Brewer, who lost his job in the mortgage industry a year and a half ago, managed to grab his laptop, some clothes and papers from the room he lives in before traveling to a Camarillo church, where evacuees were glued to televisions watching fire coverage.

NPR: Fire Forces Evacuation Of Campus, Homes In Calif.

He lives in a squalid two-room house in the heart of the old shanty town with his wife and small child.

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