Only On 9: Camarillo Springs Couple Loses Pet In River Of Mud
CAMARILLO SPRINGS (CBSLA.com) — The rain was a welcome sight for most of the Southland overnight, but in one part of Ventura County it came too hard and too fast, and it may have cost the life of one couple's pet dog.
There was raw emotion on San Como Lane in Camarillo Springs on Saturday night, hours after a river of mud came down a mountain behind about a dozen houses, and traveled through the home of Henry and Marie Needham.
"I was like in quicksand," 83-year-old Henry Needham told KCAL9's Bobby Kaple.
The Needhams have lived in the home for 13 years, and say in the middle of the night, when the rain was coming down, mud and water started to pile in their house.
"The sliding glass door broke, all the furniture started moving, breaking, and the door flew open," Marie Needham said. "I was literally swept out by the mud."
Her husband didn't fare much better as he was buried in hip-deep mud, stuck inside his house waiting for help. He was eventually rescued by firefighters.
In 2013 the Springs Fire burned to within 45 feet of their home. On Saturday morning, when the rain came down, the storm drains got clogged and the hillside had nowhere else to go.
"The drain channel was incapable of handling the big debris that was up there," Henry Needham said.
The couple said they are grateful to their neighbors for all their help and including the clothes on their backs.
"To go down all of your names, I don;t have a piece of paper long enough," said Henry Needham. "Thank you."
While they are OK, unfortunately their dog Tinkerbell doesn't appear to have made it.
"I lost my beloved little dachshund Tinkerbell, and it's a terrible loss for us," said Marie Needham. "She was like our child."
Henry Needham told Kaple that he turns 84 in January, and the couple does plan on rebuilding their home.
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