Two weeks ago, Brittany Bibby, husband Kenneth and their 15-month-old son moved from Arizona to Camarillo to live in the house they inherited from their 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 homeless, without their savings and unsure of what to expect next.
The following day, the shocked parents struggled to cope with the financial implications of the incident and the tragic loss.
“We lost everything,” said Brittany. “All our family memories, all our possessions, Social Security cards, death certificates, birth certificates, my husband's father's ashes, my father's ashes and my mother's ashes.”
Brittany Bibby holds her baby, Ken. Brittany and her husband lost their home in Camarillo to the Mountain Fire two weeks after moving in.
(Brittany Bibby)
Their property was among 132 structures destroyed by the fast-moving Mountain Fire, which broke out Wednesday morning and burned more than 20,000 acres in the mountains of Ventura County by Thursday evening.
The family started collecting donations on GoFundMe on Thursday and were able to get new diapers and clothes for baby Ken. Brittany plans to spend the night at the shelter Thursday night and resume her mountain of work Friday morning.
“As I am a mother, I have no choice to panic or not think about the steps, because I have a little one who relies on me 100%,” she said. So even though I feel overwhelmed, I have to try to keep a clear mind to give 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 being put at risk by wildfire smoke.
“We were doing everything we could to keep him in filtered air and clean air so he wouldn't be woken up by the ash,” she said, “because all his medicine and his inhaler burned.”
When Brittany got the warning to evacuate around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, she ran to the nursery to try to pack the baby's essentials, like clothes and medicine. But, when he glanced out the window, he was met with a terrifying sight – huge flames leaping from buildings one street away as the wind swept the smoke up the hill and towards his house.
There was no time to pack; the priority now was to get everyone out alive.
The Mountain Fire destroyed homes on both sides of Old Coach Drive in Camarillo.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
She grabbed her baby and helped her mother-in-law, Denise Bibby, her grandmother, Huguette Doucette, and her two elderly dogs out of the house.
As he sped off, flames from the burning brush leapt over the car. A dark thought came to his head – “I will not live.”
The Bibbys arrived safely at a friend's house. After three hours, Brittany felt panicked.
“I went from being comfortable to completely cold,” she said. “Even though the house was 75 degrees, my fingers turned blue and I had to cover myself with blankets and sweaters.”
Baby Ken is also affected and has difficulty sleeping in his new confusing environment.
“We don't sleep much, because he spends many nights crying,” she said.
His parents are also on edge as they face an uncertain future.
They are still waiting for information from their trusted attorney about whether the home was insured and are researching the benefits they may be eligible for.
On Sunday, Kenneth plans to return to work as a team member at Trader Joe's. On Monday, Brittany is scheduled to start a full-time job serving customers at Walmart.
After feeling very happy about settling into their new home, it is difficult for the couple to adjust to this post-fire reality.
“It's such a shock to the show, it's almost like you're in a bad dream,” Brittany said. “You just want to wake up.”
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