Fire destroys family home just before Christmas

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers AFTERMATH OF HOUSE FIRE- Diana Woolley stands in the foyer of her Regal Oak Court home in Thousand Oaks. Her two-story house burned on Monday evening, Dec. 8. Her teenage son, Christian, was home alone when he discovered a fire that began inside the walls. Christian saved the dogs, called the fire department and got out unharmed. When the firefighters arrived, they stepped inside the home just in time for the roof to collapse, nearly striking them. After the smoke detector went off, 19-year-old Christian Woolley heard fire crackling from the attic of his family's two-story Regal Oak Court home in T.O.

It was around 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 8, and he was alone in the house.

The Eagle Scout dialed 911 as he ran to the backyard to rescue Dante and Xander, two 14monthold Labrador retrievers.

His mother, Diana Woolley, had just left to attend Scouts with Christian's three younger brothers—Tom, 18, John 14, and David, 11.

Six fire engines, two trucks and additional equipment arrived minutes later to what was a two-alarm fire, said Capt. Ron Oatman, a Ventura County Fire Department spokesperson.

Neighbors saw flames coming from the roof, he said.

"When the firefighters walked inside the home, the roof caved in, narrowly missing the firefighters," Oatman said.

Everyone escaped injury, and by midnight the fire was completely extinguished, but the blaze had destroyed much of the home, leaving it uninhabitable. Enough is left so the family can eventually rebuild.

"We are now living with our neighbors. If everyone treated everyone how we've been treated, the world would be a paradise," Diana Woolley said.

All of the upstairs bedrooms are gone, leaving Woolley and her sons without their clothes or any other personal items.

"They don't have anything left, but friends have given them clothes, shoes, school supplies, backpacks, whatever they need," she said.

Like Christian, Tom is an Eagle Scout, and the two youngest boys are following in their brothers' footsteps, Woolley said.

Their neighbors and their Scouting family have been a great support to them, she said.

"Diana is the friend who is the first to help whenever there's a problem, and people are now here for her," said Lisa Cerrotta.

Diana Woolley is working with her insurance company and plans to rent a house for most of the next year until her home is rebuilt, she said.

Outside, multicolored Christmas lights still dangle from the eaves of the home that was once a safe haven for the family.

Inside, a grand staircase now leads to nowhere. The sky appears where there once was a ceiling. A Christmas tree still stands in the corner of the living room, but the floor is covered with soot. There are charred picture frames in the ashes.

"Those were my sons' graduation pictures," Woolley said.

Sorrow covers her face for a moment, then she smiles as she recalls the firefighters and their dedication to saving as much of her home as they possibly could.

"They treated our house as if it were their own. They stacked and covered everything they could with a tarp before they hosed it down," she said.

The original owners of the 3,000-square-foot home, the Woolley family had lived there for 14 years.

The cause of the fire is still unknown and is under investigation, but thus far it's been determined the fire began inside the walls and went up into the attic, Oatman said.

"It could have happened to anyone. It's not like we had lit a candle," Woolley said.

After the fire started, Woolley was called by a neighbor and told her house was on fire. She had just been there and knew Christian was home. She raced back and found firetrucks lined up in front of her house, but she didn't see her son. Then, there he was out in the street.

"I was so glad to see him. I was so scared and then there he was. I thank God he was all right—we're all alive and that's what's most important."