Wildfires across the Los Angeles area have taken the lives of dozens of residents, including people trying to protect their family homes and individuals who struggled to evacuate due to health reasons.
On Monday (January 13), the death toll from the Los Angeles wildfires reached 24. The wildfires, fueled by dry conditions and powerful winds, began to break out across southern California on Tuesday (January 7), forcing roughly 180,000 people to evacuate from their homes and destroying thousands of structures.
Anthony Mitchell, a 67-year-old great-grandfather of 10, died in his Altadena home alongside Justin Mitchell, one of his sons. Altadena was affected by the Eaton Fire, which has burned over 14,000 acres just east of Los Angeles.
One of Anthony Mitchell's surviving sons said his father stayed in the home because he refused to leave Justin, who had cerebral palsy and couldn't walk. The two were waiting to be evacuated before the fire quickly spread to their home.
“He probably could have gotten himself out, but he wasn’t going to leave my brother,” Anthony's son said. “He really loved his kids.”
83-year-old grandmother Erliene Louise Kelley also died in her home in Altadena amid the wildfires. Kelley lived in the home with her granddaughter, Briana Navarro, Navarro's husband, and the couple's two daughters.
Navarro said the family spotted smoke from their window but initially weren't in a rush to leave.
"We walk outside, you could just see a red glow," Navarro recalled. "It didn’t look like anything major."
However, Navarro's husband suggested they evacuate.
"My husband, he's not from out here, so he kind of was looking at it a little different than we were," Navarro said. "We asked [her grandmother] ... and she's like: 'No, no I'm fine. You guys go ahead.'"
Navarro said her grandmother had been through a major wildfire before and assumed everything would be fine. Police confirmed on Thursday (January 9) that Kelley had died in the burning home.
"My grandmother was really active. … I thought she would be 99, just walking around. We didn’t expect to lose her so tragically, and that’s what hurts the most," Navarro said.
Victor Shaw, 66, was trying to protect his home when he was killed on Tuesday (January 7) in the Eaton Fire. Shaw was found dead holding a hosepipe that he had been using to attempt to extinguish the flames engulfing the home he shared with his younger sister, Shari.
Shari said her brother refused to join her as she fled from the Eaton Fire advancing towards 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 Shaw said. “And I looked behind me, and the house was starting to go up in flames, and I had to leave.”
According to loved ones, Victor Shaw has difficulty moving due to health problems but was determined to save his home, which has been in the family for more than half a century.
83-year-old Robert Kent Nickerson's daughter, Kimiko, said she last talked to her father on Tuesday (January 7) after he had finished trying to hose his property down. She and her family tried to get Nickerson to evacuate his Altadena home, but he assured loved ones that he would be fine.
"My son tried to get him to leave, and my neighbors and myself, and he said he'll be fine — 'I'll be here when you guys come back.' And he said his house would be here," Kimiko said.
She noted that her father had lived in the home since 1968.
"I don’t know anywhere else other than here," Kimiko said.
"I've been here my whole life," she added. "Myself and my brother and my son and his other grandchildren, this is where we've been our whole life."
Randy “Craw Daddy” Miod, a well-known figure in Malibu, was killed in the Palisades Fire. Miod's mother, Carol Smith, said detectives told her that her son likely succumbed to the smoke and heat while he was trying to save his home. In a statement, Smith said Miod “lived and died in the place he loved the most.”
On Wednesday (January 8), former Australian child star Rory Sykes, who was born blind and had cerebral palsy, died in the Palisades Fire. Sykes' mother, Shelley, said she was unable to save him from his cottage on the family's 17-acre Malibu estate because she had a broken arm and couldn't lift him.
“He said, ‘Mom, leave me.’ And no mom could leave their kid,” Shelley recalled.
Shelley said she tried to drive to the local fire department for help, but by the time they came back to the home, her son's “cottage was burnt to the ground.”
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