For Brian Savitch, a weekend trip back home was spent digging through the rubble for his most prized possessions.

Savitch's home was one of two UA students' homes burnt to the ground by the Cedar Fire, the worst fire in California history, that torched its way through Southern California.

Savitch, a journalism senior, returned to the UA early this week after visiting the Scripps Ranch neighborhood he called home for more than 19 years.

Everything was destroyed, he said.

More than 345 homes were ruined in Scripps Ranch as the two mile long, 100 feet- high flames of the Cedar Fire ravaged the town.

The California wildfires, which spread from San Diego to Los Angeles, burned a total of 3,600 homes and more than 743,000 acres.

"My entire street was burnt down," he said. "It is very hard to handle."

Savitch went to California to be with his parents and his sister, Lauren, an undeclared UA sophomore.

"Even though I saw the pictures, you couldn't prepare yourself for what you saw," Savitch said. "It was the most devastating feeling you could ever have."

He said the once familiar street he drove down so many times was now just empty spaces and black ash.

Savitch said his family spent a lot of time searching the debris, hoping the fire spared a few precious keepsakes.

"I went digging in the ash where I thought my room was," Savitch said. "But everything was destroyed."

The Savitch home was just left to a heaping mound of ashes with nothing standing but a lone chimney and a soot-covered driveway.

"The memories are what you can't replace," Savitch said. "I had a ton of baseball cards that I wanted to give my son someday. That kind of stuff is irreplaceable."

Savitch said his mom took it the worst.

"She said it comes in waves. When she is lying down at night and has nothing to do it all comes back to her," he said.

Though the physical home may have been destroyed, Savitch said that won't stop his family or any other neighbor from living there again one day. He said the whole neighborhood has decided to rebuild.

His parents just bought a house and plan to live there for the year or so that it takes to rebuild their old house.

Savitch said that the UA community has been very supportive, sending cards and well wishes.

"Not only people that are close to me, but from people I barely know," he said. "You wouldn't believe how people have come together."

The same fire that destroyed Savitch's house also destroyed the house of another UA student who is one of Savitch's best friends. He did not want to be named or interviewed.

Savitch said that like many people, he thought something like a fire was too rare to affect him.

"It just goes to show you how real it all is," he said. "It can affect anyone."