The image quickly became a "beacon of hope" for some in the wake of Los Angeles' deadly January 2025 wildfires.

A surprising photograph of an undamaged Volkswagen van surrounded by destruction from a Los Angeles wildfire has astonished viewers across the world.

When the Palisades fire tore through a Malibu neighborhood, reducing homes and cars to rubble, Preston Martin assumed the retro blue Volkswagen van he once lived in during college was lost. But

A retro Volkswagen van has inadvertently become a “beacon of hope” for Los Angeles area residents as they start to pick up the pieces.

Amid the devastating aftermath of the Los Angeles County wildfires, a glimmer of good news. A retro blue Volkswagen bus somehow survived the deadly fires as it sits seemingly intact surrounded by burned out homes.