California Couple Married 75 Years Killed Together by Wildfire

A couple of grade school sweethearts married for 75 years died in the wildfires that ripped through California's wine country over the weekend.

Charles and Sara Rippey were 100 and 98 respectively when they died in their home, overcome by smoke and flames, The Associated Press reported. Their bodies were found Monday when one of their sons drove to their home to check on them.

Mike Rippey said his father seemed to be trying to get to his mother’s room when smoke and flames overcame him.

He “certainly wouldn’t have left her,” he told the AP.

The pair had been together for 89 years since they met in grade school in Wisconsin, CNN reported. Charles Rippey served in World War II before returning to have five children with his wife.

Rippey told KPIX he didn’t know how either of them would have survived without the other one, “especially my father.”

Twenty-one people so far have been killed by the wildfires, which are still burning across California. Five hundred more people are missing. Cell service is spotty in the area, which is hampering efforts to contact relatives who live there.

Twenty-two separate wildfires have burned 170,000 acres so far in areas such as Napa and Sonoma County, and windy conditions could make things even worse in coming days, CNN reported.

Residents can mark themselves safe and relatives can check in on a website set up by the Red Cross.

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