LOS ANGELES — Tragic wildfires have claimed the lives of at least five individuals and destroyed thousands of buildings in the Los Angeles region. Among the deceased are four men who either could not evacuate in time or chose to stay and protect their residences in Altadena, a neighborhood near Pasadena known for its working and middle-class community, which includes many long-established Black families.
Anthony Mitchell, a 67-year-old amputee, and his son Justin, who has cerebral palsy, awaited help as the flames encroached. Their family, including daughter Hajime White, reported that the desperate attempt to escape was ultimately futile. She shared that first responders discovered her father near Justin’s bed in Altadena, asserting that he had made every effort to save his son during the harrowing situation. “He was not going to leave his son behind. No matter what,” stated White, who resides in Warren, Arkansas, and is Justin’s step-sister. Her last conversation with her father occurred on Wednesday morning when he alerted her about the imminent danger of the approaching fire. She recounted, “Then he said, ‘I’ve got to go — the fire’s in the yard.’” A second son also lived with them, but he was hospitalized at the time and had no caregivers present, which made the incident even more distressing for White. “It’s very hard. It’s like a ton of bricks just fell on me,” she expressed.
Another victim, Victor Shaw, decided to remain and combat the Eaton Fire but was found deceased, clutching a garden hose in his hand amidst the wreckage of his neighborhood. His sister, Shari Shaw, recounted her attempts to persuade him to evacuate as the flames drew closer to their home. Victor insisted on staying, hoping to protect their property. “When I went back in and yelled out his name, he didn’t reply back, and I had to get out because the embers were so big and flying like a firestorm – I had to save myself,” Shari remembered, recalling how she witnessed their home engulf in flames as she fled. A family friend, Al Tanner, later discovered Victor’s charred remains on the roadside the following day. Tanner remarked, “It looks like he was trying to save the home that his parents had for almost 55 years.”
Rodney Nickerson, an 82-year-old resident of Altadena, perished in his bed after choosing to ride out the fire. His daughter, Kimiko Nickerson, recounted standing beside the smoldering ruins of their family home as she recalled her father’s decision to stay. “He was gathering some things, packing up his car a bit, and he said that he was going to gather up his stuff, but he said he was going to stay here too … he said that he felt this was going to pass over and that he would be here,” she shared, revealing that her father had lived in the house since 1968 when he purchased it with just a $5 down payment while raising his family there.
