Heroes come in all shapes and sizes. For the Zavala family, theirs happens to be a bearded man wearing none other than a Superman T-shirt.
Wildfires have ravaged California, burning out of control and gobbling up homes, vehicles, and buildings as they spread erratically. Firefighters are doing their best to quell the flames, but it’s difficult to stay ahead of them.
It doesn’t help when several different wildfires plague the state at the same time, zapping resources and putting residents on edge. For some, evacuations are ordered slightly in advance, giving them enough time to grab a few belongings and head for a safer area.
Sadly, not everyone receives enough notice and must flee their homes with nothing but the clothes they’re wearing.
One fire invaded an area 60 miles east of Los Angeles during the overnight hour while families were sound asleep. Paul Peterson realized the fire had descended upon his neighborhood. Some people had already escaped, but the Zavala family had not.
Marcy, her husband Henry and their four young kids were sound asleep in their home. Embers from the fire were falling on their rooftop while flames encroached their property, only half a block away.
Knowing that their very lives were in danger, Paul sprinted up to their front door at 2 a.m., screaming “Henry!” at the top of his lungs.
“Henry! Get up! The hill’s on fire!”
Their Ring doorbell camera caught their hero in action, screaming frantically to try and wake up the young family. Sparks scattered down around the man.
“I opened the gate and was screaming as loud as I could.”
The family was sleeping quite soundly and it took a lot of pounding on their door to get them to stir.
Miraculously, their home was spared, but others were not. Marcy and Paul were able to meet up afterward so that she could show her gratitude to him for saving her life and that of her family.
“All my kids are under the age of six and to have our lives in danger is crazy… I haven’t had a chance to tell him thank you. Words can’t express the feeling… I just thank God he gave us enough time to get out of here.”
Researchers are discovering that the same areas keep burning repeatedly in California. The Kincade fire in Sonoma County, which forced hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate in October and was extinguished recently, burned through areas destroyed by the 2017 Tubbs fire and the 2015 Valley fire.
Scientists also believe that global warming is contributing to the onslaught of wildfires. Hotter, drier weather makes California’s hills and valleys ripe for kindling resulting in a longer fire season.
Weird things also seem to happen. A woman who disappeared almost 300 days ago during the deadly Camp Fire popped up in Oroville. She had been listed as missing last November after the most damaging wildfire in California history virtually destroyed the town of Paradise.
While a man in a Superman shirt sprinting up to the front door and screaming loudly may be considered weird, too, he most definitely is a hero in our eyes.
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