This is correct, the wall saved much of the house. It was actually put there to bring the swimming pool and rear patio up to grade of the house. The master bedroom is on the lower level and has 8' of mud, boulders, and trees in it. Because it was being cleaned and re-painted after the fire, my parents, by the grace of God, were sleeping upstairs. They would surely have been buried alive had thing been different. A search and rescue team actually climbed through the debris, cut a path through, and extracted them. This picture my news friend shared with me shows my 80 year old mom, white as a ghost in shock being escorted out of their driveway the morning of the disaster. My dad can be seen way in the background (in the red vest) coming out as well. These search and rescue guys are heroes, we owe so much to them. My mom is tough as nails...she lost everything (house, friends, all belongings) as a kid in Germany in the war. She came to the US, built up a successful clothing business then, 70 plus years later, she has lost her house, belongings, and several friend once again. Speaking with her last night, she says she's ready to try to build all over again.
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