As the number of homes lost to the devastating Thomas brushfire in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties continues to grow, we hear more and more harrowing stories of the close calls of people fleeing the fast moving flames.
A Santa Barbara County man has one of those stories.
Carl Cook lost his rural home outside of Carpinteria, and barely escaped the inferno.
Cook was asleep in the home northeast of Carpinteria Saturday night when his roommate woke him up, because he thought the fire was approaching the rural canyon area. Cook looked outside, saw the fast moving flames, and they decided to flee.
They made it to safety, but returned to find everything they owned had been destroyed by the inferno. But, Cook is philosophical about what happened, saying he’s thankful that he, his roommate, and his pets made it to safety. He says in a way, because of the loss of his possessions, he feels free, because he no longer needs to worry about what to do with all of his stuff.
