So many people have fallen victim to the horrendous wildfires that have barreled through multiple cities in Northern and Southern California. Several news outlets have featured harrowing clips of victims evacuating and driving on dangerous roads while the smoldering blaze illuminates both sides of the street. Now, one clip in particular has captured the hearts of viewers all around the world.
According to KTVU , one father is being applauded for his creative efforts to keep his toddler daughter calm in the midst of chaos. While most people would likely be nervous when it comes to weathering a natural disaster, Joe Allen of Butte County, California, handled things quite differently. When Allen and his wife, Whitney, were forced to evacuate, they opted to split up in two different cars. His wife took their 8-month-old daughter, Jordan, while he took their 3-year-old daughter, Olivia.
Allen, who is retired military, bravely managed to remain focused while keeping his daughter calm. As he filmed, his daughter could be heard expressing concern about the vicious fires.
“There’s so much fire. We’re gonna get on fire,” Olivia can be heard telling her daddy.
Allen quickly responded to ease his daughter’s fears.
“Hey, guess what? We’re not gonna catch on fire,” Allen promises Olivia. “We’re gonna stay away from it and we’ll be just fine, okay? We’re doing all right.” As he continues to drive, he begins singing, “Baby it’ will be alright,” to keep his daughter calm. It didn’t take long for them to get beyond the fire. “Look, we’re past it, we’re out of it, okay,” Allen said.
Olivia was quite happy with their victory. She could be heard saying, “You did it, you did it!” As her dad responds, “we did it together.”
Check out the video below.
Once the video was shared online, it quickly went viral. News outlets have reached out to the couple for more details about their journey to safety. During an interview with the local news outlet, Whitney Allen opened up about the struggles they’re currently facing. Although she admitted she doubted they’d have a home to return to, she pointed out the silver lining: the have their lives.
“As our lives drastically changed today, we are reminded what is most important. Tonight we celebrated Olivia’s birthday because even though we lost everything today and so did my family… we didn’t lose each other and that is truly what matters.”
