Raging wildfires forced a couple in their 70’s to jump into the pool at their rental home in wine country last week to escape the blazes around them.
Armando and Carmen Berriz, 76 and 75, were on vacation with their family when the fire moved in on Monday.
After realizing the only spot that they might survive the devastating flames was the pool of their rental home, the couple jumped in, with Armando cradling his wife of 55 years in his arms while she took her final breaths.
Armando and Carmen Berriz, 76 and 75, were on vacation with their family when the fire moved in on Monday. The couple are pictured together on their final vacation
The wildfires in northern California overtook their rental home on Monday. Pictured are the flames burning in a residential area of Santa Rosa on Monday, October 9
‘That evening, we were playing games and we were by the pool about 10.30pm to 11pm,’ the couple’s daughter Monica Berriz Ocon told NBC.
‘We were in the Jacuzzi enjoying the evening. There was no trace of smoke or any haze. We couldn’t smell anything.’
A few hours later the family woke to the smell of smoke and within minutes the flames were growing swiftly around them.
‘It literally happened within a minute’s time,’ Ocon said.
‘It was very violent and very aggressive. I proceeded to wake up my daughter, told her to get up. She had only enough time to grab a towel to cover herself, and we all got in our cars.’
After realizing the only spot that they might survive the devastating flames was the pool of their rental home, the couple jumped in, with Armando cradling his wife of 55 years in his arms while she took her final breaths
The family had all been vacationing together in Santa Rosa to celebrate the Berriz’s combined birthdays. Armando and Carmen are pictured with their daughter Monica, who was on vacation with them
The family in separate cars but in the hatste Carmen and Armando became trapped by a fallen tree on the drive down and made their way back up towards the house
The longtime married couple were there for hours overnight as they breathed in the smoky air.
‘He and my mom grabbed each other’s arms, hands and they ran into the pool,’ Ocon explained.
‘It was the only thing that was not aflame – it was the only path he had, and he went there with my mom and they jumped in.’
After five to six hours of keeping themselves partially submerged, only coming up to breathe in the smokey air, the flames started subsiding.
Armando was able to climb out of the pool after the fires past but Carmen did not make it and died at around 7am in her husband’s arms in the swimming pool.
‘My mother fought hard,’ Ocon said.
‘She did not have the stamina that my father had, and they were together the whole time. She slowly lost strength, and it was a blessing. She passed away in my father’s arms peacefully.’
The blazes, which have been blamed for at least 40 deaths and some 5,700 destroyed homes and other structures, finally took a turn for the better on Sunday, according to fire officials. Pictured – homes that were destroyed by the fires in Santa Rosa are seen from an aerial view
Winds have started dying down, and fire officials said Sunday they have apparently ‘turned a corner’ against the wildfires that have devastated California wine country and other parts of the state over the past week, and thousands of people got the all-clear to return home. Pictured is a helicopter dropping water onto one of the wildfires on Sunday in Oakville
The family had all been vacationing together in Santa Rosa to celebrate the Berriz’s combined birthdays.
Armando was released from the hospital and is recovering at his home in Salinas, California. But ‘he hasn’t begun the emotional recovery,’ Ocon said.
She added: ‘Everything they did was as a team. They had this bond and this strength that literally lasted a lifetime.
The blazes, which have been blamed for at least 40 deaths and some 5,700 destroyed homes and other structures, finally took a turn for the better on Sunday, according to fire officials.
Winds have started dying down, and fire officials said Sunday they have apparently ‘turned a corner’ against the wildfires that have devastated California wine country and other parts of the state over the past week, and thousands of people got the all-clear to return home.
While the danger from the deadliest, most destructive cluster of blazes in California history is far from over, the smoky skies started to clear in some places.