Lake Arrowhead, California, woman escapes wildfires, says friends are losing their homes
California woman escapes wildfires, says her friends are losing their homes
Dayna Czermak of Lake Arrowhead, California, speaks to Fox News Digital about the multiple natural disasters she has lived through. She's now escaping the California wildfires.
Dayna Czermak, a Lake Arrowhead, California, resident who has been called the "unluckiest woman," says she has seen her fair share of natural disasters and is currently on the move evacuating from devastating wildfires.
"I'm nervous now, and I know so many people in Running Springs, the next little tiny town over that are losing their house right now as we speak, and it absolutely kills me. Those are my friends and even the people that aren't my friends, even the people I don't know," Czermak told Fox News Digital in an on-camera interview.
In San Bernardino County, where Lake Arrowhead is located, nearly 2,000 firefighters and personnel are battling the blaze, burning more than 26,400 acres, Fox Weather reported.
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The mother of four said she drove to her aunt’s home in Las Vegas after a third emergency alert was sent to evacuate.
Dayna Czermak told Fox News Digital she packed up her car to evacuate Lake Arrowhead, California and headed to Las Vegas for safety. (Dayna Czermak)
"My car is full of pictures because I'm so sentimental. That’s what's important to me, pictures. My car [is] full of pictures [from] all over the house. Photo albums, everything."
Her husband, Lance, is still in Lake Arrowhead and waiting for the final alert to evacuate. As of now, her home and family members are safe.
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Czermak said that as she was leaving, it appeared community members were evacuating while others appeared ready to go with trailers attached to cars.
"It looks like they're heeding the warnings, and everything's closed up in town. No banks. No stores are open except for one grocery store... sheriffs, highway patrol, fire trucks are everywhere."
Czermak was once dubbed by news reporters as the "unluckiest woman" in reference to how many times she's faced natural disasters — she has witnessed or escaped at least five in her life.
In San Bernardino County, where Lake Arrowhead is located, nearly 2,000 firefighters and personnel are battling the blaze. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
"It has [been] 16, 17 years since the last fire, so you can't say the 'unluckiest one,' but we'll see because next time I move, we'll have that conversation."
It was in 2007 when Hurricane Katrina hit that brought devastation to Czermak and her family while living in New Orleans.
"There was about 10 feet of flooding [in my house]. So everything on the bottom floor was completely destroyed and everything on the top floor ended up smelling like mildew and mold."
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Dayna Czermak of Lake Arrowhead, California, told Fox News Digital that she headed to Las Vegas after evacuating from devastating wildfires. She has survived other natural disasters, including Hurricane Katrina in 2007. (Fox News Digital)
Hurricane Katrina was responsible for 1,833 fatalities and approximately $108 billion in damage with millions of people left homeless along the Gulf Coast and in New Orleans, according to the National Weather Service.
Czermak said that she and her family were staying in a hotel when the National Guard ordered a mandatory evacuation of the area.
Czermak says her family evacuated from New Orleans in 2007 during Hurricane Katrina. (Dayna Czermak)
She said they hopped into their car, which was submerged in water, driving it out of the hotel parking garage.
"There were people crawling on our car. There were people crawling on our car, wanting our car, [in hopes to get out]" she said.
Czermak and her family drove 20 hours to Houston, Texas, to stay with a friend for the next three months, she said.
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After spending time in Texas, Hurricane Rita hit, prompting Czermak to evacuate her family once again.
Two years ago, Czermak and her family were snowed in for 11 days without electricity following a blizzard. (Dayna Czermak)
Two years ago, Czermak and her family lived through yet another extreme weather event, this one a blizzard.
"We were snowed in for 11 days in our house with no electricity," she said, calling it "Snowmageddon."
Czermak said she advises others to "be organized" so they can be better prepared during a natural disaster.
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"I am normally scattered," she said. "Have everything in a place that you know, can be ready to go. That’s what we did. I'm much more organized [now]."
Czermak told Fox News Digital that she advises others to "be organized" in order to be better prepared during a natural disaster. (Getty Images, Dayna Czermak)
Czermak said her son suggested that she move near him and his family in Pittsburgh, where there are no natural disasters.
She joked "I said, I am sure I’ll bring one with me, like flooding something."
