Carol Christian, who escaped with her son and cat, said reality set in as she drove from her burning neighborhood.

“You look up and then you watch all the trees candle-topping … up the hills where you live and you’re thinking: ‘Oh, my God. We got out just in time,’ ” Christian told the Associated Press. “It’s an overwhelming feeling to think that you’ll never see your house again.”

When the fire entered Centennial Trailer Park, John Davidson’s home was the second to go. He watched as flames enveloped the neighborhood, thinking of the valuables he would never get back. He and his girlfriend had lived in the park for more than a year, the CBC reported, and kept their cars and two snowmobiles there.

“Everything I worked for the last two years,” Davidson told the CBC, “it’s all gone.”