Engagement Rings Found In Home's Ashes: Glimmers Of Hope In NorCal Firestorm

SANTA ROSA, CA – Like thousands who fled homes and earthly possessions during last week's raging fires in Northern California, Sam Brinkerhoff and her wife, Monica, lost everything ... or so they thought.

After returning to survey damage to their recently purchased Santa Rosa residence, Monica and Sam, who are expecting their first child, were searching through ashes and charred remains looking for a metal safe that contained passports when they stumbled on a glimmer of hope ... their engagement rings.

"Finding that little box that was metal and finding my wife's and my engagement rings was just a little glimpse of hope," Sam Brinkerhoff said in an interview with Inside Edition. "You see such devastation all around you. ... It just gives you some hope."

The couple, who run a home-based business assisting senior citizens in Sonoma County and are hailed as the pure "definition of friends," purchased their first home about two months ago as they prepared for the arrival of their baby girl.

A GoFundMe campaign, "Help Monica & Sam Rebuild...," was launched by a friend last week.

"In 2016, Monica and Sam opened 'Caring Homecare,' a compassionate homecare business working with seniors in Sonoma County," the web site says. "Every day they selflessly help those in need who can no longer care for themselves. They travel from home to home making sure these people feel loved and appreciated and helping them with their everyday needs.

"Even this morning after they received the news they had lost their home, their main concern was their clients and making sure they were all evacuated. Their business was based out of their home and now it’s gone."

Sam said she and Monica will replace possessions, but finding the rings provided touching encouragement.

"We're still here, and we're going to stay strong and fight through it," Sam said in the Inside Edition interview.

To donate to fundraising effort on their behalf, follow this link.

• ALSO SEE: California Wildfires Latest: 40 Confirmed Dead; Winds Lessen As Firefighters Make Progress

--Image via GoFundMe