Martha and Michael Collins speak fondly of the bohemian community around their idyllic home in Montecito. The couple have been married for 20 years, and the acupuncturist and documentary maker are so in step that they finish each other’s sentences. But 16 years ago, their beloved home was destroyed in a wildfire known as the Tea Fire.
"It was beautiful house. It was a hand-built house from post-World War Two. The musicians that came to play at Santa Barbara Bowl in the 60s - it was a whole neighborhood of dancers and poets and artists. And so they partied up at the old house," said Martha.
She relives the fateful night that their home was destroyed.
"I was cooking. Michael was setting the table. And all I hear from this guy is ****! So I stick my head around and I look and it is a three story, four story wall of flames," she said.
"To me, it was over 100ft high," added Michael.
"We had six minutes to get out. I got two pictures. He got his computer and we got the dogs," said Martha.
They still have their two dogs, Lucky and Finnegan - and the two photographs they rescued from the wall as they fled their home. They say it’s not losing everything which is the most traumatic part – it’s the long and arduous task of navigating rebuilding - and avoiding scammers.
"It is a trauma," says Martha. "People have different levels of resources to deal with it. It's a break in reality. Your constructs of what your life is and where your life is and how your life is are gone.
"It's not losing all your stuff. It's the years that it takes negotiating with the planning department, the permit department, building materials - costs have accelerated because there's a whole group of you trying to walk through the same process, finding architects, finding engineers. That's the PTSD," said Martha.
"And one of the things that people have to deal with after a fire is a scam artists and crooks," warned Michael.
Is it triggering to relive it when wildfires burn, like the destructive Palisades and Eaton Wildfires this month?
"It is triggering. But I'll tell you, the silver linings are really about resilience. Teamwork. Goals, clarity and using resources in yourself that maybe had been dormant, maybe had not been honed, or maybe had not seen the light of day. And that's really the beautiful part of how great losing that house was," she says.
They did rebuild but don’t live in Montecito anymore. And Martha says that fire risk is a top priority when it comes to choosing where they live now.
'We're driving around and he goes, 'This is so beautiful'. And I go, 'high fire. high fire'" she says.
"People think, I'm going to have all this time to evacuate. Guess what? You might have six minutes!"
They hope that by sharing their story, it can offer hope and a metaphorical hand hold, as others are faced with that same arduous task.
