Page 2 - Eric Marx News Today

Middletown, california, a normally quiet community of 1300 residents, about 70 miles north of san francisco. that all changed on september 12, 2015, after months of unusually dry heat an enormous wildfire erupts, sending 200-foot high flames racing toward the town. >> the trees and topography and the type of material that was burned had not burned in many, many years which contributed to the fast rate of the spread of flame. >> get in the car! >> 16-year-old eric marx was watching the inferno fr...

Pass over and you will be able to survive it. >> in the chaos, eric and his brother lose contact with their family. panicked, they decide to stay in their car and try to reach the nearby highway, but it doesnt take long to realize their mistake. >> there was fire hitting the window, embers. you could barely see five feet in front of you, even with the headlights. so we were just driving, we were driving on where we thought the road was. the entire engine compartment caught on fire, the wheels we...

From all sides, erics relatives take off in other vehicles while he jumps in the car with his brother. but as the brothers approach a nearby highway, they run straight into a wall of flames. >> hold on. go, go. oh, god. >> its fire on the highway and youre in the hot seat. and later, how would you fare during an attack by an armed intruder? >> it looked like for some reason, this is going to be the day that i die. somebody sent someone to kill me. theres a denture adhesive that holds strong unti...

Them with any materials available? >> you really shouldnt cover any, any vehicle with window covering, due to the fact that those are combustible materials, and those materials itself will start to catch fire, just based on the radiated heat. >> and rolling down your windows will only let the elements in faster. so if you chose b, you made the correct decision. keep those windows closed. >> what you want to do is stay encapsulated in that vehicle as best you can. its imperative to make sure your...

>> what i see is the kids, you know, with the car burning. i was panicking. i was shaking. for the whole, you know, commotion that was happening. but just when i think im going to lose them, i was feeling numb, but i got out and run to them. >> eric and his extended family make it out, but his grandmothers house is totally destroyed, along with 60% of middletowns other homes. in the end, several firefighters suffer severe burns and four civilians lost their lives. >> i do think it is a miracle t...

>> after losing track of their relatives, eric and his brother barely make it through the firestorm, escaping their car just seconds before its engulfed in flames. turns out their mother is nearby and witnesses their escape from the vehicle. >> what i see is the kids, you know, with the car burning. i was panicking. i was shaking. for the whole, you know, commotion that was happening. but just when i think im going to lose them, i was feeling numb, but i got out and run to them. >> eric and his ...

I was panicking. i was shaking for the whole commotion that was happening, but just to think that im going to lose them i was feeling numb, but i got out and ran to them. >> eric and his extended family make it out, but his grandmothers house is totally destroyed along with 60% of middletowns other homes. in the end, several firefighters suffered severe burns and four civilians lost their lives. >> i do think its a miracle that we survived. it was the scariest thing of my life, and it always wil...

Vehicle with window coverings due to the fact that those are combustible materials, and those materials itself will start to catch fire just based on the radiated heat. >> and rolling down your windows will only let the elements in faster. so if you chose b, you made the correct decision. keep those windows closed. >> what you want to do is try to stay encapsulated inside that vehicle as best as you possibly can. its imperative that you ensure that your windows are fully closed, that visibility ...

>> 16-year-old eric marx was watching the inferno from his grandmothers house in middletown when suddenly -- >> i saw the fire jump the road. so i told everybody, lets go, lets go, lets go. go! >> with choking smoke closing in from all sides, erics relatives take off in other vehicles while he jumps in the car with his brother. but as the brother approaches a highway, they run straight into a wall of flames. fire on the highway, and youre in the hot seat. and later. how would you fare during an ...

Actually overcome by smoke and fire. and making a run for it isnt much better. >> you should not flee on foot. you most likely would be safer in a structure that would protect you for a matter of moments rather being in the direct line of the wildfire. that fire front will move over you very rapidly, and you have a better chance of survivability by putting yourself inside of a structure. >> the correct answer is, b, but if no structure is available, theres another option. >> the best sort of esc...