In the ashes of their California home, wildfire-scorched wedding ring prompts new proposal

GOLETA, Calif. — In the ashes of the Holiday Fire, a man and his wife who were searching for her Tiffany & Co. wedding ring left behind as they fled the flames found what they were looking for, damaged but intact.

When they found the ring Sunday, Dr. Ishu Rao, 48, a cardiologist in nearby Ventura, California, dropped to one knee, put the charred ring on his wife's finger and asked Laura Jensen Rao, 39, to marry him again. They have been married about eight months.

The moment came as a surprise to the Santa Barbara County Fire Department crew accompanying the Raos, said Mike Eliason, the fire department's spokesman. But Eliason, a former newspaper photographer who often posts dramatic fire pictures from his SBCFireInfo Twitter account, captured the moment.

"I grabbed my iPhone," Eliason said. "It was truly a special moment out of the ashes."

► July 8: California wildfire burns 30,500 acres, destroys 72 structures
► July 7: 'Extreme' California wildfire doubles in size as it roars into Oregon

Rao and his wife had found the ring after looking for pipes to figured out where the kitchen sink had been. She had taken off her rings and put them in a dish beside the sink as she got ready for bed.

Minutes later they smelled smoke and fled their home with Ishu's 12- and 14-year-old daughters, three dogs and a cat. Only when they were on the road did Laura Rao realize she had left her rings behind.

While the metal of the ring survived the 100-acre fire, which was considered 90% contained as of Monday morning, the diamonds did not, not a surprise since the gemstone is pure crystalline carbon, the same chemically as graphite and charcoal, according to an International Gem Society blog post. For a diamond to burn, the heat has to be directly on the diamond; in pure oxygen, that temperature is 690 to 840 degrees.

The couple's home of three years was destroyed in the fire that began at around 8:40 p.m. Friday as were 12 other houses, Eliason said. Three other single-family residences were damaged along with 15 other buildings, including barns, workshops and sheds.

Residents were allowed back Sunday evening into the Goleta area, about 100 miles northwest of Los Angeles, although firefighters continued to work on hot spots and not all electricity had been restored.

The last mandatory evacuation orders were lifted Sunday. The fire's cause remains under investigation.

In the first six months of this year, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection has fought 2,626 fires, 11% more than last year, on almost 85 square miles total. That is 50% more area than the same time last year, according to Cal Fire, which is responsible for fighting fires on land the the U.S. government doesn't own.

Contributing: The Associated Press. Follow Gretchen Wenner on Twitter: @GretchenWenner

Related

► July 6: 1 dead in wildfire near California-Oregon border
► July 5: Thousands flee dozens of blazes, including Colo.'s 3rd biggest on record
► July 5: Growing fires in US West put damper on July 4 holiday festivities
► June 25: More than 30 homes 'total losses' in Florida wildfire
► June 12: Wildfires in Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona force closure of forest

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