Miracle VW camper van untouched by LA fires despite blaze destroying everything else in street
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Amongst the rubble and devastation caused by the out of control wild fire s in Los Angeles, a lone Volkswagen van sits - despite the neighbourhood around it being completely destroyed. Devastating wildfires in Los Angeles have wiped out entire neighbourhoods and killed at least 24 people so far, among fears the situation could continue to escalate over the coming days. Gusty Santa Ana winds are expected to intensify this week, the National Weather Service (NSW) has said, prompting rare Red Flag Warnings over the "particularly dangerous situation" - an alert reserved for "extreme of the extreme fire weather scenarios.".
Now, incredible pictures have shown among the sadness and destruction a lone blue Volkswagen survived the flames. Preston Martin, 24, had parked the vehicle in the Malibu neighbourhood before the Palisades fire ripped through and was astonished to see it was in one piece.
Preston said: “There is magic in that van. It makes no sense why this happened, It should have been toasted but here we are. “It's so cool it's become this, like, beacon of hope.Everything around it was toasted, just destroyed and then here's this bright blue shiny van, sitting right there.".
Martin purchased the 1977 Volkswagen Type 2 on a whim sometime around his junior year studying mechanical engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Last summer he sold the van to pal Weinraub, 29, and the pair went swimming on January 5.
Afterward Martin parked it on a flat spot up the hill from her apartment by the Getty Villa, as she is still learning to drive the manual transmission. When the Palisades fire broke out, Weinraub fled with her dog, Bodi, in her usual car and left the van behind.
