Thomas Aquinas looks to the future following escape from the Thomas Fire's wrath

When flames sparked on the evening of Dec. 4 just outside Thomas Aquinas College, the students who were leaving dinner and heading to evening seminars saw the beginning of what would become the one of the largest wildfires in California history.

The fire that has burned for more than two weeks, consumed more than 272,000 acres, destroyed more than 1,000 structures and engulfed cities in two counties somehow spared the small, private Catholic college nestled in the hills near Santa Paula.

The flames started about a half mile from the campus, and thus the fire got its name — Thomas.

Read more:Latest updates on the Thomas Fire

“It was coming toward the campus from all directions. We were surrounded,” said Clark Tulberg, the facilities manager at the college who stayed to help put out spot fires on campus after the fire started.

The fire pushed right up to the edge of the access road and at one point, Tulberg said it was “raining fire” on the campus.

“Not just embers, either,” Tulberg said. “There were small burning branches in the air. They were landing and starting spot fires on our buildings, near our buildings. A chair caught fire outside one of our dorms; we put the thing out.”

Tulberg, assistant landscaping coordinator Ben Coughlin, maintenance supervisor Andrew Carey and Pierre Rioux, the operations supervisor, stayed on campus to assist firefighters with the spot fires popping up all over the campus. School President Michael McLean and his wife also stayed after students evacuated. A chaplain who spent much of the night praying also remained on campus.

“Standing in the middle of the sports field at 3:30 a.m. with fire all around me, I thought for sure the campus was gone,” Tulberg said. “I was wondering if there would be anything for me to do if I had a job in the morning.”

Tulberg said the campus remained largely unscathed because of the hard work of the firefighters that first night.

“I thought for sure different flare-ups would send buildings up in flames,” Tulberg said. “I was pleasantly surprised in the morning when we had lost no buildings. It’s a real testament to the firefighters.”

The college has 370 students who study the same curriculum and graduate with a bachelor of arts in liberal arts. The curriculum focuses on the great books of Western civilization. Students read and analyze original texts of important thinkers in math, science, philosophy and other subjects.

The school sounded bells and the college president instructed students to grab what they could and quickly get to cars and evacuate. Within an hour, the campus was emptied of students. Half an hour after that, the road leading to the campus was closed.

The students and faculty members left in their private cars or college cars and descended upon Sacred Heart Church in Ventura. It was there that they were met by members of the school’s faculty and board of governors, parents and friends of the college who provided them shelter.

The fire that spread from Santa Paula to Montecito left behind badly burned trees and brush and a smell of smoke still heavily present in the buildings and in the air.

Tulberg said there are crooked trees, trees still smoldering and ash pits all around the campus grounds.

“Look, you could say we were lucky, but there are others that would say there was something else involved,” Tulberg said. “We are lucky. It’s burnt up to the campus on all four sides. ... The campus is still smoldering. But it’s here.”

Tulberg said there’s a lot of damage to clean up before students get back in January, but his priority is making sure the campus is “as cozy as possible” for students, and he hopes to get rid of the burnt spots on the grounds.

“The damage was catastrophic,” Tulberg said. “It’s like I relandscaped the whole campus in gray tones.”

After the fire started, the college shuttered for the semester and canceled final exams. The school plans to open earlier than normal in January to administer those missed finals before the official start of the second semester.

Total costs of the fire to the college have yet to be determined, but are expected to be substantial, according to the college.

“We had to rent generators and hire additional security,” McLean said. “The food in the freezers and refrigerators had to be thrown out, so we need to replace that, and there are many trees that need to be removed from campus. A big redwood just fell a couple of days ago.”

It is expected that these costs, plus the expense of opening the campus early in January to host the postponed first-semester examinations, will run into the tens of thousands of dollars, according to the college.

McLean said he’s grateful to those who have donated to the college to help with the additional expenses and to the staff members who stayed that first night fighting to protect the campus.

“It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and not one that I’m anxious to have again, to tell you the truth,” McLean said. “It was unbelievable how quickly this fire moved.”

McLean and his wife have been displaced because the lower part of the campus that contains the president’s house is too dangerous. They are staying at their condo in Ojai.

But even with all that happened at the college, McLean is excited to start the new semester and get students back on campus.

“We appreciate all the prayers and good wishes that came our way during the worst,” McLean said. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to those who lost their homes. ... Our concerns are for those who suffered more than we did.”

How to help

Thomas Aquinas College is seeking donations in the wake of the fire to help cover costs. Donations can be made on the college’s website thomasaquinas.edu.