The part of Jeff Hill's story of being evacuated from Paradise, Calif. that most people know about is the story of a rescued horse.

Among the devastating social media posts about the town and its homes being leveled by flames, Hill's story about saving a horse — a mule, actually, as it turns out — stood out. The mule had been stuck in the waters of a backyard swimming pool for an unknown number of hours, perhaps evading the flames of the Camp Fire, but eventually becoming trapped in the pool cover.

The story of the mule's rescue went viral, a rare, happy instance among the other stories coming out of the fire. But what Hill's post only hinted at was that he was in the midst of his own personal struggles, and there was a different issue at hand when he and friend Geoff Sheldon first happened upon that mule.

"Among all the sadness, I had a glimpse of happiness today!" Hill wrote at the time he told the story.

But when Hill and Sheldon found the mule, what went unstated was the fact they had taken on a grim task. They weren't in the area to save local animals, but instead the two men were there to check on Sheldon's father, who had stayed behind with his home when evacuations began.

Taking advantage of Hill's city work truck, which he uses in his job with the irrigation district, the men drove past the National Guard to the neighborhood where Sheldon's father lived, not knowing what they would find.

"We were up there to check on his dad, and we were ultimately thinking we were going to find the remains of his dad," Hill told SFGATE. Thankfully, the house was still standing — one of two houses that survived on a block of 15 — and the two men discovered that Sheldon's father had left the area in time and was safe. That house was one of the few that managed to stay unscathed in a fire that claimed 56 lives and destroyed about 8,650 single-family homes as of Wednesday.

Hill is among those dealing with the tragedy of losing his home to the fire. Hill and his extended family have long called Paradise home and he said that while everyone was able to evacuate safely with their pets, about 12 houses owned amongst family members were lost to the fire.

"Usually if something happens, you go to your mom's house; or if that doesn't work out, your grandpa's house is always a safe haven — and that's just not an option anymore," Hill said. "Between my family, we had 12 homes go, [displacing] about 35 people. We're all just really struggling: almost everybody lost jobs and we still have our bills."

Hill is a father to two sons, and his girlfriend is seven months pregnant. Everyone is "sprinkled across Northern California" as they all figure out what happens next, Hill said, staying with other family members where they can, a few nights in one spot, a few nights in another spot. When asked how he is doing, Hill had no answer ready.

"I don't know, honestly," Hill said. "Neither of us — I just asked my girlfriend that, 'How are you doing?' and she's ... we don't know. We're just taking it day by day. Everybody says, 'What's your next step?' I don't know. My emotions are still kinda numb."

"Devastation. I'm 29 years old and the entire town is gone — it's where I grew up," Hill later added. "There's no more stores, no more churches, half of the hospital is gone. The infrastructure is totally just gone. There's nothing, there's nothing left, anywhere."

Things are slowly moving along, however. Hill said he got hold of a trailer Tuesday. He spent all day on the phone with insurance trying to figure things out for the longterm. He's had to lean on the kindness of strangers the first days of the evacuation, existing on donated clothing and supplies, since everything he and his family owned was left behind and is now gone. His girlfriend received maternity clothes, and his kids also received clothing from shelters, and the family is hoping a small amount of money via a GoFundMe will help in the meantime.

Hill's family was evacuated Thursday, and it was three days into this new reality when Hill and Sheldon happened upon that poor mule in the pool — a story that eventually became a bright spot for Hill and the others who heard the story.

How the discovery came about was the two men were alerted to the animal by a second mule, whom Hill said was pacing back and forth and didn't run away at the sight of the two men, unusual for that animal, Hill noted. It was then that they noticed the second mule in the pool, buoyed by the pool cover, but looking exhausted, with "a look of defeat."

The two men worked to take the pool cover off, but the mule briefly went under in the water. They grabbed the pool cover and instead floated the animal to the shallow end until she could stand up.

Grabbing a chain, Hill wrapped it around the mule's neck and guided her up the stairs, where she shook off the water.

"She came over and let us love on her for a little bit, then after about a minute, she turned around and walked away, and as she was walking away she kinda looked back at us," Hill recalled. "I felt like it was kind of a reassurance, you know, a thank you. She was letting us know that it will be OK."

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