The hummingbirds have already returned to the decimated property where Maurice Kerr's beloved Camarillo home once stood.
It's a small, fluttering sign of hope for someone who lost just about everything in the retirement home of 14 years when the devastating Mountain Fire burned through his neighborhood last week.
"It was lovely. It was a piece of heaven," Kerr said. "Enjoyed the hummingbirds in the morning, and this amazing view. My wife and I would sit on the patio out here, just beyond this wall.
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"I wake up thinking about standing in a room and going through all the things that I had that are gone."
The house burned to the ground in the wind-fanned wildfire that started rapidly grew Nov. 6 and destroyed more than 200 structures in and around the Ventura County community. Computers, clothes medication and more were left behind as flames approached and the Kerrs left.
But a terrifying situation was just minutes away from becoming much worse, Kerr said.
In the shadow of wildfire smoke, Kerr sprayed water from a small hose on what was well on its way to becoming a 20,600-acre wildfire. Kerr, who had been pelted by hot embers, felt someone grab him by the arm.
"I was out there as long as I could until the fireman came back, and he grabbed me by the arm, after I had already sprayed myself off because I was getting hit with embers," Kerr said. "He said, 'We have to go. Buddy, we have to go now.'
"It was close. Had I been here three or four more minutes, I would have been overcome in the backyard. In about, maybe five- plus minutes, the house went up. I would have died in the house. These guys pulled me out just in the knick of time."
A photo taken by his wife shows Kerr covered in ash moments after he left the chaotic scene.
"I am damn lucky," Kerr said. "So when I say they saved my life, they truly did. Those guys are great. I love them."
This week, Kerr hung two sings on the tree in his front yard. One reads, “We are not defeated, we are rebuilding.” Another says, "Thank you firefighters + responders – you saved my life."
He's also replaced the hummingbird feeders on his patio.
"The hummingbirds already came back," Kerr said. "We're going to be ok."
Containment of the Mountain Fire Wednesday was at 60 percent.
