By WMBD TV

BLOOMINGTON – No family ever wants to evacuate their home.

Rebecca Stevens is a Bloomington native, and graduated from Bloomington High School.

Stevens, her husband and her two sons, a three-year-old and a four-year-old, live in Studio City, which is in the middle of Los Angeles. They are within 10 miles of the Palisades and Eaton fires happening in Southern California.

“Especially for my little ones, I’m just trying to normalize their daily life, especially when there wasn’t school,” she said. “We tried to make it seem like, okay, now we’re going to do arts and crafts, and now it’s lunch, now we get to watch Bluey. I just tried to normalize it for them.”

While they haven’t lost their home, Stevens said they have lost their “sense of safety and live in constant fear.”

“As much as I am packing a bag, none of that matters,” she said. “I don’t care about anything that’s in that bag as much as I care about my family.”

Wednesday night, a fire reached a hill less than two miles from their house, which made them prepare for evacuation.

Below are pictures she took with her phone around the city, along with how close the fires are to her family:

The fire didn’t reach them, however, and they were able to stay put.

Stevens said her friends and family in Bloomington have reached out to her, along with family in San Diego and Arizona.

She credits Bloomington as a very important place in her life.

“I will forever be from Bloomington and it is my home,” she said. “No matter how long I live in L.A., Bloomington will always be my home, and it’s because the people there are so loving and caring about me, even though I am so many miles away.”

Stevens said her family has signed up to foster animals from families who have had to evacuate. Her and her husband still pack a to-go bag each night in case they have to evacuate.

WMBD can be reached at [email protected].