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'I Tried To Get As Far Away As I Could': Pa. Native Recounts Fleeing Deadly Wildfires In California

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PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- As Eyewitness News connected over live video call with Montgomery County Native, Vernon Herald, the Santa Ana winds rushing through his neighborhood were audible.

"This is something I wouldn't want anyone to experience," said Herald.

The Herald family moved to the Los Angeles area from Lansdale a year ago. On Friday they were forced to evacuate from their West Hills, California home as the Woosley Fire was pushed closer by heavy winds.

"Life is more important than anything and I haven't been in my house long enough to be that attached to it anyway," he said.

 

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Vernon praised the work of firefighters and first responders and shared photos with Eyewitness News that were taken just before leaving his neighborhood for Burbank. The pictures show fire creeping over the hillside that borders the family home.

"I tried to get as far away as I could," he said, "Burbank I would say is about a 45-minute drive from here and we stayed there for four nights."

Once home, the Heralds found out that their home had been spared, but with the wind still fueling the nearby inferno, that could change.

"It's hazardous and dangerous, obviously. We just listen to authorities when they say to move we move," he said.

Officials say more than 50 people have died as a result of the wildfires.

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