2 weeks after they inherited a home, the Mountain fire wiped away their fresh start
Two weeks ago, Brittanie Bibby, husband Kenneth and their 15-month-old baby moved from Arizona to Camarillo to live in the home she inherited from her father, maxing out their credit cards to turn the dilapidated property into a safe place to live.
On Wednesday, that safe place burned to the ground, leaving the family with no home, no savings and no clue what comes next.
The next day, the shellshocked parents struggled to come to grips with the financial toll of the incident and the catastrophic sentimental loss.
“We lost everything,” said Brittanie. “All of our family memories, all of our possessions, Social Security cards, death certificates, birth certificates, my husband’s father’s ashes, my father’s ashes and my mother’s ashes.”
Their property was among the 132 structures destroyed by the fast-moving Mountain fire, which ignited Wednesday morning and scorched more than 20,000 acres in the mountains of Ventura County by Thursday evening.
The family started to collect donations on GoFundMe on Thursday and was able to get diapers and fresh clothes for baby Ken. Brittanie planned to sleep in an evacuation shelter Thursday night and take a fresh stab at her mountain of tasks Friday morning.
“Being a mom, I don’t really have a choice to panic or to not think through the steps, because I have a tiny human that is 100% dependent on me,” she said. “So while I feel a whole bunch of things, I have to try to keep a clear mind so that I’m giving him the best care.”
At the top of her priority list is trying to find a pediatrician; Ken suffers from asthma and his health is put at risk by the thick wildfire smoke.
Satellite imagery showcases the Mountain fire’s fury as homes are reduced to rubble and a vast plume of smoke stretches into the atmosphere.
“We have been doing everything in our power to keep him in filtered air and clean air so he doesn’t get triggered by the ash,” she said, “because all of his medication and inhaler burned up.”
When Brittanie received the evacuation alert around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, she ran to the nursery to try to pack up the baby’s essentials, such as clothing and medicine. But, glancing out a window, she was met with a terrifying sight — giant flames leaping from structures just one street away as the wind swept smoke up the hill and toward her house.
There was no time to pack; the priority now was getting everyone out alive.
She grabbed her baby and helped her mother-in law, Denise Bibby, her grandmother-in-law, Huguette Doucette, and her two elderly dogs get out of the house.
As she sped away, flames from burning brush leaped up and lapped over the car. A dark thought went through her head — “I’m not going to survive.”
The Bibbys made it safely to a friend’s house. About three hours later, Brittanie felt herself going into shock.
“I went from being somewhat comfortable to absolutely freezing,” she said. “Even though the house was like 75 degrees, my fingers turned blue and I had to be covered in blankets and sweaters.”
Baby Ken has also been affected and is having difficulties sleeping in his confusing new surroundings.
“We’re very sleep-deprived, because he spends a lot of the night crying,” she said.
His parents are also on edge as they face an uncertain future.
They are still awaiting information from their trust attorney on whether the home was insured and are researching relief grants they may be eligible for.
On Sunday, Kenneth is planning on returning to work as a crew member at Trader Joe’s. On Monday, Brittanie is scheduled to start a full-time customer service job at Walmart.
After feeling so happy to finally be settled into their new home, it’s hard for the couple to adjust to this post-fire reality.
“It’s a big system shock, almost like you’re in a bad dream,” said Brittanie. “You just want to wake up.”
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