A house that touched Sadlak’s backyard now lies in ruins. The Sadlaks are taking refuge in a hotel suite because their house was devastated in the San Bruno fire on Sept. 9. – Courtesy of Natalie SadlakA student from Castilleja Middle School in Palo Alto and her family are putting their lives back together in the wake of the fire that blazed through San Bruno on Sept. 9.

Natalie Sadlak’s home was severely damaged in the fire caused by a pipeline explosion. Sadlak, an eighth grader, returned from a Taekwondo tournament in South Korea on the day of the fire and received the unfortunate news from her parents.

“Honestly, when I first heard the news I was numb; it didn’t sink in,” Sadlak said. “When I talked to my parents … I was really scared. My house was only a street down from where the explosion happened. My parents were sure our whole house had burned.”

The explosion occurred around 6 p.m. while Sadlak was at the Los Angeles International Airport. Her family was in their home at the time.

“My parents were both at home and witnessed the explosion,” Sadiak said. “My mom was actually in the kitchen cooking dinner.”

Fortunately, all members of the family escaped safely. While Sadlak’s home was not one of dozens that burned down, the house did suffer significant damage.

“We were lucky enough that nothing inside our house had burned, but we did have smoke damage, our windows were cracked, and our roof is melted,” Sadlak said.

Most houses nearby had similar damage and a house that used to border on the Sadlak backyard burned to the ground, according to Sadlak.

Though her family did not lose any of their possessions in the fire, Sadlak said she was initially worried of losing things with personal significance.

“I had the most stuff out of anyone in my family because I had just come back from a vacation [and had my suitcase with me], but I didn’t have little things with sentimental value. I didn’t have my stuffed bear that I’ve had since I was five, or any pictures.”

Even though her house was damaged, Sadlak said that she was grateful that everyone in her family was safe.

“When it started to sink in, I realized how lucky I was to still have both of my parents alive and well, and I was just really thankful for that.”

“Right now we are cleaning the house to prevent the smoke damage from getting any worse,” Sadlak said. “Once that is done, we will remodel the roof, and add new windows.”

Initially, Sadlak and her family stayed with Sadlak’s uncle at his home, but as of Sept. 23, they have moved into a hotel suite for the duration. They plan to live there for two to three months until they are able to return home.

“With all of the ruins surrounding us, I don’t think that it will truly be normal,” Sadlak said. “There will be constant reminders of the fire everywhere.”