A Simi Valley woman whose home miraculously survived the Sandy Fire as it inched toward her property said she feared she wouldn’t make it out alive during her frantic effort to get to safety.
Surveillance footage captured heavy smoke, flames and intense wind whipping through Trickling Brook Court on Monday as the Sandy Fire moved closer to the neighborhood. In a matter of seconds, the ashy sky glowed a bright orange as the blaze approached, all while Jennifer Borow packed up her car to vacate to safety.
“We left here like it looked like in the middle of a tornado,” Borow described the terrifying conditions from Monday. “…The smoke through the N-95 mask was just burnt. I thought, ‘I’m going to die from inhalation.’ You just, you can’t even function.”
Thankfully, Borow was able to flee from the danger. She said it was a chaotic scene to get to safety as she and her neighbors tried to escape.
“We couldn’t even see to get out of our driveway,” she said. “We had two cars crash into each other, another one crash again. Our worst nightmare is it’s going to start there, this is a big ravine, and blow towards our house. And that’s exactly what was happening.”
Firefighters ultimately were able to save her house and most of her property. A small cabin atop the hill of her property was lost in the fire, though. However, Borow said that although the cabin held sentimental value, the loss of her property pales in comparison to the gratefulness she feels to have made it out alive.
The Sandy Fire in Simi Valley continues to burn over 1,300 acres as of Tuesday morning. Lauren Coronado reports for the NBC4 News at 7 a.m. on May 19, 2026.
“You don’t even understand how quickly it will take your life. That was very humbling for me,” Borow said. “Things didn’t matter. I didn’t care about anything but just what was breathing with a heartbeat to get it out of my home.”
The Sandy Fire began Monday morning and swelled to more than 1,600 acres as of Tuesday night. It prompted evacuation orders and warnings for some neighborhoods in Simi Valley.
At least one home was destroyed in the blaze and firefighters are continuing to try to gain more containment on it.
