THOUSAND OAKS : Children Escape From Burning Home

As a Thousand Oaks couple searched the burned-out remnants of their rental home Wednesday, they gave thanks that their two children escaped the blaze unharmed.

“I never thought this could happen to us,” said Stacy Galvin as she comforted her 14-year-old daughter, Angela.

Their belongings, which had been neatly packed in boxes pending a move to a new house, were destroyed in the fire in the 2200 block of Goldsmith Avenue in Thousand Oaks.

Stacy and her husband, Peter, were at work when the fire began about 12:30 p.m. Angela and her 10-year-old brother, Richard, were at home for their Thanksgiving vacation when a spark from the chimney ignited their shake roof, a Ventura County Fire Department spokeswoman said. The couple’s 7-year-old son was still in school when the incident happened.

The children were alerted by a United Parcel Service driver who saw the flames and helped them out of the house.

When firefighters first saw the smoke billowing from the house, they called for more engines.

“With strong northeast winds like this, a fire could easily spread to neighboring houses,” Ventura County Fire Capt. Bill Hartley said. “Fortunately, both of the neighboring homes had roofs of composite material that is fire-retardant.”

Stacy Galvin said she and her husband, who were renting the home, have no insurance to cover their losses. Damage to the structure was estimated at $130,000, while the Galvins’ losses were estimated to be at least $30,000, a Fire Department spokeswoman said.

“We just bought a house around the corner,” said Peter Galvin, who is a sanitation worker in Los Angeles. “I guess we’ll have less to move.”

Stacy Galvin said she had planned to start baking Wednesday night for Thanksgiving. Now the family will spend Thanksgiving with relatives in Santa Monica and then search the ashes this weekend for what they can salvage.