CAMARILLO, Calif. — Ken and Brittanie Bibby had barely moved into their new home in the hills of Camarillo when the Mountain Fire swept through, reducing their dreams to ashes. They had returned from Arizona, hoping for a fresh start surrounded by roots and memories, but the blaze left them with little more than what they could carry.

“I never wanted to move again,” Ken Bibby said, reflecting on the devastation. “I finally gave my mom a home up in the hills. And now it’s not here.”

The Bibbys managed to evacuate with only their son, Ken’s elderly mother and grandmother, two dogs and the clothes on their back. With little warning, they had mere moments to escape.

“It sounded like an inferno, an absolute inferno going off in here,” Bibby said.

The family now waits in line at a nearby food bank, joining dozens of neighbors displaced by the fire. The burned shell of their home is a constant reminder of what they lost.

The fire’s destruction spread quickly through this Camarillo neighborhood, with many homes left standing in ruin. 

For the Bibbys, the challenges of rebuilding are intensified by uncertainty. The home, inherited from Brittanie’s grandfather, was passed down in a trust, leaving questions about insurance coverage.

“What is my next step?” Ken Bibby wondered aloud. “How do I provide a roof over my family’s head? How do I provide food and clothing?”

Despite the destruction, the family and their neighbors draw strength from their shared resolve to rebuild.