(CNN) When a wildfire engulfed their hilltop rental house without warning, Armando and Carmen Berriz took shelter in a swimming pool, their mouths and noses poking out of the water to gulp the smoky air.
The longtime married couple were there for hours overnight, breathing and praying together, as the blaze roared around them.
Once the fires finally passed, Armando Berriz climbed out, shaken but alive. Carmen, his wife of 55 years, didn't make it.
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