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They escaped the worst wildfire in California history-- and then moved to Minnesota

When Ariel and Eric Janko escaped the Camp fire last month, they made a pact: They would move to Minnesota.

PRINCETON, Minn. - Ariel Janko couldn't stand the thought of going back.

She could not shake the terrifying images of orange-tinted skies and giant smoke clouds. In her mind, she could still hear the desperate pleas of her neighbors as they tried to outrun the deadliest wildfire in California history. She could not stop thinking about the eight hours she spent stuck in gridlock during evacuation, surrounded by propane tanks and a gas station, worried that flames would ignite them and cause mass devastation at any moment.

"Really," Janko said, "we were in a death trap."

So when Janko finally escaped Paradise, Calif., on the evening of Nov. 8 and reunited with her husband, Eric, she made an immediate demand.

"She goes, 'I'm out,'" Eric recalled. "'I want to leave.'"

I want to move to Minnesota, Ariel asked her husband.

So they did.

On Monday, Ariel and Eric Janko arrived in Princeton, Minn., about an hour north of Minneapolis, after completing a nearly 2,000-mile road trip from Northern California. 

The Camp fire, which was fully contained in late November after raging for 17 days, would finally be a memory of the past.

"The whole time we were on the road, and even when we got here, I broke down crying," Ariel said. "Because I'm so glad we're safe." 

Minnesota is not a random location for them, either. Eric grew up in Paradise but spent his high school years in Princeton and some college years in Mankato. 

His mother and stepfather still live in Princeton.

"We knew we had a support system here," Eric said. "That's always been on our mind, moving here. I am sad about what happened to Paradise — it's the town I grew up in — but we're hoping we can make the best out of this."

Their new reality in Minnesota is not an easy one, necessarily. 

Ariel and Eric are living with Eric's mother and stepfather until they get back on their feet, but neither have jobs lined up yet (Ariel had to leave her hospital job in California but will still get paid through February, while Eric had to leave behind a taxi business he ran in Paradise).

They are also grappling with enormous personal losses. They had just moved into a rental property near Paradise before the fire struck; now the building is gone and they lost all their belongings. They hadn't signed up for renters insurance because they'd only been in their new place for a matter of days.

Tragically, they lost two dogs and two cats in the fire as well. Ariel was on her way home on the morning of Nov. 8 to try to rescue the pets, but the fire made it impossible for her to get back before the evacuation order. 

"I don't even care about anything else," Ariel said. "I'm just really sad that they're gone."

For Ariel, the move to Minnesota is especially daunting. She had lived her entire life in Northern California, never more than a 20-minute drive from her parents, who since moved to another part of California after the wildfire. 

But she doesn't regret it.

"All that matters is that we're here," Ariel said. "And our loved ones, our friends, family, they're OK. And we're just blessed to be alive."

Their survival was not a given.

The Camp fire has killed 86 people, according to the latest official totals. The cause is still being investigated, but this month, a lawsuit filed by survivors accused Pacific Gas and Electric Company of playing a role by failing to maintain a transmission tower.

Ariel narrowly escaped disaster after she got caught in that evacuation gridlock on Nov. 8. 

As firefighters tried to tame the fire to clear the way for evacuees, Ariel frantically sought shelter and at one point had to abandon her car on the road. She could not call or text her husband because the cell towers were down. 

Eric, who'd fled straight from his taxi company office at the request of firefighters, spent the entire day paralyzed with fear. 

His only method of communication with Ariel was Facebook Messenger, which she used to send updates throughout the day.

"She's sending me pictures and video of fire all around her, and I'm thinking, Ariel is going to die. My wife is going to die," Eric said. "Whenever I start feeling bad, I think: She made it. She was able to get out. We were able to get out of there with our lives."

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