It’s heartbreaking work. Kathleen Scott and her sister, Tanya Wall are digging through piles of debris. It’s all that’s left of their home, on Old Coach Drive in Camarillo.
Sifting through the ashes, Scott finds a glass Christmas tree ornament which somehow didn’t break.
"Yaaaa! Maybe we can clean that up," exclaimed Wall. "It's charred...well, maybe."
All that’s left of the house are a few walls, and the charred remains of some appliances like a washing machine. Scott admits they don’t expect to find much, and she’s very philosophical about it.
"We came up, and everything was still smoldering," said Scott. "We don't really need anything...things are just things."
She described what it was like Wednesday afternoon, when she first discovered the fire was headed their way.
"I was here," said Scott. "So, I came outside to go to work and I saw flying embers. The sky was black, and I decided I better...we better do something. We didn't get any evacuation notice. It just happened too fast, I think. Got some paperwork, that's all we got, and ran up and down the street, honking horns, because there's a lot of elderly on the street, hoping to get their attention to look outside."
About a dozen houses burned in the Old Coach Drive area. But, Scott says she’s grateful that everyone was able to get out of the inferno safely.
"It was totally a miracle (that people got out) for sure.
It's a miracle that people got out unscathed. It's a miracle it's not worse," said Scott. "I mean, it's horrific, it looks like a war zone up here. But, you know what? Things come out of ashes. As long as you look for it, you can see the good for sure."
There is something Scott wants to find. She had some mementos from her late daughter, Jacqueline.
"I have a daughter who's in heaven. She passed away in 2007. I'm just trying to see if there's anything left of her memories," said Scott.
What’s next for Scott, and her sister Tanya?
"Oh, we are surrounded...thank god, we are surrounded by family, and friends. So, we're both going to couch surf for a little bit, and try to get our bearings, and figure out where we go from here."
Scott says while losing just about everything she owned was heartbreaking, she has a positive attitude about it. She said things are just things, much of which can be replaced. But, she says you can’t replace a life.
