Flying home to the flames

Architect Elizabeth Eshel saw the flames of the Griffith Park fire from the air as she flew into Burbank's Bob Hope Airport Tuesday night. Meanwhile at home, her husband, Ron, had already bathed their 2-year-old twins and put them to bed when he noticed their neighbors evacuating. The family was reunited at a friend's house in Beechwood Canyon, along with their Ridgeback retriever.

The Eshels bought their 1958 home on Aberdeen Avenue the day they learned Elizabeth was pregnant with Ben and Lucy. The previous owners also had twins.

Back home Wednesday morning, the family praised "Fireman Phil" and other firefighter friends from Department 35 in Los Feliz. But Elizabeth Eshel, who trains for marathons in the park, worried whether her twins would still see rabbits, deer and woodpeckers on their daily nature walks.

"What does a woodpecker say?" she asked the twins as they clamored up and down the front steps. "Tap tap," said Ben.

-Mary Engel