A couple from California escaped from a fire after sitting in a pool for six hours
A married couple from California managed to survive during a forest fire that engulfed the area by hiding in a neighbor's pool.
65-year-old Jen Pasco and her husband, 70-year-old John, were trapped in their home in Santa Rosa, California. The whole area was on fire, and they had nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. Then they decided to take shelter in the blackened, garbage-filled pool next door. Houses were burning all around, and the flames were getting closer.
The couple watched the forest fire from a mountaintop house until they finally decided to go outside. "We were in survival mode," Jen said. They jumped into the car and tried to drive away, but to no avail. "There was just a wall of flames." Fearing the worst outcome, Jen and her husband thought about the neighbor's pool and quickly ran to him. "Jump," John ordered when they came to the pool, and took off his pants and jacket. They tied T-shirts over their faces so as not to suffocate from the smoke when they emerged from the water.
"I thought someone was coming for us, but no one came," Jen said. Fortunately for her and her husband, the pool was shallow — just a little over a meter. The couple spent about six hours in the water. Jen and John stood back to back to stay awake.
When they came out of the water, their personal belongings were melted, and everything around, including their house and the neighbor's, was completely destroyed. "We held hands and left," John said.
Wildfires in Northern California have killed at least 31 people, officials say.
Keywords: Pool | Survival | California | Wildfires | Couple