Former Triangle residents share experiences surviving LA wildfires

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- As the catastrophic wildfires in Southern California rage into their second week, ABC11 is hearing from survivors of the deadly blaze with Triangle ties. They're among the thousands of people trying to decide what's next after being displaced or losing everything.

One of those individuals, a mother of four who lived in Raleigh for 20 years before moving to Pacific Palisades, described the ordeal.

"You could see the flames, you could see all the destruction," said Sara Trepanier.

Trepanier was out walking her dog last week -- like any other day, she said -- when she looked up into the hills outside Pacific Palisades and saw flames barreling down towards her neighborhood.

"I don't know how to even express how terrifying it is to see this looming and feel like all your avenues are trapped," she said.

Trepanier called Pacific Palisades her "happy place" -- a town she and her four kids instantly fell in love with after living in Raleigh. She is a former doctor with the Duke Health system.

ALSO SEE: Southern CA residents describe frightening scenes in Los Angeles: 'It looks completely apocalyptic'

Trepanier said the tight-knit nature of the Pacific Palisades community has made the last week even harder to bear.

"It's consuming the town and all of these places there," she said. "I can't tell you, like, not only historically, but these churches and schools are the heart of everybody's lives."

On Sunday ABC11 also connected with Ryan Abourisk, the Raleigh native whose grandfather's Pacific Palisades home -- the family home his mother grew up in -- was also lost in the fires.

"There's National Guard everywhere, police everywhere. I mean, you just can't get up there," said Abourisk, describing the situation there.

Abourisk's grandfather, 93-year-old Eric Back, said he had lived in that house with his late wife for 60 years before it burned.

"She passed away two years ago. So in a way, I'm happy she just didn't have to see what actually happened now. So it's very difficult," he said.

For Eric and Ryan, the last few days have meant lots of leaning on family.

"I'm holding up because Ryan is doing a lot for me. You know, kids try to do some shopping and stuff that I desperately need. So I have a good helper here," Back said.

Ryan, Eric, and Sara are three of the countless victims of these deadly wildfires urging people to give in any way that they can.

"It's very hard for me to do this but that's the reason I really wanted to do it, was to give people hope to come back to the town and help rebuild and have the support to help, especially for these children to have the town again," said Trepanier.

Both Ryan and Sara have set up online fundraisers to try and find their footing and start the process of rebuilding once all the fires are under control.

RELATED: Raleigh woman's father loses home in devastating California wildfires: 'Just breaks my heart'