Watch CBS News

Pacific Palisades music teacher, husband lose home for second time to Southern California wildfire

Pacific Palisades couple loses home for second time to wildfire
Pacific Palisades couple loses home for second time to wildfire 02:48

A music teacher and her husband have struck a chord with their story of resilience after losing their home to a wildfire for the second time. 

The loss comes three decades after they lost their home in Malibu to the Topanga Fire in 1993, and now they find themselves clinging to the things — and strings — they were able to save before fleeing. 

"I was just like, 'This can't be happening again," said Heather Lyle. 

Since moving to the area, they've had the same dry cleaners, post office, grocery stores and neighbors, all of which were lost in just minutes when the Palisades Fire ripped through their neighborhood, razing dozens of homes when it erupted on Jan. 7. 

"After Malibu, I didn't think I would find my paradise again," said Michael Lyle. "I found it there."

Now, nothing of their home is left but charred and melted debris. Before leaving, they did grab some items that mean the world, including three photographs, a ukulele and two guitars. 

"I grabbed, this is my brother and I when we were really little and he's died," Heather said of one of the photos. 

She keeps the photo in a case with one guitar, which has a very special significance to her. 

"My brother got it for me," she said. "It is the one connection that I have left of him really. ... I don't need a photo, I have him right here in this guitar."

Lyle has also given music instructions to people living in the area for decades, and she's doing what she can to keep lifting spirits with song. She said her next step is getting back to what she loves.

She was just weeks away from moving into a new studio when the fire broke out and now that business is also burned. 

When asked how she continues to fight through all of the travesty, she revealed even more trying times that have left her with such a joyous outlook.

"Well, I'm a two-time cancer survivor," she told KCAL News' Hunter Sowards. "I've had this one thing in my head since then, which was no one or any circumstances will steal my joy."

Despite it all, they're determined to rebuild. 

"We're not victims, we are survivors," Michael said. 

Information on how to contribute to a GoFundMe for the Lyle family can be found by searching for the keywords: "Help Heather & Michael Lyle from the Pacific Palisades Fire."

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.