Escape Through the Blaze: Follow the Bobcat

Summary

Real Survival Stories: Escape Through the Blaze – Follow the Bobcat

Podcast: Real Survival Stories
Host: John Hopkins
Guest: Sandra Younger
Date: January 15, 2026
Episode: Escape Through the Blaze: Follow the Bobcat

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Overview

This compelling episode of “Real Survival Stories” centers on the harrowing experience of journalist Sandra Younger and her husband Bob as they face California’s devastating 2003 Cedar Fire. An ordinary night at home turns into an extraordinary fight for survival as a fast-moving wildfire encircles their mountain home, Terra Nova. The episode vividly recounts their desperate flight through burning canyons, the split-second decisions that mean the difference between life and death, and the unexpected appearance of a bobcat at their moment of greatest need. Sandra shares practical wisdom, emotional reflections, and broader lessons about survival, resilience, and hope in the face of overwhelming disaster.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Scene: The Spark that Started the Fire

• Lost Hunter’s Signal Fire ([02:19]–[05:19])
  • A hunter, lost and desperate for rescue, lights a forbidden signal fire, triggering what will become the Cedar Fire, the largest wildfire in California’s recorded history at the time.
  • Quote (Sandra Younger):

    "He did what he'd been taught to do in hunter safety school, which was to light a signal fire. Which worked, actually, because people saw the fire when it started, reported it, and a couple of sheriff's deputies went out in a helicopter and rescued him." ([04:59])

  • The fire quickly escalates out of control due to drought and high-velocity “devil winds” (Santa Ana winds).

2. The Calm Before the Storm: Life at Terra Nova

• Sandra and Bob’s Backcountry Life ([06:26]–[16:56])
  • Recently moved from the suburbs to fulfill a dream of tranquil, rural living with their pets.
  • Insights into Sandra’s background as a journalist and her determination to break family cycles of anxiety and fear.
  • The unique ecology of their mountainous community—chaparral country that needs fire, yet is now dangerously primed for catastrophe.
  • Quote (Sandra Younger):

    "The women in my family...were somewhat incapacitated by depression and anxiety and fear, and I didn't want to be like that. I decided at a very early age that I was going to break that chain...I wasn't going to let anyone stifle my potential." ([13:03])

3. The Approaching Inferno

• Early Warnings and Misjudgments ([18:56]–[23:25])
  • That night, after a Halloween party, Bob smells smoke and Sandra observes telltale orange glows on the horizon—initially reassured by fire authorities that there is “no threat.”
  • Evacuation hesitation—a critical lesson about listening to your instincts, not waiting for official instructions.
  • Quote (Sandra Younger):

    "Don't ever believe anyone who says that. If you feel you're in danger, you probably are and should evacuate...Follow your gut and get out." ([07:15], [22:50])

4. The Escape

• Frantic Evacuation ([23:25]–[29:19])
  • At 3am, faced with flames at their doorstep, Sandra and Bob frantically gather family photos, a camera, their dogs, and a bird—Sandra runs out barefoot in panic.
  • Power outage makes escaping even harder: they must wrestle open the electric garage door manually.
  • Bob’s lost car keys force them to evacuate in Sandra’s cramped, less suitable car.
  • Quote (Sandra Younger):

    "So I ran out of the house in socks and jeans and an old college T shirt, taking my dogs with me and my laundry basket. And just as I was about to go out into the garage, the power went out and everything was dark." ([27:05])

Memorable Detail:

• As they back out, they witness their home engulfed by a "white hot wall" of fire ([29:19]).

• Navigating the Treacherous Road Out ([31:26]–[34:34])

  • Sandra must drive a narrow, dangerous mountain road blanketed in total darkness and dense smoke.
  • Visibility is near zero; the risk of plunging off a cliff is high.
  • Amid rising fear and tension, humor surfaces:
    • Quote (Sandra Younger):

      "I yelled at him, I can't see the road. And he said, well, just don't wreck the car. Which is the comic relief moment in this entire story." ([34:12])

5. The Bobcat: An Unlikely Guide

• Critical Turning Point ([34:59]–[35:47])
  • Just as desperation peaks, a bobcat leaps into Sandra's headlights, then disappears into the smoke.
  • Sandra instinctively turns the wheel and follows its path—a decision that guides them down the hidden road.
  • Quote (Sandra Younger):

    "Something in me knew that the cat was on the road. I couldn't see in the smoke and something in me knew to follow it. So I followed the bobcat." ([35:47])

  • The smoke clears, revealing fire on both sides of the road. Sandra accelerates, racing through “sheets” of flame.

6. Outrunning the Blaze

• Final Gauntlet and Escape ([37:08]–[42:30])

  • Sandra describes driving between fire “arching over” the road:

    "It got to this point where, burning from both sides of the road, it sort of arched over like a row of trees might arch over the road. And I remember saying, oh my God. And just flooring the accelerator." ([38:46])

  • They burst through to safety, the car scorched but occupants unharmed.

  • Pulling over, they witness their mountaintop—home to Terra Nova—exploding in a massive fireball.

  • With minimal fuel left, they reach a gas station, then an animal hospital (to treat their panic-injured bird), and finally a hotel.

  • Emotional Moment:

    "How long are you going to stay? And I said, I don't know. I think our house just burned down." ([47:52])

  • Resolute Acceptance:

    "We looked around this room...and we thought, we have everything important right here. This is all we really need. We got everybody out. We're alive, we're untouched. We're okay. We're going to be okay." ([48:29])

7. Aftermath and Broader Reflections

• Scale of the Cedar Fire ([49:01]–[49:52])

  • Took 12 days and nearly 12,000 firefighters to control.
  • Burned ~280,000 acres, destroyed over 2,000 buildings, 15 lives lost (12 in Wildcat Canyon alone).
  • The Cedar Fire became a “bellwether” for the new era of “megafires.”
  • Quote (Sandra Younger):

    "2003 was the year we looked at each other and said, something's changing...The Cedar Fire was one of the first fires worldwide that was documented and written about in professional papers as one of what's called the modern mega fires, the fires that go over 100,000 acres." ([49:52])

• Recovering and Learning ([50:48]–[53:09])

  • Sandra and Bob rebuild, but life is irrevocably changed.

  • Sandra writes a memoir/investigative book, now used to train emergency responders.

  • “Follow your bobcat” becomes her signature piece of advice—embrace the unexpected guides and moments of grace.

  • Quote (Sandra Younger):

    "I believe that the bobcat was a sign of the grace that can come to us when we least expect it, but most need it...If we just are looking for it, are expecting it, and respond to it." ([52:01])

  • She also becomes a speaker and life coach, inspired by Viktor Frankl’s wisdom:

    "The last of the human freedoms is the freedom to choose your attitude in any circumstance, to choose your own way...I did decide that I was going to have the attitude of a survivor instead of a victim." ([53:09])

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On intuition and survival:

  "Don't ever believe anyone who says that if you feel you're in danger, you probably are...No one's going to bring you an engraved invitation to leave." — Sandra Younger ([07:15], [22:50])

• The comic relief under pressure:

  "I yelled at him, I can't see the road. And he said, well, just don't wreck the car." — Sandra Younger ([34:12])

• On the bobcat and grace:

  "Something in me knew that the cat was on the road. I couldn't see in the smoke and something in me knew to follow it. So I followed the bobcat." — Sandra Younger ([35:47])
  "I believe that the bobcat was a sign of the grace that can come to us when we least expect it, but most need it." ([52:01])

• On post-trauma perspective:

  "We have everything important right here. This is all we really need. We got everybody out. We're alive, we're untouched. We're okay. We're going to be okay." ([48:29])

• On adaptation and meaning:

  "I did decide that I was going to have the attitude of a survivor instead of a victim. Choose your story going forward and keep moving forward. That's what the fire taught me." ([53:09])

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Timestamps for Critical Segments

• The Spark: Lost Hunter Starts the Fire – [02:19]–[05:19]
• Evacuation Hesitation & Waking to Fire – [22:19]–[25:11]
• The Escape from Home – [25:18]–[29:19]
• Driving Through the Inferno & Following the Bobcat – [32:50]–[37:08]
• Breaking Through to Safety – [41:48]–[42:30]
• Aftermath and Reflection – [49:01]–[54:18]

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Key Lessons & Takeaways

• Trust your gut in a crisis: Don’t wait for official instructions if you feel unsafe.
• Preparation saves lives: Always keep enough fuel, and know your escape routes.
• Serendipity and grace: Help or guidance can arrive in the most unexpected ways—be open to following your “bobcat.”
• Choose your attitude: The aftermath of trauma is shaped profoundly by perspective and the stories we tell ourselves going forward.
• Mega-fire reality: The Cedar Fire marked the beginning of an era of larger, more destructive wildfires fueled by climate change, drought, and development.

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Closing Thoughts

Sandra Younger’s survival story is not only a riveting account of escaping a deadly wildfire but a profound meditation on fear, luck, intuition, and the power of choosing hope even amid loss. The appearance of the bobcat becomes a metaphor for guidance, faith, and the “grace available to all of us.” Her message, forged in the crucible of disaster, resonates with universal lessons for resilience and for heeding the quiet signals that could save our lives.

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Signature Lesson:

"Follow your bobcat." – The encouragement to notice and trust the unexpected signs that appear in moments of crisis, and to keep moving forward with determination and hope.

Transcript

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[Narrator (John Hopkins)]

It's October 25, 2003. Deep in the sun parched wilderness of Southern California, a man carrying hunting gear stumbles through the brush. He is tired, thirsty and hopelessly lost. His eyes rake the arid terrain searching for shade or a footpath, but all he can see is more of the same steep, straw colored hillsides thick with brittle vegetation Tumbling down into sandy arroyos, dry creek beds that snake off into the distance, leading nowhere. A man staggers weakly on.

[Sandra Younger]

He had never been hunting before and he got lost. He got separated from his partner and he was running out of water. It was a really warm day.

[Narrator (John Hopkins)]

Heat distorts the horizon behind shimmering waves. Strong easterly winds funnel through the valley, blowing dust into the man's eyes and veiling the air in a sepia haze. This is a hot, dry, sinister wind. It rollicks over the brush covered landscape, swirling and howling like a banshee itching the man's sunburnt skin. Eventually, when it feels like he might pass out from heatstroke, the man stops. It's late afternoon. He's been wandering aimlessly for seven hours. When darkness falls, he'll have no chance of being found before morning. Will he make it through the night? This is his first ever hunting trip. If he couldn't shoot a deer, what chance would he have against a mountain lion? And so, seeing no other way out, the man lays down his gear and begins gathering up twigs and leaves into a small pile. A tip, he's learned, is that should you ever get lost with no way to call for help, a signal fire is one way to alert rescuers to your location. Of course, such a method is only permissible in certain environments. In this part of the backcountry, full of dry, flammable undergrowth, lighting fires is strictly prohibited. But the man is desperate. He sinks to his knees behind his mound of kindling and slides a box of matches from his pocket.

[Sandra Younger]

He did what he'd been taught to do in hunter safety school, which was to light a signal fire. Which worked, actually, because people saw the fire when it started, reported it, and a couple of sheriff's deputies went out in a helicopter and rescued him.

[Narrator (John Hopkins)]

But by the time rescuers reach the lost hunter, his signal fire has grown. Months without rain has turned this entire valley into a tinderbox. Coupled with the strong easterly winds, it's a perfect storm for a massive, uncontainable wildfire. Within minutes, the blaze had become unmanageable, a vast wall of flame rampaging west towards populated areas in the hills outside San Diego, towards the houses nestled among the slopes, like the one where Sandra Younger lives with her husband.

[Sandra Younger]

I could see out of our bedroom window to the mountain on the opposite side of the canyon, and it was engulfed in flames. And there was no doubt then that we had to leave, that we should have already been gone.

[Narrator (John Hopkins)]

Ever wondered what you would do when disaster strikes if Your life depended on your next decision. Could you make the right choice? Welcome to Real Survival Stories. These are the astonishing tales of ordinary people thrown into extraordinary situations. People suddenly forced to fight for their lives. In this episode, we meet 50 year old journalist Sandra Younger. In 2003, Sandra and her husband Bob have just bought a home in the mountainous backcountry outside San Diego, a beautiful, rugged region of rolling hills and canyons. Together with their pets, Sandra and Bob are living a life of quiet contentment until the early hours of the morning on October 26, when Sandra wakes to an unfolding nightmare.

[Sandra Younger]

Way up in the distance beyond the ridgelines of the mountains, I could see this orange glow. But I'd been told it was not a threat to me. Don't ever believe anyone who says that if you feel you're in danger, you probably are and should evacuate. No one's going to bring you an engraved invitation to leave. Just follow your gut and get out.

[Narrator (John Hopkins)]

Fueled by strong winds, the blaze will spread at a terrifying pace. And with their beloved home right in its unstoppable path, Sandra and Bob will have just minutes to evacuate or risk being consumed by the fire. But saving themselves isn't just a question of running with a winding, perilous journey back down the hills ahead of them. Surviving the fire will take tremendous skills, luck, and just when they need it the most, a timely helping hand from the strangest of rescuers.

[Sandra Younger]

We went from thinking to doing maybe this is what happens when you realize your life is on the line. By this time, we were praying out loud. God, please help us find our way out of this fire. Please help us find our way.

[Narrator (John Hopkins)]

I'm John Hopkins from the Noiser Podcast Network. This is Real Survival Stories. It's the evening of October 25, 2003, in Southern California. An SUV slowly wends its way up a steep Mountain Road about 25 miles east of San Diego. Sandra Younger sits in the passenger seat, watching the headlights illuminate an alarmingly skinny sliver of gravel carved into the side of the canyon. It's been seven months since Sandra and her husband moved here from the suburbs. In that time, they've gotten used to many aspects of life in the backcountry. The remoteness, the patchy cell service, even the occasional sighting of a bobcat. But one thing that will probably take years to get accustomed to is this road, a treacherous strip of compacted dirt snaking precipitously up the mountainside and the only route to or from their hilltop. While Bob, her husband, drives, Sandra glances at the sheer hundred foot drop mere inches from their tires, a yawning black chasm. Eventually the road flattens out and widens into a freshly paved stretch of crisp, smooth tarmac. They climb a little further until the SUV's full beams fall across the entrance to a handsome white stone house with terracotta roof tiles set back from the road on its own sprawling plot of land. They pull into the driveway and Bob slots the car into the garage.

[Sandra Younger]

The night of October 25, 2003, was a Saturday. Bob and I and our two Newfoundland dogs were actually at a Halloween party sponsored by our dog club. It's a little embarrassing to admit that we were part of a dog club. We did dress up in costumes. We dressed our dogs up in costumes. We got home around 10 o' clock.

[Narrator (John Hopkins)]

Before the front door is fully open. Terra and Chatter, the couple's two Newfoundland dogs, squeeze past their legs and bound into the hall, tails wagging as they scamper through the doghouse. Sandra smiles. The dogs look charming in their Hawaiian themed Halloween costumes with flower garlands draped around their big shaggy necks. Wearing matching floral shirts and traditional Hawaiian necklaces, Sandra and Bob follow the dogs into the hall and shut the door behind them. Every corner of Sandra and Bob's home reflects a lifetime spent together, from the photographs and books that line the walls to the art that hangs in the hall. They met over 30 years ago as journalism sophomores in North Carolina. After college and a stint in the military, Bob would go on to have a career in the civil service, but Sandra would stick with journalism, motivated by the same intellectual curiosity she nurtured as a student.

[Sandra Younger]

I went to college as a biology major thinking I wanted to be a veterinarian, and instead I started working for the college paper called the Technician. And I loved having this little scrap of paper that passed for a press pass and being able to go anywhere on campus and beyond. It gave me a license to go places I wouldn't have been able to go otherwise, to meet and talk to people I wouldn't have met otherwise, and to ask all these nosy questions. I love that.

[Narrator (John Hopkins)]

Over the course of her career, Sandra has written for a wide variety of publications, from industry magazines to prestigious academic journals, all the while driven by those core journalistic principles curiosity, skepticism, a desire for the truth. But she's also fueled by something more personal, the idea of breaking away from certain negative patterns she's observed within her own family.

[Sandra Younger]

The women in my family on my mother's side were somewhat incapacitated by depression and anxiety and fear, and I didn't want to be like that. I decided at a very early age that I was going to break that chain I'd seen in my family. I was not going to. As Hamilton said, I wasn't going to throw away my shot. People told me when I was in school, I was a good student. They said, oh, the sky's the limit. You can do whatever you want to do. And I wasn't going to throw away that shot. I wasn't going to let anyone stifle my potential.

[Narrator (John Hopkins)]

And she didn't. She and Bob raised their two daughters in the suburbs of San Diego, where Sandra has worked for several years as the editor of a college magazine. After the kids grew up and left home, the couple decided it was time for a change.

[Sandra Younger]

When my children flew the nest and my husband and I had the option of moving out of the city of San Diego into the backcountry, as we call it here, we did, and we bought this beautiful house on the side of a mountain.

[Narrator (John Hopkins)]

The house was remote, difficult to access by road, and surrounded by nothing but hundreds of acres of rugged, boulder strewn wilderness. Sandra and Bob were smitten. Shortly after moving in, they decided their dream house needed a name. After considering and rejecting various options, inspiration eventually came in the shape of their two beloved Newfoundland dogs.

[Sandra Younger]

If you don't know the breed, they look like black Saint Bernards. They're big, they're shaggy, they're drooly. We love them in Italy and in Latin, the name of the Newfoundland is Terra Nova, which means new land. Right, Newfoundland. So we thought, this is perfect. We will name our new home Terra Nova, because to us, it truly was our new land. It was a new chapter in our lives. We'd finished parenting. We named our new home Terra Nova. Our new land.

[Narrator (John Hopkins)]

Terra Nova, is perched on a hillside above Wildcat Canyon, commanding breathtaking views across the valley towards Mexico. The land is rugged and mountainous, dotted with ancient oak trees and granite boulders that rise like monuments from the dusty scrub. As the elevation rises, the vegetation changes. Sagebrush and buffalo grass give way to chaparral, California's native plant ecosystem. A fragrant mix of wild shrubs, small trees and dense, thorny thickets. It's the extensive covering of chaparral that lends these mountains their distinct appearance, like they're covered in little green tufts of cotton wool. It's also what makes this region so vulnerable to wildfires. But chaparral doesn't just burn easily. Fire is essential to its nature.

[Sandra Younger]

One of the unique features of chaparral is that it's made to burn. It needs to burn about once every 30 years or so in order to clean out the underbrush and to generate new growth. There are some plants that are called fire followers because it's only after the heat of a fire hits the soil that the seeds are able to germinate. So fire has always been a part of the natural cycle in the chaparral.

[Narrator (John Hopkins)]

It's true that wildfires are a natural part of California's ecosystem, but over the years, the frequency and size of these fires has grown to a level that is not natural. By October 2003, parts of Southern California are experiencing a prolonged drought with several consecutive years of below average rainfall. The chaparral and sagebrush carpeting the hills around Wildcat Canyon have been thoroughly dried out by month after month of relentless baking sun. Like a hearth laid with kindling, all it needs is a spark, a discarded cigarette, a bolt of lightning, a downed power line, or a lost hunter striking a match. You didn't start a business just to.

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[Narrator (John Hopkins)]

After arriving home from their Halloween party, Bob heads straight up to bed while Sandra settles in the living room to read for a little while. She flops onto the couch and puts her feet up. She doesn't get very far through her book, however, before her eyes start to feel heavy.

[Sandra Younger]

I fell asleep on the couch. Bob went upstairs and he came down a few hours later and said, I smell smoke. There's smoke in the air and I've never smelled it this strongly before.

[Narrator (John Hopkins)]

Sandra sits up sleepily, rubbing her eyes. She glances at the time. It's 1am Bob stands there in his night clothes, a look of alarm creasing his forehead. Sandra sniffs. But she doesn't smell anything. So at Bob's insistence, she gets up off the couch, crosses the room and opens the door onto the back deck. The night air is warm and sultry with the wind picking up. Hot, dry gusts shriek through the canyon, blowing her long fair hair into her face from the darkness. The tree branches creak and moan. It's eerie, otherworldly. Sandra recognizes this wind straight away.

[Sandra Younger]

Late October is given to very warm days and even more dangerous. These seasonal winds we call the Santa Ana winds the devil winds, and they're brutal. They can get up to 100 miles an hour and they're dry. And they come at the time of year when our climate generally has not seen any rain since spring.

[Narrator (John Hopkins)]

The Santa Ana winds form inland above the high desert plains of Utah and Nevada. They then blow westward, becoming hotter and drier as they flow downhill towards the coast. As they move, the winds seek out openings, ravines and mountain passes, picking up speed as the terrain narrows around them. The canyon where Sandra and Bob live has in effect, become a chimney, sucking and funneling hot air through the mountains.

[Sandra Younger]

There were ashes blowing in the wind, which is an ominous sign. I was too naive to realize how ominous. You could hear the tree branches creaking. It was noisy out there, and it did smell acrid.

[Narrator (John Hopkins)]

Sandra and Bob step back indoors and anxiously dial the local fire station. They're informed that there is a wildfire burning in the backcountry, but not anywhere near their canyon. It's at least 20 miles away in the town of Ramona, close enough to smell the smoke, but not enough to worry for their own safety. And the ashes in this wind, not surprising. No cause for alarm. Sandra and Bob are unsettled, but reassured. They thanked the firefighter for his time, then hang up the phone and head to bed.

[Sandra Younger]

We had seen distant wildfires before. They're very common in the Southwest here in the United States. So we had seen them from afar, and it was sort of a spectator sport to us because they were never really threatening us personally. So that's what we thought about this one, and we had a firefighter's word for it, so we went back to sleep.

[Narrator (John Hopkins)]

Before turning in, however, Sandra pulls back the curtains and glances north across the foothills towards Ramona.

[Sandra Younger]

Way up in the distance, beyond the ridgelines of the mountains, I could see this orange glow. And I remember saying, God help the people in Ramona. There it is. But I'd been told it was not a threat to me. Don't ever believe anyone who says that. If you feel you're in danger. You probably are and should evacuate. No one's going to bring you an engraved invitation to leave. Just follow your gut and get out.

[Narrator (John Hopkins)]

It's 3:00am In Wildcat Canyon, California. Sandra Younger wakes to the sound of her husband's panic filled voice. She sits up and looks over at the window. A murky orange glow throbs in the narrow slit between the drapes. With a pang of dread, she gets out of bed and pulls back the curtains.

[Sandra Younger]

I looked out our big bedroom windows and saw flames across the canyon and a glow down in the bottom of the canyon that told me it was also on our side of the mountain. I have to say, although I didn't take time to appreciate it then, it was in its way, a spectacularly gorgeous sight. This ring of fire and these orange and yellow and red flames just dancing against this dark night. It was stunning.

[Narrator (John Hopkins)]

Fire has engulfed the opposite side of the canyon, turning it into a solid wall of flame, spitting red hot cinders and belching columns of black smoke. Directly downslope from the house. The inferno glows an angry orange, getting brighter and louder with each second, feeding on the chaparral as it surges up the canyon side towards Terra Nova. The firefighter was wrong. While Sandra and Bob were sleeping, the blaze has spread rapidly, surging across the hills from Ramona, traveling over 20 miles in less than two hours. And it's showing no sign of slowing down.

[Sandra Younger]

There was no doubt then that we had to leave, that we should have already been gone.

[Narrator (John Hopkins)]

Flaming embers streak past the window, curling and twisting in the night air. Sandra and Bob snap into action. Time to get out of here.

[Sandra Younger]

We went from thinking to doing. I think maybe this is what happens when you realize your life is on the line. Because we weren't really discussing strategy, but we were just moving fluidly from one action to another.

[Narrator (John Hopkins)]

Sandra yanks on a pair of jeans and a T shirt. Then she grabs a laundry basket and starts flinging things into it. There's little time for sentimentality, but she does remember to grab a few precious objects. Family portraits, some photos of the girls when they were babies. Best not to think about all the other treasured items she'll be forced to leave behind. While Sandra sweeps photographs into the basket, Bob dashes off to grab his camera.

[Sandra Younger]

Bob had one camera. He's an avid fine art photographer and I was yelling at him, get your negatives, get your negatives.

[Narrator (John Hopkins)]

Downstairs, Sandra wrangles the dogs while Bob, camera around his neck, runs into another room to rescue their pet cockatiel Chelsea. He charges back into the hole, clutching the birdcage. With Chelsea perched inside, flapping her wings in distress. Sandra snatches her purse and goes to grab some shoes. Shaking with adrenaline, she rummages in the hallway closet for her hiking boots, but she can't find them. Outside, the fire grows louder, the ominous rumble now a deep tremulous roar. Sandra abandons her search. There's no time. She'll have to make do without footwear.

[Sandra Younger]

So I ran out of the house in socks and jeans and an old college T shirt, taking my dogs with me and my laundry basket. And just as I was about to go out into the garage, the power went out and everything was dark.

[Narrator (John Hopkins)]

Sandra looks at Bob in horror, his shadowy form backlit by the glow of the fire behind the house. The garage door is electric. Without power, how are they going to get it open? A dreadful silence hangs there. They need to get to the car. They'll never outrun this blaze on foot. Bob runs over to the garage and starts wrestling with the door. He heaves, sweat forming on his brow. A few agonizing moments later, he manages to force it open. Sandra pulls the dogs into the garage while Bob rushes over to his suv. But as he fumbles in his pocket, his eyes widen.

[Sandra Younger]

Bob is yelling, I can't find my keys. He couldn't find his car keys and he swore that he'd left them out on the kitchen counter.

[Narrator (John Hopkins)]

The fire is already licking at the eaves and the guttering. There's no time to go back inside the house. They'll have to take Sandra's car, a small two door Acura coupe, far less appropriate than Bob's big suv. But what choice do they have? Sandra starts loading the dogs onto the cramped boat back seat. As she pushes and shoves, she's suddenly aware of bright light spilling into the garage through the window.

[Sandra Younger]

I wonder how come I can see out here when the power's off. And it was because we had a window in the garage and this golden light was pouring in through the window. The light of the fire that was approaching.

[Narrator (John Hopkins)]

Sandra jumps behind the wheel and starts the ignition. Bob has barely managed to squeeze himself into the passenger seat before Sandra slams her foot down on the accelerator and reverses up the drive.

[Sandra Younger]

And as I backed out of our driveway into night, it was as if the world had been cut in two because behind me it was all dark as I was backing out. But in front of me, looking toward our house, the fire had created this white hot wall that was wrapping itself around our house.

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[Sandra Younger]

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[Narrator (John Hopkins)]

As Sandra reverses out of the driveway, it's hard to tear her eyes away from the nightmare unfolding through the windshield. Their beloved home is being devoured, whipped into a frenzy by the wind. The flames coil around the walls and chimneys. Windows shatter, burning sills tumble to the ground. Cracks split open in the white plaster, letting the fire surge inside the walls, hungry tendrils seeking more fuel to burn. Barely five minutes ago, Sandra and Bob were asleep in bed, completely unaware of their impending doom. Sandra maneuvers the car out of the gate and speeds off into the night. A dirt track connects Sandra and Bob's house to the main road out of the canyon. It has no lighting and no road markings. It's tricky to navigate even by day. For now, the visibility is still okay. The smoke hasn't caught up with them yet, and the road unspools smoothly in Sandra's headlights as she guns it towards the top of the hill. But then, just beyond the summit, she slows. They've reached the diciest stretch of the road where it winds precariously down the side of the mountain with no guardrail separating it from the vertical drop to the canyon floor.

[Sandra Younger]

When I got to that part, the most treacherous part of our neighborhood, road that led to the main road out, we hit the smoke and I couldn't see anything. It was like being in an airplane in a cloud. And you look out the window and it's just all white out fog.

[Narrator (John Hopkins)]

It happens. Suddenly, a thick bank of smoke rolls silently across the road, swallowing their vehicle. It's potentially deadly timing. Sandra can't see more than a few inches past the hood of the car. Her full beams are useless. The smoke simply reflects the light back into our eyes, dazzling her. But they can't stop here. The fire must be gaining on them, eating the ground beneath their tires. The only way is forward. With her knuckles white around the wheel, Sandra caresses the accelerator, creeping through the smoky haze. Sweat prickles her palms. If she veers, of course, even a fraction, they could drive straight off the side of the canyon. It is a foot wide margin of error. She calls out to Bob, her voice taut with fear.

[Sandra Younger]

I yelled at him, I can't see the road. And he said, well, just don't wreck the car. Which is the comic relief moment in this entire story. But that's what he said. And then he said, you're just going to have to remember where it was, which is kind of tough because we normally live there for seven months. And I said, but I can't see anything.

[Narrator (John Hopkins)]

Sandra leans over the wheel, squinting into the opaque grayness. But it's no use. The smoke is impenetrable, blinding. For all she knows, they could be about to plunge over the precipice to their deaths. And then something totally unexpected, it happens.

[Sandra Younger]

Just at that moment, a bobcat leaped out of the brush lining the road, right to my headlights, and stumbled a little and then righted itself and dashed off into the smoke.

[Narrator (John Hopkins)]

They barely have time to take in the small wildcat, its spotted fur, pointed ears and sharp eyes briefly illuminated by their headlights. In two quick bounds and a swish of a tail, the animal is gone, leaving Sandra and Bob staring after it in stunned silence. Wherever this bobcat came from, its appearance here and now seems like a sign. Like a hand reaching down through the smoke and pointing the way.

[Sandra Younger]

Something in me knew that the cat was on the road. I couldn't see in the smoke and something in me knew to follow it. So I followed the bobcat.

[Narrator (John Hopkins)]

Sandra aims for the spot in the smoke where the bobcat disappeared and pushes on the gas pedal. The car hurtles forward into a cloud of swirling ash and soot. For several nerve jangling moments, she drives on blind faith alone. Any second they could shoot off the edge, but the wheels are still gripping solid ground. It seems the bobcat's instincts were right and so were hers for following it. A minute later, the smoke clears enough for her to make out two blurry fields of ambient red glow on either side of the car, with a black ribbon of road running between them. Sandra's chest tightens. The chaparral lining the verge crackles and smolders with heat. The fire has caught up with them and it's closing in on both sides. At least they can now see the road. It is the only thing that's not yet burning.

[Sandra Younger]

There was fire on both sides. There was fire sheeting across the road. And I remember thinking about the gas tank that was hanging under the car and thinking maybe it's like passing your finger through a candle flame. Maybe if I can go fast enough, it won't heat it too much.

[Narrator (John Hopkins)]

Sandra floors it. Pieces of burning debris are overhead, trailing jets of flame. In places, low red walls of fire barricade the path. Sandra has no choice but to drive through them as fast as she can, trying to keep the car centered between the two banks of burning undergrowth. And then at last, we finally got.

[Sandra Younger]

To the main road, which was the only way in or out of our neighborhood. And I remember the sound and the feel of the tires hitting gravel. And then I was on asphalt again and I could see the center line of the road.

[Narrator (John Hopkins)]

It's a relief to be back on a proper paved surface. The headlights pick up the yellow and white markings indicating the middle of the main road. Finally, something to definitively point them in the right direction. But they're not out of trouble. As Sandra drives, the smoke thickens once again. Towering columns of flame rise on either side of the road, bending inwards until they converge at the top, forming a deadly tunnel.

[Sandra Younger]

It got to this point where, burning from both sides of the road, it sort of arched over like a row of trees might arch over the road. And I remember saying, oh my God. And just flooring the accelerator. By this time we were praying out loud. God, please help us find our way out of this fire. Please help us find our way.

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[Narrator (John Hopkins)]

On the Noiser Podcast Network, Charles Dickens Ghost Stories continues as Sir David Suchet explores more spine tingling tales from the great author on Short History of We follow the singularly extraordinary career of David Bowie and discover the ins and outs of the Louisiana Purchase. On Real Survival Stories, we're on an early hovercraft voyage as things literally get turned upside down. On Real Dictators. In case you missed it, the Jean Bedel Bokassa story has just concluded, with all three episodes available to listen to right now. And in Sherlock Holmes Short Stories in the Adventure of the Gloria Scott, the young Holmes decodes a chilling message intended for his host, Fly for your life. Get all of these shows and more early and ad free on noiserplus. It's about half past three in the morning on Wildcat Canyon Road, 20 odd miles east of San Diego. A speeding white Acura coupe bursts through a giant curtain of flame. The car's exterior has been scorched, the paintwork peeling off in strips, but inside, Sandra and Bob Younger are still alive and all of a sudden they're out.

[Sandra Younger]

And I couldn't believe my good luck that I hadn't gotten by some oncoming traffic. We punched through and on the other side was clear night, as if nothing had happened. It was almost like waking up from a dream, like, well, that's interesting. Did that really happen?

[Narrator (John Hopkins)]

The difference is like night and day. Ahead is darkness clear and serene. Behind them the mountains continue to burn, lighting up the sky with a dingy orange hue. Heart still hammering, Sandra pulls into a lay by to catch her breath.

[Sandra Younger]

We pulled over for a second and just looked behind us and what we saw was the top of the mountain Right around our house that we had just driven through, where we saw the Bobcat just exploded.

[Narrator (John Hopkins)]

Maybe a sudden blast of wind swept up the mountain, oxygenating the blaze. Whatever the case, Terra Nova, their home, sits on that mountaintop. Somewhere inside that massive fireball. If there was any hope of anything surviving the disaster, surely it's now gone. Sandra glances back down the road. The fire is still advancing. They can't hang around. Bob volunteers to take the wheel and they swap places. As Sandra slides into the passenger seat, she notices the red dot blinking on the dash. They're almost out of petrol.

[Sandra Younger]

I needed gas. Another boneheaded mistake. People who live in fire country, especially during Santa Ana season, should always keep at least half a tank of gas because what if you do get stuck in a traffic jam? You don't want to run out of gas. So I had to go get gas.

[Narrator (John Hopkins)]

Fortunately, they should have enough in the tank to get them to the nearest fill up station. A few miles down the road they reach a fire service checkpoint. Bob rolls down his window. A firefighter comes over and tells them to keep driving. Sandra and Bob exchange a glance. They don't need to be told. A few minutes later, Bob pulls into the gas station. There's a handful of shell shocked people rushing around the forecourt carrying cases of water, fuel, other essentials. Sandra heads inside to use the restroom. Beneath the harsh strip lighting, she catches a glimpse of herself in the bathroom mirror.

[Sandra Younger]

You know deadhead, of course, the old college T shirt that was all ratty had holes in it. And I realized that I had Bob's glasses on the top of my head. I thought they were mine. I just grabbed them. And one of the things he'd been yelling about on his way out was I can't find my glasses. Then we had to decide where are we going to go? Where do you go when you can't go home?

[Narrator (John Hopkins)]

After refueling, Sandra and Bob are at a loss for what to do next. They check on the dogs, both blissfully unaware of the disaster that is still unfolding. And on their cockatiel, she is far more unsettled. In her panic, she's nearly flapped all her feathers off.

[Sandra Younger]

The bird was bleeding where her feathers had broken, but we didn't know why she was bleeding. We just saw that the bird was bleeding and we said let's take care of the bird. She's probably all we've got left.

[Narrator (John Hopkins)]

It's a useful distraction, having something to care for other than themselves. They drive to a nearby all night animal hospital where the vet gives Chelsea a Checkup. While Bob talks to the vet, Sandra sits in the waiting room.

[Sandra Younger]

The place was undergoing remodeling construction, so there were plastic walls, sheets hanging everywhere, and there were these two benches sitting across from each other. And the light coming in through the translucent plastic was diffused and soft. And it felt to me, in its peacefulness after the chaos of escaping the fire, it felt like a sanctuary. The benches seemed like pews. The light, the quiet, the peacefulness of it, the blessing of normality.

[Narrator (John Hopkins)]

Then something happens that brings her crashing back to earth. The door flies open, and a woman who works at the hospital rushes into the waiting room.

[Sandra Younger]

She burst through the door, and she said to her colleagues behind the desk, get ready. Lakeside's on fire. Lakeside was the name of the community where we live. But that was a surreal moment, too. You know, just get ready. You're going to have a lot of business here in a minute. Because people are streaming out of the backcountry right now, running for their lives.

[Narrator (John Hopkins)]

How many more Sandra and Bobs must be out there, people whose lives have been upended by this catastrophic fire? And then how many others weren't so lucky, didn't wake up in time, didn't manage to outrun the blaze? The answer to these questions and more will become clear in the coming days. But for now, Sandra and Bob try to focus on the present. After phoning around several hotels, they end up heading into downtown San Diego to a place that apparently allows dogs. While Bob parks the car, Sandra heads into the lobby to check in.

[Sandra Younger]

And the lady behind the desk said, you know, name, address, credit card number, all of that stuff. So I'm doing okay, talking with the receptionist behind the desk until she asked me, how long are you going to stay? And I said, I don't know. I think our house just burned down.

[Narrator (John Hopkins)]

The receptionist hands them the key, and Sandra and Bob head upstairs with their animals. They move through the carpeted hallway in a daze, scanning door numbers until eventually they find their room.

[Sandra Younger]

We looked around this room. We knew the bird was safe. And we had a laundry basket full of odds and ends, some pictures, the best of Bob's negatives. We did get those. We had our two dogs, and we looked around and we thought, we have everything important right here. This is all we really need. We got everybody out. We're alive, we're untouched. We're okay. We're going to be okay.

[Narrator (John Hopkins)]

It will take 12 days and a mass mobilization of nearly 12,000 firefighters to finally control the blaze. By then, it will have burned roughly 280,000 acres destroyed over 2,000 buildings, and tragically claimed the lives of 15 people. Twelve of the fatalities occurred in Wildcat Canyon, barely a mile from where Sandra and Bob made their lucky escape. The seed of fire, as it will become known, is the largest recorded wildfire in California's history. It will hold that title for the next 14 years until the Thomas Fire surpasses it in 2017. Less than a year later, that record will be broken again. It will be surpassed seven more times before 2025.

[Sandra Younger]

We have seen these fires escalating, expanding all around the world. Really, even in the Arctic Circle, in Siberia, everywhere except the ice caps, we've seen these wildfires getting bigger and more extreme. And so the reason this fire of mine is still relevant is because it was a bellwether. As one of the firefighters I interviewed said, 2003 was the year we looked at each other and said, something's changing. The Cedar Fire was one of the first fires worldwide that was documented and written about in professional papers as one of what's called the modern mega fires, the fires that go over 100,000 acres.

[Narrator (John Hopkins)]

In the days after the fire, Sandra and Bob return to Terra Nova, where they begin sifting through the ashes of their home. There's very little left to salvage, but despite the devastation, they aren't going to give up on the place that still means so much to them. Almost immediately, their focus turns towards rebuilding. Their insurance, thankfully, means the couple are well covered. With help and perseverance, they're able to rebuild Terra nova within just 24 months. But after returning to their hilltop home, life doesn't go back to how it was before. The blaze has left more than just physical scars on the landscape. It alters the trajectory of their lives. In the years after the disaster, Sandra writes a book about the fire. Part memoir, part journalistic investigation into its causes and consequences, the book goes on to become a training text for emergency responders. Among the many extraordinary details of that story, one stands out. And it becomes central to the message Sandra hopes to impart to her readers.

[Sandra Younger]

After I wrote my book, on the launch night, a good friend was standing by me, and people were in line, and I had never been an author before, so I wasn't practiced in signing books. And I just looked at my friend and I said, what should I say? How should I sign it? And she sort of shrugged and said, follow your bobcat. So every time I sign a book for someone, I sign it, follow your bobcat. I believe that the bobcat was a sign of the grace that can come to us when we least expect it, but most need it. And I believe that grace is available to all of us at all times if we just are looking for it, are expecting it, and respond to it.

[Narrator (John Hopkins)]

As well. As writing her book, Sandra begins a new phase of her career as a life coach and speaker. In her work, she turns to examples set by other survivors, people who have lived through far greater hardships.

[Sandra Younger]

I had found a quote by Viktor Frankl, the Austrian psychiatrist who survived the Holocaust and wrote this beautiful, incredibly profound book called Man's Search for Meaning. And he had said that the last of the human freedoms is the freedom to choose your attitude in any circumstance, to choose your own way. And I felt I did make that choice. I did decide that I was going to have the attitude of a survivor instead of a victim. Choose your story going forward and keep moving forward. That's what the fire taught me. And I'm grateful for those lessons. It was a hard way to learn it. I wouldn't want to go through that again. And yet I can't imagine my life if the fire hadn't come. I think it's richer than it possibly could have been otherwise.

[Narrator (John Hopkins)]

Next time on REAL Survival Stories, we meet US Air Force captain and Vietnam War veteran George Burke. In May 1970, 28 year old George boards a transport plane bound for an air base in in Washington state. It's a routine mission, just another Monday morning until a mechanical failure plunges this crew towards tragedy. A structural failure will lead to a horror scenario in the sky, blowing out the windows, ripping apart the fuselage and sending what's left of the plane hurtling towards the ground. Exactly what happens next will remain a mystery even to George. But suffice to say, there will be an impact. A fire, a desperate scramble for safety, and at the bleakest possible moment, an unlikely savior. That's next time on REAL SURVIVAL stories. Listen right now by joining Noiser.

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[Sandra Younger]

See experian.com for details.

[Narrator (John Hopkins)]

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