‘We had to get out.... It was raining ashes’

They evacuated over black water, standing at the rail of nighttime ferries to look back at their beloved Santa Catalina, the wildfire ravaging the island becoming a faint, distant glow as the boats neared the mainland.

Scores of residents found that they had no choice Thursday but to leave after flames roared through backcountry brush and closed in on the picturesque town of Avalon.

“It’s heartbreaking,” said Amanda Cervantes, who has lived on the island for 24 years. She said people cried and fainted as they stood in long lines to board boats for the night crossing.

“Ash was falling everywhere,” Nicole Williamson, 14, said after arriving at Long Beach Harbor with her cockatiel.

Sarah Perez, 33, fled with her husband, Luis, and their 6-month-old daughter, stuffing two suitcases with clothes and family photos.

“The flames were huge,” Sarah Perez said. “It looked like they put it out, and then wind flared up and a giant fire was coming toward town.... We had to get out of there. It was raining ashes.”

Leticia Garcia, her five children, son-in-law and three grandchildren have lived on the island for 12 years. They boarded a ferry after hurrying from their apartment building, which was in the path of the fire.

“It’s bad,” Garcia said. “We got five minutes to get our stuff.”

Catalina Express sent six boats for the evacuees.

Some residents who were on the mainland when the fire broke out made frantic cellphone calls and waited anxiously at the harbor for boats carrying relatives and friends.

“Our school has burned; the graveyard has burned,” said Michael Wenger, 14, who had traveled with his mother to Long Beach for an orthodontia appointment. They stayed there and were waiting Thursday night for Michael’s father and other relatives.

Reyna Virgen, 13, was evacuated on a 7:45 p.m. ferry.

“At first, it seemed like it calmed down,” she said of the blaze. “Then the wind picked up, and we could see the fire running back to the beach and the helicopters trying to stop it.

“It was just a big mess. A whole bunch of people were crying.”

City buses took evacuees to Cesar E. Chavez Park in Long Beach, where the American Red Cross set up a temporary shelter. The residents were later moved to Cabrillo High School in west Long Beach.

Leonardo Garcia, 14, was at the center with his pregnant mother and 16-year-old brother. The boys had tried to be strong for their mom. “All I could think about is if we were going to be safe, and if our house was going to be burned down,” said Leonardo.

Back at the harbor, Carly Wills, 21, who grew up on Catalina and now lives in San Diego, waited for a ferry carrying her aunt and uncle. Her parents refused to leave.

Wills said the most enchanting spots on the island are in the interior.

“The beautiful part is what the tourists don’t get to see,” she said. “It sticks with you. Who gets to say you grew up on Catalina?”

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joe.mozingo@latimes.com

jeff.rabin@latimes.com

Times staff writers Paul Pringle, Seema Mehta and Ashley Powers contributed to this report.