Mother, Toddler Escape Massive Fairfax Mudslide

FAIRFAX (CBS SF) – Maggie Bridges wasn't sure what was happening when her Fairfax home began to rumble and her front door buckled, but she knew she needed to scoop up her 4-year-old and get out of the house.

Moments later, the home was slammed into by a wall of mud and debris.

"The mudslide came down and broke our front door in half," said Bridges' husband, Zach Laurie.

The couple's home is in the Manor Hill area of Fairfax – it's a typical Marin neighborhood nestled among the trees and hillsides.

Laurie said the hillside – saturated by a series of winter storm – gave way without any notice.

"She didn't know where it was coming from -- this rumbling noise," he told KPIX 5. "Then it slammed against the house and she says she even, like, fell. Then the front door just buckled."

Bridges realized that she and the couple's 4-year-old son needed to quickly get out of the house.

"So she just grabbed my son and they went out the bathroom window and ran barefoot to the neighbors," he said.

Across Marin County, homes are nestled among hillsides. On Tuesday, a slide destroyed a home in San Rafael.

Larkspur Public Works Director Julian Skinner says his crews have responded to several slide calls.

"We've had up to a half a dozen slides," he said. "There's hills all over the place -- a lot of them are rock. But you have little areas where the material is not as stable and it moves."