After Losing Everything In The Camp Fire, Family Relocates To Fair Oaks To Rebuild Their Life

FAIR OAKS (CBS) — Six months after flames ripped apart their slice of paradise, Milton Hansen and his wife, Shun, still relive the day their lives changed forever.

"We ran really good," Milton told CBS13. "We got in the cars and we were gone."

Swipe through photos from the devastating Camp Fire.

The Army veteran and his wife knew it was time to leave once they saw the "different looking" dark sky. A total of 85 people would die that day, but Milton and his family made it out alive.

The Camp Fire destroyed their home in Magalia, near Paradise. They knew right away it would be too painful to try and rebuild.

CBS13 tracked the couple as they started their new adventure, purchasing a fixer-upper in Fair Oaks.

READ ALSO: Six Months Later, Paradise Survivors Set Up Shop, Look To Build At Home

"It's a new beginning--you go through life and find yourself in a bad situation but you can't look back you just have to keep going forward," Milton said.

For them, "going forward" still means looking back on fond memories. It's still painful, though, six months later.

"That's probably the hardest part for myself is to not being able to not ever have those things again that remind you of your past," Milton said.

The Hansen Family is lucky. They were able to purchase a home 42 days after the fire. They now cherish every day together.

"That's the only thing that matters", Milton says, "We're alive."

There is one other thing that emerged from the ashes that hellish morning, an angel that once stood in front of their home. Milton said that