Rosa

"The old lady said to me, 'Look Rosa, see what happened on New Year’s?' And I looked through the window and saw that the mountain behind her house had burned. She told me some kids did it. Fireworks on New Year’s.

Two minutes later, I went back to the window. I saw something there, like ashes, but also wind. And I told the lady, “I see something on the hill.” And the lady said, “Oh no, it's just the wind and the ashes.” And I said, “No, it's something else.” I continued doing my cleaning, but maybe 20 minutes later, I saw something burning. I went to the lady, and I said, “Hey look, the mountain is burning.” Five minutes later it's completely burning. So I'm scared. I go to the neighbors, knock on all the doors, “Hey, the mountain is burning!” I call 911, run everywhere, try to get everyone on the cul-de-sac out of their houses, but I can't convince the old lady to leave. She continues to say, “Oh, it's nothing. It’s nothing.”

I go, “You know what? This is a fire. We have to go. Now.”

Then, the helicopters came and started throwing water and everything. And I'm saying, "Let's go! Let's go!" And the lady said, “No, no, no.” Finally I say, “You know what, you want to stay? You can stay. I'm sorry. But I'm gonna leave. I have a family, I have kids and my husband. I'm not staying." Then the lady said, "Okay, wait, wait. Let me get my purse and my stuff." It was only maybe five minutes, but to me, it was a long time you know, because I was ready to run. 

We start driving. About one mile before sunset, everybody left their cars in the middle of the road, so I can’t drive anymore. I just wait in the car, thinking, What do I do? What do I do? What do I do with this old lady in my car? And then the palms start burning in the middle of the street, and I see the flames on my car. So I leave my car, and save my life, and hers, and her dog. She can’t run because she’s 80. Eighty years old! So so skinny and sick and everything. And I just start looking for help. I see some firefighters, and I say, hey, I need some help with the lady. I told so many people, I need some help. I need some help. By myself, sure I can walk, I can run, I can do a lot of stuff by myself, but with the lady, I can’t do anything. Nobody helped us. Nobody paid attention to me. So I start walking with the lady to Sunset Boulevard.

Rosa's video taken on Palisades Drive while waiting for help

One of my clients on El Medio called me, and she said "I have to evacuate too but come to my house. I will leave a car here. Take the car and get out." Then some teenager who was driving by asked  if I needed help and I said, "Yes, I need help! Take me to El Medio!"

When we get to her house, I just see… a Tesla. Michelle, I never drove a Tesla in my life. I thought oh my God, how I'm gonna drive the Tesla? I had no idea how to drive a Tesla! 

I don't see a key, but when I see the little card, the kid said that’s the key for the the Tesla. He says, "Look at the computer, this is to go straight, and this is to go reverse." That's it. Then he drove away. So I just put the lady in the car, the dog, and I say, “God help me.” I start driving little by little. At the first stop sign I say, stop, stop, stop. I don't know how to stop the car. Finally, I figured out how the car stopped. I did it, Michelle. Oh, my god. It's so crazy, and I was very, very nervous. And the old lady is like, “Be careful, Rosa, be careful, be careful.” At some point I turned to her and said, You know what? Don't talk to me. Don't say anything. Let me focus on driving the Tesla.”

Then my kids, my husband, were calling me, “Get out of there. Get out of there!” And I had to tell my family, don't call me. Don't call me. I promise you, I'm leaving. I promise you, everything is going to be fine. Just don't call me anymore. It was a lot of calls, a lot of nerves, a lot of things on my mind. I had to focus and drive the Tesla and and get on the 10 freeway.

Let me tell you, when I got home, when I got out of the Tesla, I felt like, maybe 500 pounds on my back, a lot of stress, a lot of something heavy, something very weird.  I just got my purse, went inside my house, sat on the sofa, and started crying, maybe for like 10 minutes, like crazy. My kids hugged me. Everybody was crying, “Mom, finally, you’re here! Thank God!” 

For three nights, or maybe more like a week, I would wake up and think did that really happen?  And I’d go to my window, and see the Tesla parked in front of my house, and I’d realize yes, it happened. This is not a dream. And then, you know, I start crying like crazy.

I feel so sad when I go back to Pacific Palisades. I feel like everyone is the same now. Rich people are like poor people and poor people are like rich people. I feel so sad for them. I feel like I am rich. I feel like I am rich because I have my house, I have my family. I am rich."