When you come from Texas, the fires in California are merely images flashed across the screen as background noise more than anything. It's hard to relate and I'm sure most Americans can understand what I mean by that.

In West Texas the only thing we worry about is fire on top of a Cap Rock or a bundle of cotton catching on fire. We can't imagine what it's like to stand on our back porch and count down the hours before everything we've worked for is destroyed by the devil's dance.

My trip to California was to be an occasion of joy and celebration as my sister was getting married. Instead it turned into a realistic walk in hell, something I'll never forget.

It's Nov. 12. I arrived at LAX and as I went through security on the way to claim my bags I couldn't help but notice how many "firewalkers" we at the airport. I could tell who they were by the tee shirts and coats some of them were wearing. "Fire Is My Life," "I Walk In Hell," "Give Me The Blaze." In all I counted 54 men and 19 women who flew in from all over the country to lend a hand standing in line waiting to get the gear they needed to kill the devil.

As I waited, I met Jack Morrison. Jack is a firefighter from Wyoming. I asked him if he came to help with the fires.

"This is my 20^th time here, I know these hills better than those back in Wyoming," he said with a grin. He went on to tell me that he brought with him a crew of 12 and they were ready to get to the camp and get started. I asked my new friend if he was scared and without hesitation he looked me dead in the eye and said, "You can't fear the fire, if you do you'll die."

My brother picked me up from LAX and you could smell the destruction in the air. It reminded me of charred wood that had been doused with diesel fuel. As we left the airport you could see the smoke. In some places it was white as puffy clouds on a July afternoon and in other places it was as black as the thunderstorms that roll into West Texas in the middle of May. The smoke raised high into the sky and stood still as if it were just challenging those on the ground to the fight of a lifetime.

As we drove to the house I was shocked to see people standing on the freeway asking for help. I asked my brother about it and he said it was un-like anything he's ever seen. He said so many people have lost homes, family, everything that they're in a state of shock. You could tell that was the case as you drove by them. They seemed to be in a world different then our own.

The next morning I got up early and turned on the local ABC affiliate. They were saying the fire was getting ready to hit the community of Sylmar which was about 60 miles from where I was. My brother woke up and I told him that I wanted to go see the fire. Of course he thought I was crazy but we jumped into his truck and off we went.

As we got close to Sylmar fire trucks were passing us right and left and we knew something major was going on. Roads were being shut down and people were being asked to leave the area. "Take what you can carry and get out", is what one CHP trooper told a young man trying to get to his house. We had to park on the side of the road about a mile from the city.

As we started out walk into the center of hell, we witnessed firsthand what this fire was doing to this who lived here but to those who were fighting this beast. We passed many firefighters on the way into the town and it was if their soul was gone. They had a blank expression on their face, their eyes were glazed, faces covered in black and most of them walked in a somber state as if they just met the devil eye to eye. I stopped one firefighter, Justin Morals, a 43-year-old from Oakland who came in to help with the blaze. I asked him if he was ok and needed anything, "I just want to go home" he said, and kept walking. I told my brother this is more than a fire and it was!

We walked a little more and we ran into 76-year-old Myrtle George. She was standing in her front yard just looking at what was coming. In her right hand was a bible she had since she was a child and in her left hand her cordless telephone. I asked her if she was ok, "I don't know what to do" she said in a trembling voice, "I don't know where to go, they won't help me". I was shocked!

I asked her what she needed and she told me this had been her and her late husband's house for 50 years and everything she has was inside. I took her by the arm and we went inside her house which was filled with memories of the past. We sat and talked, trying to calm her down as she told us stories of other fires she's lived through but never thought they would hit her home, "if it hits, where am I going to go?" as tears rolled down her face, the sound of sirens passing by, I went into the kitchen and fixed her a cup of coffee. Over the next two days my brother and I made a commitment to get this woman through this. Every day was a new day of fear, horror and terror as the fire got closer and the smell of destruction got stronger. She was asked to leave everyday but she kept saying the same thing every time someone came to the door, "this is all I have and if it hits me I'm going with it". Every time she said that I trembled inside and it made me realize that the images we see on TV are in fact real life that destroys not only houses but people too.

The fire finally cleared and in its path hundreds of homes were gone. The destruction was something out of a horror movie. Something you can't even imagine. The smells were that of death, destruction and the victory of hell. However, Myrtle's house stood strong, the fire didn't get it! Over the days we spent with this golden angel we learned so much about life and what it means. We learned that a forest fire started by a single spark can turn into something that will take everything you've worked for in a matter of minutes; we learned the true meaning of love by watching this little old woman try to defend everything she had left in this world, the whole time never losing hope.

I really wasn't much help to Myrtle. I didn't know what to do but I was convinced in the fact she wasn't going to go through this alone. When I met her she was so scared and alone that I couldn't walk away. When we left she hugged me and cried saying she could have never made it without us. I didn't know what to say, I did what I had to do because it was the right thing to do.

As you watch the news on TV, understand it's more than a fire. It's people. People, who come from all over to fight the beast, people who die, people who lose everything. These fires are real. They hurt, destroy and take more than property. What amazed me more than anything are the attitudes of those that were hit. Signs in yards saying how the fire won't beat them and how they'll re-build, neighbor helping neighbor regardless of the color of skin or the amount of money in their checking account.

It was something I'll never forget and I'll always treasure the time that one woman gave me during a battle for life and property.

I've seen true hero's from all walks of life stop this beast. I've seen them first hand walk into an alley way of fire and smoke and come back beaten and bruised but ready to go again. I've seen people's homes destroyed in less than 20 minutes and the fear on their face when they see it for the 1^st time.

The next time the Devil decides to dance in California, take note. Pray for those in the battle and those in the path. Take heed in the fact you're safe and give thought to those who stand in rubble wondering what to do.