. the fire was now several miles wide, and it created this black column of smoke going downwind. and it was from the ground level, up to several thousand feet. we started doing public address announcements with our speaker for people to evacuate. >> we have a mandatory evacuation. you need to leave your homes at this time. >> we tried to get under the smoke, and then we would get smoke across the windshield, the visibility would go to almost nothing. >> please leave your homes. you are in immediate danger. >> we'd get frightened, and say, "let's get the heck outta here." and it got so bumpy during the evening, that we actually were hittin' our helmets together, and on the side of the aircraft. when it became so turbulent, we decided to go back to the base 'cause we felt like we were gonna crash. and i thought in the back of my mind, i said, "those areas that we weren't able to get into because of the smoke and the poor visibility, you know, i hope those people wake up when it gets smoky." we're talkin' about though, after midnight. most people are asleep. >> at 3:00, it turns out the phone rang. and being the light sleeper i am, it woke me up, thank heavens. and i went out to answer it. answer it. nobody was there. looked out the window, it looked to me like the entire world was on fire. i just saw flames that i would have sworn were 50 foot to 100 foot tall. at that point, i yelled to lonnie, melanie and lindi. i said, "get up. we're outta here. there's a fire." >> there was something in her voice that i knew that i needed to do exactly that. >> she comes in, wakes us all up. "get up, get up. get your stuff. get your books. go out to the truck. we have to go." >> i said, you know, "take your pillows out of your pillowcases. fill your pillowcase up with whatever it is that you want to take with, that you want to save, in case the worst happens." i got a backpack and i had kept all our home movies together in one spot for a moment like this. >> i remember when we were going out to the car, our neighbor being hysterical. she was screaming and crying, and that scared me more, because she was another adult who was also hysterical and panicking. so that meant this really is serious and i need to be scared too. my dad was honking the horn and i could see the fire. >> this thing is already all the way around us. i got fire to the south and it's heading for barona mesa hard. >> we told our command that we can't fly anymore, it's too dangerous. but no sooner do we shut down, they're calling for us. they want us back out there, and we told them we couldn't go out. i said, "well, i got an idea." i used to work at the patrol station, which is just a mile down the road, and let's go grab a car. i know that beat. i know every hundred block on that beat. i know where all the residences are. and i put some dents in some people's front doors with my flashlight, trying to wake them up. and i remember one particular gentleman that's like, "there's no fire," and he's standing there in his underwear, and i said, "take a look." and he stepped outside and he used some cuss words and lights went on, and everybody in the house started waking up, and then we were outta there to the next house. everywhere you looked was on fire. the hills, the ridges, houses, the field in front of us, the oak tree. everything was on fire. >> this thing is moving fast. you need to move with it. >> i woke to the smell of smoke. >> within five minutes, it went to complete black, where we couldn't see, heat, fire. >> the next thing i hear is john screaming, you know, "get out now." >> as we were getting ready to leave, i came out and reached for the front door, opened the front door and was immediately hit with a blast of hot air. and embers and fire all over the carpeting in front of me. in a panic, i just turned and yelled in the house, "everybody get out now!" the front porch on the edge was on fire. >> i hear my dad from the middle area of our house just screaming, "it's here, run." and i look out the door of my bedroom and i have a clear shot down to the other end of the house, and there's embers flying into the house. >> ashleigh has her dresses in her arms, including the dress that she had worn the night before. and she opened the door. she goes out. the door kind of, like, sucks closed behind her. >> the fire station was probably about 150 yards total from our front door to the station itself. you know that that's where there's some chance of safety. i start running and there's -- everybody who's there is scrambling for cars. >> started to try and open the door on -- to the truck to just climb in, and i can't even get the door open because the wind is blowing so hard. >> the sound was like a jet engine. like, if i was three feet away from you screaming, you couldn't hear me screaming at you. it was just that loud. >> i could see allyson standing. and i can just barely make out, she says, "i can't find my keys." so at that point, i just tell her, "forget your keys, run." i'm thinking she's going to run either to us or to jason. and then right after, she takes what just seems like a few steps, this incredible ball of fire goes past, followed by smoke. and that i know is when my first set of shock really set in, because i was processing, i think she's dead, right there in front of me. >> coming up -- >> there were embers swirling. >> this huge massive fire was closing in on us. >> barely one step ahead of the flames and only one option. >> we can hear the sound of the truck bending. >> i gunned the engine. the only way out was to drive through that flame. lameter bout? i'll take aleve. aleve. proven better on pain. rudy got older and suddenly stopped eating...t, then we found freshpet. now rudy's 13, and going on 3. ♪ calyou're gonna love this.rs. new coppertone sport clear. not thick, not hot, not messy, just clear, cool, protected. coppertone sport clear. proven to protect. with a lot of other young couples. then we noticed something...strange. oh, could you, uh, make me a burger? -poof -- you're a burger. 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(music throughout) it was hard to grasp the sheer enormity of it. towering walls of flame that stretched for miles, roaring like a jet engine. speeding like a runaway train. calfire san diego deputy fire chief kelly zombro had never seen a fire grow so big, so fast. but nothing could match it, and nothing could stop it. >> the orders i gave to each of them as they went in, i want them to fight fire aggressively, continue to protect lives, property as a priority, and do not base any actions on any support, because i can give you nothing. you are on your own. if i had had 100 fire engines that night, and lined them up in front of that fire, it would have blown right over top of 100 fire engines. it would not have stopped that fire. there was no stopping that fire. there was nobody that ever fought a fire, that was still working, that had ever seen anything like that before. it just took it off the charts. i had no idea. it absolutely took it -- overwhelmed me in every way, and the system. i knew there was no way we were going to get to everybody. one of the hardest things was, i knew people were going to die that night. >> we had the hoses going on the roof. we were wetting things down. i mean, it's kind of like pissing in the wind. i mean, you just, you know, you've got this little hose and you've got this fire that you can't even see the top of. the roar from the fire is just deafening. you can't -- you're yelling, "let's sprinkle that down, sprinkle this tree down. let's get water over here." and then suddenly there's, like, this weird, i mean, i want to say there was a sound, but there was no sound. it's just -- the whole -- all the lights from all the neighbors, everything just went dark. it just -- everything shut off. and so with us on wells, we had no water pressure. it just died. the wind actually got, like, knocked out of me. there was nothing else i could do. and so that's when i yelled to my friend, bob. i said, "let's go. we gotta get out." >> around 3:00 i woke up, and i looked out the window that is right beside our bed. >> i saw him standing in front of the window, and the window was just awash in this yellow light. >> that i could see it across the canyon was evidence of how fast it had covered the 15 miles between us and ramona. >> to put it into perspective, my wife called me to tell me we were being evacuated at home. i asked her, "from what?" she said, "the fire of ramona." i said, "i'm on that fire." she says, "i know." i couldn't believe -- i live 30 miles from the fire. i couldn't believe that my own home -- and i'm in charge of the operations of this whole fire, and that's how i found out that my neighborhood was threatened. >> i went back out to look out the window again, and this time, not only did i see this huge swath of flames, but i saw this glow on our side of the canyon. and that's when i knew we were looking at this huge, massive fire that was closing in on us. i said to bob, "you get your negatives, because he's a photographer. i'll take care of the dogs. i started slamming collars over dog heads and didn't realize until later that i put both collars on one dog. >> i went downstairs to get chelsea, the bird. and as i was getting chelsea, i could see very clearly that the fire was already at the house. i had opened up the garage door and went on out, put chelsea in the trunk. the cage didn't quite fit in the trunk, but i closed the lid hard enough that it fit. >> just as i got to the garage door was when the lights went out. i could hear a cracking noise, like a lightning strike. at this time, bob was yelling from inside the house, "i can't find my car keys." and i said, "we'll just take my car." >> there were embers swirling. there were small dust devils of, not dust and trash, but embers and flame. >> when allyson turned and ran away from us, and i saw the flame and smoke come behind her, is when i first went into a state of shock. it was very confusing. everything was -- just 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either mercedes-benz certified pre-owned. or it isn't. the mercedes-benz certified pre-owned sales event. now through may 31st. only at your authorized mercedes-benz dealer. we make it down and up to the gate. the gate has trouble opening. it finally does open. and then we start moving out, hopefully with everybody following us out, which was our plan, with everybody following us out single file. >> ashleigh gets into the passenger seat, as i get into the driver's seat, the driveway's cleared for me to leave. so as i'm coming down the driveway, the fire was doing two things. it was laying flat across the driveway, so you could barely see the asphalt, but it was also arcing up over you. so it looked like you were driving through, literally, a tunnel of fire. >> right outside our gate was a barn. it was completely engulfed in flame. and the flame, now with the fire blowing that direction, was blowing the flame across our driveway, in front of our escape route. the only way out was to drive through that flame. i gunned the engine and went through the flame. and right after that, the truck stalled. >> and all that i can see is fire all the way around, and the truck won't start. >> i tried, i don't know, maybe four or five times to get it to restart. >> we can hear the sound of the truck bending, the metal's popping. and i know i was screaming at john to get us out, get us out. >> it finally restarted again. i couldn't see anybody behind us. >> i'm looking for allyson. it's like where, you know, is she standing? is she -- has she fallen? where's allyson? >> and as i get down to the bottom of our driveway, i see a shape coming up out of the driveway, and it turns out that it's my sister, allyson. and she was on her hands and knees crawling. and i remember seeing her smoking, like she had, you know, just come out of a shower steaming. she looked like that, but smoking. after we all got in the truck, my dad backs up out of the driveway and we start driving down our dirt road to go get down to wildcat canyon, because that's where civilization is. i finally look outside the truck window for the first time and fully see the fire within 25 feet of us and the road. and that's when i panicked. and i said, "where are all the firemen?" and to look outside and see so much fire and no firemen, no fire trucks, nothing, was terrifying. >> we came to this 30 foot wall of flame. the flame seemed like it was alive. i would describe it as fire breathing dragon made out of fire. our only way out was cut off from us. >> once we hit that wall of flames, reality set in. what do we -- we're gonna die, panic. i just lost it. i said, "i don't wanna die. i'm too young to die." and i was hysterical, crying. >> it was really heart-breaking. it's something you never wanna hear your child say that, "i don't wanna die." and knowing that there's a real possibility that it's gonna happen. >> she was panicking. she needed, you know, i was her big sister. and i needed to take care of her. and so i grabbed her hands and i said, "look lindi, we're gonna pray. god, you promised you would take care of us. you promised you would never let us down." >> she's calming me down, she's praying with me, holding my hands, and it's kind of working. >> i was so impressed. and just to hear my own daughter saying something like this, who's 13 years old and speaking to her sister and calming her down, it was just really a beautiful thing. something i'll never forget. >> i had no idea what we would do at that point, because we were going in the same direction the fire was going. and if we were to turn around, well, we're going to go right back into the fire. >> and so lonnie stopped the truck. and it's like, "okay, what do we do?" are we gonna try to drive through this? will we survive it? and at that point, i heard someone or something whisper into my ear -- and i know it wasn't lonnie. i know it wasn't the girls. it was another being. and what they said was, "go to the pond." >> i turned left out my driveway and got about, you know, 1,000 yards and it was comin' up the road on both sides. and i couldn't see anything but flames. it was coming at us. i mean, it was meeting us. it wasn't stagnant going over the road. it was roaring up the road. i had more than one life in mind, i had my life and i had my friend bob's life. and, again, i had to make another decision, do i go for it? and it was, like, a really split decision. and it was just that quick. it was just step on the gas. i mean, for a second it was a slow down, oh [ bleep ], and then go. the adrenaline was pumping so lowe's knows it's time to do outdoors right and we're kicking off summer savings on everything outdoor. like a craftsman® 20-volt string trimmer for $99. and bonnie's veggies and herbs, 4 for $10. don't miss out on these great deals at lowe's. air wick take in fragrance inspired by nature with air wick essential mist. it transforms natural essential oils into mist; filling the room with 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then go. the adrenaline was pumping so much that i wasn't really sensing anything other than, like, my heart beating and the ringing in my ears. the smoke is so thick that you don't really see anything but the smoke. and so i go through this and i break through the smoke and suddenly there's flames. and then it's like, crackling, yellow rage, right, like, all around. and you're, like, you know, you kinda just, like, fall into it. you just kinda keep on going. you have to. you gotta push through. you do not stop. and so i drove through actual flames for about 100 yards. and bob is on my tail and mean i just had my eye -- one eye glued on the rearview mirror to see if he made it. you know, 'cause i didn't think he was gonna. i really didn't think he was gonna. and then he burst through it. literally it's, like, you know, a slow-motion gunshot through a barrel. he just kinda -- puff of smoke kinda separated and he burst through it. and i was like, "oh thank god. oh thank god." >> as i come down the driveway, i see my sister coming up. and she was on her hands and knees crawling. so i tell ashley "get in the back seat" and as she's jumping into the back seat, allyson comes up and opens the door and gets into the passenger seat of the mustang. and as soon as she shut the door, i pushed on the gas to my mustang and it tried to stall. i really started to panic, and i slammed the gas to force the car to go forward. and went screaming up the driveway and i see that, this car blocking the road -- i swerved and we ended up crashing head-on into one of the trees. >> i kept moving the truck forward. still so smoky you couldn't see ten feet in front of the truck. and then all of a sudden, we got out of the smoke. i could see the fire station in front of us. i got out of the truck looking back to see who was coming out behind us. i was expecting the car to come out behind us. >> i finally got down to my mother-in-law's house. and i thought this is the safe zone. we're safe here. i unloaded the five cats and the dogs and our daughter and i turned my daughter over to my sister-in-law. and i said, "i just need to go outside and be by myself for a minute," because the enormity of what had happened, it felt like a huge weight was pressing down on me and it was crushing me. so i went outside. and i sat on the bumper of my car and i hung my head and i tried to cry. and i prayed for firefighters and i prayed for neighbors and other people in town who i knew were probably running for their lives like we had. i really tried to cry, but i couldn't cry because there was nothing left in me at that point. so as i was praying, the wind suddenly stopped. and i thought, "were my prayers answered?" and i sat there and i looked around and i realized that it was snowing. and in giant, giant flakes like in utah. giant flakes. and i held out my hand and i caught one. i touched the ash and suddenly i knew i was in terrible danger because the wind had stopped and it was not a miracle. it meant that the fire had created its own weather and it was right on top of us. so i ran inside the house and i said to my mother-in-law and my sister-in-law, "it's coming. we have to get out of here. it's coming." >> nobody's moving. and so, i get out the car and i go around to the side to try and get the door open for my sisters, and the -- as i get to the door, i get hit in the face with embers and soot and heat and i can't see where i'm going. all i know is that my sisters are here, they're in trouble, i need to get help, i need to get out. even though it's smoky, even though it's hot, i know where that fire station is, i know which direction it's at, and i know where to go. so i'm running down the street, not realizing that i don't even have any shoes on. the air that you're breathing is several hundred degrees and you're basically gonna microwave yourself. you're gonna cook yourself from the inside out. you take a breath, you're burning your lungs. >> and we stood there and we waited and then jason walked out of the -- of the smoke. and i yelled at jason, "where are your sisters?" >> and the only thing i can get out is, "they're back there." i see my sister, allyson, walking out of the smoke, staggering. i'm thinking to myself, "you know, she's got soot all over her," and it -- it's not registering that that's not soot, that's fourth-degree burns. >> i'd always prided myself in being prepared. i was not prepared for this. i see allyson. and i'm not even really processing that she's that hurt. i'm looking at my daughter. i'm a registered nurse. and i still don't see how bad this is. the next thing is me and her getting shoved into the back of an ambulance. >> somebody asked me if i wanted to go with them to the hospital. and i said no. i said, "i'm -- i need to wait." because i knew i had to wait for ashleigh. i watched john run toward the smoke. >> so i started moving towards the fire and the sheriff grabbed my arm. >> my husband raised his fist toward the sheriff like he was gonna hit him. >> i was just trying to get out of his grasp so that i get towards where i thought ashleigh might be. i went into the smoke and i couldn't breathe. it was black. it felt like there was no oxygen going in. it felt like trying to breathe water in. and then i felt one of the sheriff's deputies next to me. and i just remember him pushing me back the other direction. and we got crawling back out of the smoke. >> where's ashleigh? she'll be coming out. you know, so she'll be coming with somebody. ashleigh was gonna be coming out. >> i drove to my mom's house crying, thinking, you know, i let everybody down. i knew the house was gone, i knew the -- the horses were gone. i knew anything that was left there was gone. and -- and, you know, i -- i pulled in and i said, "it's gone. everything's gone." >> and i looked at his face and he had been crying. i could tell he had tears. his cheeks were wet. and he said we lost everything. >> i was the one that was saying, you know, it's gonna be good. it's gonna be fine. you know, i've lived through 20 of these. i'm the man of the house. you know? and what decision did i make that was the wrong decision? i shoulda started sooner to try and get the horses out. i left. you don't realize what it feels like to leave something behind. something -- a living being behind. >> and at that point all i cared about was that he was okay. but right on the heels of that thought was, "we have to get out of here now. it is not safe." >> there was this glow coming over the mountain. it was like seeing something from -- from "the hobbit" or something. it was just like the armies are marching and they're coming over the hills. and i just grabbed my mom and i said -- she didn't even put up a fight. when i told her "we gotta go," she said, "okay." and i threw her in the car and we just bolted out of there. >> coming up -- in peril and in panic. >> we're stuck in the middle of this firestorm just sitting in a truck. >> the flames start licking up over the engine, under the hood, up the front windshield. >> this truck is going to blow up. we have to get out of here. what do we do? i remember my mom grabbing my dad's shoulder at that point and, at the wall of flames, and saying, "the pond, lonnie, we have to go to the pond." >> so my dad popped it in reverse. and he got us going in the direction -- back into the fire, granted, but towards the direction of the pond. >> on one side of the dirt road is a hill and on the other side it's like a cliff. if you go off of that, it's a canyon and you're gone. then we just stopped. the truck stopped moving, and then panic again, fear. we're stuck in the middle of this firestorm just sitting in a truck. what are -- what do we do? >> so we said, "okay, well, i guess we're going to have to get out of the truck and we're going to have to walk down to the pond." or run down to the pond, actually. >> well, we get out and run. >> we follow our parents. we put our shirts up over our mouths to try and filter out the smoke a little bit. >> the heat that night was as if you open your oven and just that gust of heat that comes out -- >> constant. >> that's what was surrounding us. >> after maybe five or ten more feet, we told our dad, "look, we can't do this. it's too hot. there's too much smoke." >> we said "okay, we'll get back in the truck." so loni eventually decides that, well, he's going to try and start it to see if it will start. >> my dad started trying to get the truck going and starting the ignition, and turning it over and turning it, and finally it started. >> we were not stuck. we're not out of options. we can keep going and maybe we'll make it out of here alive. but then after we get going, we hit another plateau and the truck stops again. >> and then all of a sudden, the tires caught on fire, and we have flames coming up higher than the hood of the truck. i don't know about the cab of the truck, but higher than the hood of the truck. so we think, "oh, my gosh, what are we gonna do." and i'm thinking, just like what you see in the movies, that the truck's going to explode. >> this truck is going to blow up. we have to get out of here. and then if we get out of the truck, then what? we're going to be caught in the suffocating amount of heat and smoke. and everything around us was very panicking. >> eventually the flames start licking up over the engine, under the hood, up the front windshield. and my mom said, "we have to get out. the truck's going to explode. we need to get out of the truck now." and so we didn't even grab any of the stuff we had packed. everyone just immediately first got out of the truck. >> i run towards the back of the truck, kind of back in towards the fire because i didn't want to run past the burning tire, and then the canyon's on the other side. so i run to the back, the wrong way. >> and i said, "lindi, you've gotta go to the front." and i put my hands up over my head like this to get her attention. >> we were yelling as loud as we could because the winds were just howling and blowing so hard. >> and what happened at that moment is the radiant heat burned my arms. and lonnie said it looked like i had black cotton candy all over my arms. and i don't remember feeling anything. lonnie went on ahead of us, went down to the pond. and then he came back and said, "we can't go to the pond. all the brush is on fire all around the pond. we can't do that." >> an engine went by us, towards our house. and i thought, "okay, they're going to find ashleigh." so we got back in my truck. and the deputies got us across the street to the field. >> we were sitting in the truck. and again it seems like it was an absolute eternity. and in awhile a friend of ours -- he was a deputy sheriff at one -- you know, valley center station is walking toward the truck. and there's another man with him that we don't know at the time. and he is the one that had to let us know that ashleigh had actually died in the car and that they found her. so the man that was with him was the sheriff chaplain. there was more confusion. and they said that -- you know, he started asking us questions. you know, how many children do we have? we have three. where are your other two? they're in an ambulance. and he kept repeating it, over and over again. and he finally told us that there were two bodies. >> that there was two bodies in the car. >> in the car. i didn't understand what the meaning was behind them finding two bodies in the beginning. it didn't make sense. later we found out that, of course, there was only, you know, ashleigh in the car alone. and it wasn't until we met with our pastors that we understood the significance of that for our faith, which to us, ashleigh was not alone in that car. >> we believe that there was two. it was my sister and her angel. and we believe that in her last moments, she wasn't left alone in the back of my car, she didn't pass away in fear, in pain, that she had that angel with her to guide her to where she now lives. for whatever reason, ashleigh just didn't get out, that will never be explained. because ashleigh did die in my car, there's always going to be that sense of, "could i have done more? could i have done things differently?" but at the same time, if i allow myself to constantly relive that moment and constantly wonder, then i'm not helping anybody. >> we're homeless. we have nothing. we've lost a daughter. you know, allyson's in critical condition. the doctors are not giving us any hope. our entire existence was being with allyson and jason and just holding ourselves together. >> coming up -- a daring ride down the mountain. >> i did not want to drive off that edge so i started yelling, "i can't see the road." >> and a mad dash back into the flames. >> i was transported into a war zone. this can't be real. 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♪ check your free credit scores at creditkarma. here's to progress. it was starting to dawn on me that the size and the scope of this fire was like nothing we'd ever dealt with before, not even close, because of the rate of speed that it was traveling was absolutely mind-boggling. >> we couldn't find a place that was safe. first of all, we were safe at home. it was gonna be okay. then that was dashed away from us. so then we go to my mom's because of course, if we're not safe then the other place will be safe. get there and that's dashed away. and actually got to the point where we didn't know where to go. >> it felt very much like there was something coming on top of you at any moment and you just had to keep moving, keep moving. >> it was like quick sand. >> keep going. >> it was like quick sand. every time we got on something we thought was solid it was gonna swallow us up again. >> so i called a friend of mine. it dawned on me that i have a friend who lived way north of town and maybe she was safe. and she said, "well, come on over." >> it was, like, 3:30, 4:00 when i got there. and i came in there. and, i mean, i think we cried for a little while. >> and i said, "i -- i hear oregon's nice. it rains there." >> i backed up the driveway and paused just for a second at the top of the driveway to shift gears. >> the road was essentially the dark spot in between flames on both sides of the road. >> when i first got that glimpse of this huge swath of flames on the mountain with curling, dancing orange and red waves, i just thought, "how extraordinary that i get to see this. this is really nature at her rawest, at her most real, at her most powerful." >> we were both working 120% just to get one vehicle out. >> there's only one way out, which was the case for many communities in the back country that were affected by the fire, which is why so many people right around us in wildcat canyon were trapped. so i was concerned, from the beginning, when i realized that there was fire on both sides of the road, that we wouldn't make it out to the main road. i knew i had to get there to get out of the canyon. that was it. there was no plan b. >> there's a fence made out of wire. and i recall looking at the wire and thinking it looked like the elements in a toaster. the wire was just glowing red because it was so hot. and when we could see the road, we could see it primarily because it was the only thing that wasn't burning. >> we hit a bank of smoke. and it was impenetrable. it was just like looking out the window of an airplane into a thunderhead, just completely opaque, and i couldn't see the road. >> when we hit the wall of smoke and sandra couldn't see anything, i did not know how to solve the problem. >> you have to keep in mind that we were coming down the side of a mountain. to the right of me, it completely falls away. and i did not wanna drive off that edge. so i started yelling, "i -- i can't see the road." and bob is yelling back at me, "you're just gonna have to remember where it is." and at that second, a bobcat jumped out of the brush right to my headlight." >> i sat there and there was no sleep coming. you know, i was kind of relaxing but i was also kinda itching to do something. i mean, i was like, "okay, now what? now what are we gonna do?" so as i was sitting there trying to sleep, we got a message that our house was still there and we couldn't believe it was still there. >> it wasn't time for a victory dance yet because we -- we couldn't believe that anything could've survived. >> i wasn't 100% sure that the fire had gone through and it wasn't gonna come back or what it was gonna do, but i had to check. mainly it wasn't really the house, it was the animals, it was the horses. you know, go find them and see, you know, if they're okay. and, you know, lend support to the horses, you know, and -- and help them. so that was really the reason to go back. >> so i said to thomas, "why don't you just go? just go see if you can get to it and see what's left." >> and i get in the car and, you know, i just make my way back there. and as i'm driving through this development, i was transported into a war zone. i was like, "this can't be real." i, you know, i wasn't seeing any people. i was just seeing houses on fire, trees on fire. nobody around putting anything out. it was just burning. as i drive up to my house and through, like, my teary eyes 'cause they're still watering i see my house still there. i'm, like, i was just -- it was unbelievable. it was, i mean, i felt like i could take a breath for the first time in 12 hours. >> you called me as you were pulling in the driveway and all i -- you were hysterically crying with joy saying, "the house is fine. i see it. it's fine." and then the next thing you said "oh [ bleep ], it's on fire. i gotta call you back" and you hung up. >> coming up -- a life-or-death decision. >> we watched the mountain that we grew up under just completely burn up. >> a lifeline from the wild. >> something in me told me to follow it. >> and a life-threatening mission. >> this was a bomb. it was getting ready to explode. stupidest thing i could have done. emerge restored, replenished, fortified. emerge everyday with emergen-c. packed with b vitamins, electrolytes, antioxidants, plus more vitamin c than 10 oranges. why not feel this good every day? emerge and see. it was the most devastating wildfire outbreak california had ever known. thomas levin and his family had escaped those flames, but just barely. he decided to return home to see what, if anything, remained. and he stepped right back into danger. his house was on fire. >> i get up my driveway and there's a fire truck and a crew. they're trying to put out the pool house and it's on fire. and they're like, "your -- your house is on fire and we can't put it out. the gas line's broken and it's feeding gas into the attic. we're almost outta water. if we don't get it out in the next 15 minutes, we're gonna have to leave and go someplace else where we can help somebody else 'cause we can't get this out." >> that's when i said, "well, why don't you turn off the gas?" you know, it seemed logical to me. >> we had a 1,000 gallon tank. the firemen wouldn't go near the propane tank because it was still so dangerous. it was getting ready to explode. because i was so full of adrenaline and not thinking, i just ran over to this super- heated propane tank and i turned it off. stupidest thing i could have done. this was a bomb that i walked over to and just turned off. and then i ran back to the firefighters. i said, "i got the gas off. is it off?" they go, "yeah, but it's still on fire." the pool house was on fire. the firefigters were doing whatever they could to get it out, but they couldn't get it. and i was worried and they were worried that if i didn't get the pool house out that it would catch my main house on fire. so the only thing i could think of was to get my bulldozer. the main house was connected to the pool house by a 20-foot common wall. if the pool house wasn't contained, it could ignite the main house. i ran and got my bulldozer and i just start hittin' it as hard as i can. as soon as i crack it open, the flames come flyin' out at me. and the firefighters just turn their hoses almost, like, knock me out of my seat, just covering me with water. they're going "hit it again!" that's when they jumped in and started putting the fire out and i backed out and was able to breathe. >> i knew that the bobcat was on the road. it was running flat out. it wasn't running up the side of the mountain. and something in me told me to follow it. so i followed this bobcat. >> when the bobcat landed in front of her, and she followed it -- that was really fortunate. and i'm not certain that, had i been driving, i would've followed the bobcat. >> and that's how we found our way out, just inch by inch, finding asphalt under the tires all the way down. the bobcat saved our lives. i think of the bobcat as this grace that dropped into our lives at the moment when we least expected it but most needed it. >> somewhere down the road, we pulled into a gas station and opened up the trunk to look at chelsea. and chelsea was pretty featherless at that point in time. she had lost all of her feathers. and she was a bald cockatiel. and yes, bald cockatiels are as funny looking as you can imagine. >> we get outta the car. i walk my sister past the tire. and i go, i catch up with my dad 'cause i'm a daddy's girl and i walk with him. my sister's a mama's girl, so she walks with mom. and we just keep going in the direction towards the pond where we think we're gonna end up. and we actually end up at a very large dirt clearing. >> so we decide at that point that we're going to stay here, we're going to lay down, we're going to be safe here and that's what we did. we laid down in the dirt clearing for hours. >> watched the mountain that we grew up under just completely burn up. >> what i remember laying there -- i thought it was somebody screaming. i just heard this high pitched loud, just sounded like somebody was screaming for their life and possibly dying. >> it's possible that it was a propane tank -- >> exploding. >> -- exploding. it's possible it was a mountain lion, because, apparently, they can sound like that as well. and i mean that was really hard to hear, to imagine that you're safe in a dirt clearing, but someone is possibly stuck in their house. >> heartbreaking. at 11, i still understood that somebody was dying. we pretty much laid there and watched it die down. >> watched it all pass. >> watched it all pass over. and it started to clear up eventually. eventually, we could see the stars in the sky, which at no point during the night we could even see the light from them. >> our neighbors who were walking down the road, they saw us, found us. and i just remember the look of shock and surprise and joy on their faces to see us. and one of the first things they said, "oh, my gosh. we saw your truck. we thought that you had probably died in it. we are so glad to see you." >> it was an eerie feeling, there was nobody there. i means the pigs were gone. the horses were gone. in that time, someone came up to me and said, "i think your horses are over at the neighbor's house." and when i saw them, i just -- i, you know, i can't even explain how, like, relieved i felt. i mean, if i coulda screamed loud enough to tell her that they were okay, i would have. 'cause i mean, i got on the phone and i tried and tried and tried. when we did finally talk on the phone, that was the first thing i said. you know, "horses are okay. they brought em, we brought em back." >> i think that's when i finally started to let go enough to start to cry, when i heard that fia was okay. completely unscathed. not even a singed hair. >> and in the midst of this, i hear this grunting sound, which just scared the bejesus outta me. i'm like, "what the -- this grunting sound." and here come two pigs. again, unscathed. i mean, they're only, what, two feet tall, their bellies touch the ground. and they're perfectly fine. >> their pen burned down. >> yeah, their pen was gone. they had a dog house. >> it didn't occur to me to turn the pigs loose, you know? >> and here they come up the hill and you know, looking for food. >> coming up -- >> perhaps the most powerful story of all -- the miracle that emerged from the flames. >> we have been blessed. what more could you really ask for? jardiance asks... when it comes to type 2 diabetes, are you thinking about your heart? well, i'm managing my a1c, so i should be all set. actually, you're still at risk for a fatal heart attack or stroke. that's where jardiance comes in. it reduces the risk of dying from a cardiovascular event for adults who have type 2 diabetes and known heart diseas. that's why the american diabetes association recommends the active ingredient in jardiance. and it lowers a1c? with diet and exercise. jardiance can cause serious side effects including dehydration, genital yeast or urinary tract infections, and sudden kidney problems. ketoacidosis is a serious side effect that may be fatal. a rare, but life-threatening, bacterial infection in the skin of the perineum could occur. stop taking jardiance and call your doctor right away if you have symptoms of this bacterial infection, ketoacidosis, or an allergic reaction. do not take jardiance if you are on dialysis or have severe kidney problems. taking jardiance with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. so, what do you think? now i feel i can do more to go beyond lowering a1c. ask your doctor about jardiance today. now i feel i can do more to go beyond lowering a1c. and we're kicking off summer savings on everything outdoor. like a craftsman® 20-volt string trimmer for $99. and bonnie's veggies and herbs, 4 for $10. don't miss out on these great deals at lowe's. you won't find relief here. congestion and pressure? go to the pharmacy counter for powerful claritin-d. while the leading allergy spray only relieves 6 symptoms, claritin-d relieves 8, including sinus congestion and pressure. claritin-d relieves more. thinking back of how we survived, it was pure miracle, pure luck, pure chance. it was split second decisions and basically miracles that got us here today, and we're very lucky we survived. >> lonnie and the girls were able to go back up to the house within a few days. it was -- i mean, everything was gone. on our property, we had a total of five people living in three cabins. and out of the five people, there was only one who made it out of the fire alive. it has made me realize just how precious life is, and how fortunate we are to have made it through and for our daughters to have found safety. >> the devastation was staggering. california's largest wildfire on record had devoured more than 270,000 acres, destroyed more than 2,200 homes and taken 15 lives. but what was it that sparked the flames? helicopter pilot dave weldon, who answered that urgent call of a hunter missing in the cleveland national forest, had the answer. >> so the hunter was sitting right there on those rocks and the fire was about 15 feet away from him. when we arrived on scene, when we first looked down at him, there's nothing around except the fire and this hunter, right there, who we later identified as sergio martinez, actually lit the fire. he admitted to starting the fire in order to signal for help. and he told me that he had been lost for several hours, and he knew darkness was approaching, and he was scared. it appeared it was a bic lighter that lit the fire. one bic lighter. >> sergio martinez was arrested and he did plead guilty and was in the end sentenced to probation and a fine. he did not go to jail, which many people felt was a miscarriage of justice. i went to most of the court proceedings, so i went over to him and said, "i lost my house in the fire. and i forgive you." and he started talking about his involvement and his remorse. i don't know if it helped sergio martinez that i forgave him, but i know it helped me. we knew that we were walking miracles. 12 of our neighbors right around us in the canyon, within a mile, died that night doing the same things we were doing at the same time. why did we make it out? i don't know. but i know that god was with us through that. >> this fire changed the way i looked at the community, looked at my everyday life. when the chips are down and the community is facing adversity, this community still comes together. and that's what changed for me. i got to see it, and it was amazing. >> i think in some ways i really did die that night. i died to the old way of thinking of life. and i think in some ways i let go of a lot of things in this life that no longer meant anything to me. one of the miracles is that we still have fia with us today, and she's thriving and she's still the boss. and we still make sure she gets everything that she needs and then some, because she's a big part of the family. >> the constant criticism that >> the constant criticism that we heard immediately after the fire was that firefighters weren't there. they were abandoned. i understand that frustration. communities were left, but not by abandonment, by inability to get the resources. we just didn't have them. those were some of the finest hours of our troops. they never gave up. >> i've always looked to help people, to be what keeps them safe. and we did everything we could do. it wasn't enough, and lives were lost. >> the funeral of your child is the worst experience that a parent could go through. it is against nature, really. so one thing that was really incredible that our friend helped to organize for ashleigh was one last ride on a fire truck. >> we didn't want to put ashleigh in a hearse. >> i remember seeing police lights on both sides of the street. and the street was empty except for people that were standing along the street. >> and then all the firefighters were the honor guard, and it was really special for us. >> the physicians told us that allyson had less than a 15% chance of survival. the physician told our pastor to prepare for another funeral. they lost hope. >> my name is allyson roach and i survived. i was burned second and third degree burns over 86% of my body. i actually can't say how many surgeries i've had. but i've lost count at roughly 30 surgeries. i didn't think about having a family or falling in love, because i felt in my own head that no one was going to want to marry someone who looks like me. i very much felt like a frankenstein for a very long time. i was very lost with what i wanted to do for a career, and i ran into an old friend of mine, and she said, "san diego zoo safari park, they're hiring photographers." so i interviewed at the safari park, and i was actually hired on the spot. i would say about three or four months into the job, the strangest thing happened. i was photographing at the front gate, and this young man comes up to me, and you know, he says, "hi, how are you?" and i look at him and -- you know, i knew he worked there. i'd seen him there every once in a while. so i smiled and i politely said hi back. and he got kind of shy, and his face went quickly white. and he said, "well, i'd really like to talk to you, but i got to get going, so i guess i'll see you later, bye!" so we were engaged in april of 2008, and then we were married in january of 2009. and it's been a very beautiful marriage. >> on her wedding day, my prayers had been answered and her dreams had been fulfilled. >> another miracle from god is now i'm also a mother. so not only was i given the miracle of life, but i've also been given the opportunity to give the miracle of life. >> i had somehow sustained only minor burns, being in the same situation that my sisters were in. >> when the fire came through, it completely leveled the house down to nothing. it was just a pile of ash. we rebuilt the house. it is on the same spot that the other house was in on the same piece of property. >> we have been graced with an incredible life. we have been blessed with, you know, three incredible children. we have two incredible children that are still with us. absolutely delightful grandchildren. so what more can you really ask for, and how can you be angry and bitter over that? >> uncommon grace from the roach family. questions remain. sergio martinez, the hunter who pleaded guilty to "setting timber afire" in the national forest, did not set the fire that trapped the roach family. they were caught in a smaller blaze known as the paradise fire. investigators believe that, too, was arson, but no one's ever been charged. today, san diego county does have an early warning system in place. officials say it has already saved lives. that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm lester holt. >> i got a phone call. "somethin' is wrong with brandy. she's not movin, car's running." emergency vehicles, officers -- that's as far as i could go. there's my baby and i can't do nothin' about it. >> reporter: she was a hard-working young wife and mom. >> sweetest girl you could ever ask to meet. >> reporter: just minutes from home when she saw the headlights. >> somebody was tailin' her. >> my sister is in the driveway and her head is bloody. >> reporter: so you bury your girl. and then it's a murder investigation. >> yep. >> rep

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