Elderly couple battles flames from LA fires, saves home

Susan Salser, 85, looked outside though her kitchen window on Jan. 7 and saw the fast-moving flames and clouds of smoke approaching her Pacific Palisades home.

Instead of packing up and evacuating, Susan and her husband, Winston Salser, 86, decided to stay where they were and protect their home from the blazing inferno.

"I genuinely feel safer here," Salser told ABC Los Angeles station KABC.

The couple grabbed garden hoses, with Susan at one end of the house and Winston at the other, and fought to keep the fire from touching their residence.

The Salsers' home is now one of only three in their neighborhood that is still standing.

"I thought I was going to lose them both, I actually thought that I had when I was seeing the coverage," said the couple's son, Mark Salser.

When asked how his elderly parents were able to successfully shield their home from the fire, Mark Salser simply replied, "Tenacity."

This isn't the first time the Salsers have prevented their home from going up in flames: The two saved it from another wildfire nearly 50 years ago, in 1978.

But the couple isn't taking all the credit for saving their home. Susan Salser said the 100 oak trees her husband had previously planted in their backyard helped block the fire from reaching their doorstep.

Mark Salser said he's unsure whether his parents' decision was "a wise thing to do," but commends their efforts to protect their residence.

"You build a life, it's hard to imagine how you leave that," Mark Salser said.

Winston Salser suffered burns on his arms and legs from battling the fire and will remain hospitalized for a week. As for Susan Salser, she continues to stay put at home, a place she calls "heaven," even though she is now without water and power.

"Here I stay. Whether it's as a human being or ashes, I do not know, but so far it's as a human being," Susan Salser said.

At least 25 people have died as of Wednesday and 82,000 people remain under mandatory evacuation because of the wildfires.

The Palisades Fire has so far burned more than 23,000 acres, destroyed over 5,000 structures and is 19% contained. The Eaton Fire also continues to burn through communities, destroying over 7,000 structures, making it the second-most destructive fire in California history.