Dad Calms Scared Daughter While Escaping California Wildfires

As a parent, being there for your kids means that when times get tough, you have to be tougher.

Life brings all sorts of adversities and trials, and you never know when you are going to have to stand up to the plate and deliver a win for the family.

A California dad was put to the ultimate test of courage and fatherhood when he had to escape danger while assuring his child that everything was going to be okay.

NBC News:

“A father from Paradise, California, tried to keep his young daughter calm by singing to her as he maneuvered their car down a congested highway past flames and burning trees to escape the devastating Camp Fire.”

The west coast is panic-stricken as unforgiving flames have engulfed entire communities amidst one of the largest blazes California has ever seen.

Northern California has seen the worst of it, with 29 people now dead from the wildfires, with six recent discoveries of bodies in homes and a car, according to Fox News.

No one knows for sure how the fires began, but dry brush, high winds, and high temperatures have made it a “perfect breeding ground for fires to ignite”, according to Express.

This is not the first fire to erupt in California, with the Thomas Fire, the Mendocino Complex fire, and the Carr fire devastating the region earlier this year.

The Camp Fire, as this blaze has been named, has left destruction in its wake, turning the town of Paradise to ashes.

It has burned 109,000 acres since Thursday, reports Fox News, and 6,400 residences. The fire is still only 25% contained and is likely to add to the toll as the week progresses.

People are scrambling to find friends and relatives, as 228 people are still unaccounted for. Authorities have sent in a mobile DNA lab and anthropologists to help identify charred bodies.

Firefighters have been working around the clock to stop the relentless flames from spreading, but wind gusts at up to 40 mph are not helping their cause.

With no rain on the forecast, California spokesman Bill Murphy warns that additional high winds could ignite “explosive fire behavior”, reports Fox News.

Upwards of 300,000 people across the state of California have been told to evacuate their homes in Southern California, because their safety is of grave concern.

If residents choose not to evacuate, the outcome could be as dreary as those of the town of Paradise.

Thankfully, one dad led his family to a secure area while the very ground around them was on fire.

Joe Allen drove one vehicle with his three-year-old daughter in it, while his wife, Whitney, drove the family car behind him.

They were heading to Chico, California, trying to escape their hometown that was burning to the ground.

As one can only expect, the young girl, Olivia, was scared as they passed by flames on the congested highway roadside next to them.

With the whole event being recorded, Olivia says, “There’s so much fire here. We’re gonna get on fire.”, according to the video posted to Facebook.

You can see the whole video for yourself after NBC News tweeted the heartfelt scenes.

Her loving, and seemingly calm, father assures his daughter that they will not catch on fire and that he is keeping the car away from the flames.

To give an air of lightheartedness, Allen begins singing “Baby, it will be all right” to his daughter to ease her nerves.

Speaking his daughter’s language, Allen uses a reference from the popular kids movie Trolls, and says they will be back home when “it’s more Princess Poppy.”

The daughter then gets distressed that she can’t see her mother’s vehicle behind them, and again Allen lovingly reassures his daughter that mommy is close and all is well.

At the end of the nearly three-minute video, Olivia and her father flee the fire and she exclaims, “You did it! You did it!”

Joe responds, “We did it together,” sharing in the excitement of being free of the danger zone for now.

Twitter had much to say about this cute exchange, giving praise to the good daddy who was able to stay calm and collected, as he made his little girl feel safe in a scary situation.

One user tweets “He does this all while keeping an eye on and guiding his wife in another car with another kid. Absolutely amazing.”

Another user writes, “I have the chills! That’s so frightening seeing it through the father’s eyes/phone, as if we were there!”

While the flames carry on across Southern California, it is unknown how this tragedy will end.

Through it all, it is nice to see that there are parents who are doing all they can in an unfortunate situation to be strong for their kids.

This loving example of a dad making his daughter feel safe is how parenthood truly is, staying calm while the world burns around you.

Please let us know what you think of the father’s approach to soothing his daughter, and if you had to stay calm in a dangerous situation for your children.