Couple married for 75 years killed in raging California wildfires
A husband and wife who were married for 75 years died together in their home as raging wildfires swept through Northern California this week.
Charles Rippey, 100, and Sara Rippey, 98, ended up trapped in their house as the massive firestorms quickly swept through their Napa County neighborhood.
The pair's son, 71-year-old Mike Rippey, told WABC that his brother had discovered both of their parents' bodies after driving out to check on them on Tuesday.
SEE: Photos of the devastating fires:
Rippey and his brother believe that their parents' caregiver had cooked dinner for them on Sunday night before putting them both to bed.
Hours later, when the blaze engulfed their house, they say she tried to rescue the sleeping couple but could not move quickly enough. Eventually, Rippey says the roof caved in, claiming both of his parents' lives.
"My mother and father, being 100 and 98 were not able to move fast enough to get out," Rippey said. "The home where they just celebrated 75 years of marriage was up in flames."
Charles and Sara had met more than 90 years ago when he was in 6th grade and she was in 4th. Their son says they had been together ever since, and that neither could have imagined living life without the other.
"We kids would always talk about what it would be like if one of them died and the other was still alive," Rippey told the New York Times. "They just couldn’t be without each other. The fact that they went together is probably what they would have wanted."
RELATED: Images of the destruction left in the path of the wildfires:
