They’ve dedicated their careers to keeping people’s homes from burning down, but when the Eaton Fire arrives on their doorstep, even their decades of firefighting expertise are thrown into disarray. I couldn’t compete with that.
“I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s like fighting a hurricane, but instead of water, it’s fire,” Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Jerry Puga said of the fire that gutted his Altadena home.
Now Los Angeles firefighters are in the same position as many of their Altadena neighbors, staring at piles of smoldering rubble and wondering how they can rebuild their lives from the ashes.
The Eaton fire destroyed the homes of at least four active LAFD members, one retired LAFD member and two Pasadena Fire Department members, and displaced at least 15 LAFD families, said Chris Stein, president of the Los Angeles Fire and Rescue Association. . At least three firefighters with the Los Angeles County Fire Department also lost their homes, a representative of the Los Angeles County Firefighters Welfare Association said.
Donation information for fundraisers sponsored by county and city firefighter associations and families of affected individuals.
These are some of the heart-wrenching stories of the homes and history firefighters lost.
“I’m worried about being hit by a bullet.”
When George Baxter retired after 30 years in the fire service, he firmly believed his days as a firefighter were over. That is until the Eaton Fire exploded last week, leaving him on one final mission: protecting his home.
“I was probably the only person on the street who didn’t evacuate,” said the recently retired LAFD firefighter. “But you know, I’m a die-hard firefighter, so I’m going to try to protect my property.”
From 11 p.m. on January 7 to 7 a.m. the next morning, Baxter stood in his garden with a garden hose, bravely battling one of the most destructive firestorms in California history.
“Fences are on fire, trees are on fire, car tires are on fire,” he said. “So I’m running around like a chicken with its head cut off, and as soon as I put out one fire, another fire starts.”
As he worked through the night, chaos spread around him. The house across the street caught fire and all the guns stored inside began exploding.
“It was like a battlefield,” he said. “All the bullets are gone and now I’m worried I’ll get hit by one.”
His nephew appears and begs Baxter to leave, laying down the hose and admitting defeat. Afterwards, his eyes were burnt by the smoke and he could no longer see, so he was rushed to the hospital. When he emerged from the emergency room several hours later, a neighbor showed him photos of his destroyed home.
“I just broke down in tears,” he said. “I couldn’t believe that the house I had lived in for 30 years had burned down. It felt like I was having a bad dream.”
“A rain of falling embers”
Jerry Puga lives in a family of firefighters. He is a 22-year LAFD veteran, his son Adrian is an apprentice LAFD firefighter, and his daughter’s boyfriend Sam Smiley is also an LAFD firefighter. But even their combined expertise could not save Pugas’ Altadena home.
Jerry Puga (left), his son Adrian, and Puga’s daughter’s boyfriend, Sam Smiley, are all LAFD firefighters.
(Jerry Puga)
Puga recalls waking up to the smell of smoke at 3:30 a.m. on January 8. He decides to drive around his neighborhood to see what’s going on, but is shocked by the weather he witnesses there.
“It was a pouring rain of embers. That’s when I realized the wind was blowing right in the direction of the house,” he said. “Right away, we knew we didn’t stand a chance.”
He packed up his family and fled. Just a few hours later, his home was reduced to rubble. For Puga, that reality was difficult to comprehend.
“I went every morning for a few days, expecting to find a different result,” he said. “I was thinking, okay, maybe this isn’t real, maybe it’s just a bad dream.”
“We’re just broken.”
Firefighter John Stahlman has lived in the San Gabriel Valley all his life, but after his home was destroyed in the Eaton Fire, he doesn’t think he and his wife, Monica, will be able to return.
“We were just broken,” he said. “We’re not going to recover from this situation. We’re already looking at different cities.”
The fire destroyed the couple’s most prized possessions, including his wife’s wedding ring and dress, Stahlman and his father’s Marine Corps ribbons, his grandfather’s coin collection and family photos dating back to the 1930s.
“I’ve talked to a lot of people about losing their homes, but being on the receiving end is something new,” said Stahlman, who has 25 years of firefighting experience in the Marines and LAFD.
When the fire broke out, Stahlman told Monica to evacuate and stayed behind to protect the house. He was doing a decent job managing the ember casting until suddenly “everything exploded”.
Neighboring homes were set ablaze, along with trees and mailboxes.
He jumped into his car and fled down the street as the wind tore up power lines and shook the car. At the foot of the neighborhood, he stopped his car and directed about 20 cars away from the fire area.
“People were shouting, ‘My home is over there,'” he says. “And I told them, ‘No, it’s gone, it’s all gone.’
He was reunited with his wife, who took him to the hospital where he was treated for smoke inhalation and severe burns to his face. He will recover, but his house will not.
“Complete disbelief”
James Klingmon is an apprentice firefighter, but he’s already witnessed perhaps one of the most destructive firestorms of his career. And it destroyed his childhood home.
“My first reaction was complete disbelief,” he said of the moment he learned his home was lost. “My heart sank. It’s one of those things you don’t want to believe is real.”
The fire also destroyed three generations of family history and heirlooms.
His grandmother raised three children as a single mother in Altadena, made a living as an entrepreneur, and was a famous seamstress who created some of the costumes for the original “Star Trek” television series.
Thanks to her blood, sweat and tears, the family was able to purchase Clingmon’s childhood home and her aunt’s home, which was destroyed in the Eaton Fire.
Klingmon has remained active since then, helping the highly stressed LAFD respond to calls throughout the city.
“It still helps to serve people and see a smile on their face,” he said. “People are so appreciative and appreciative. They’re honking their horns as we drive down the street.”
A fire may have destroyed his family’s home, but that hasn’t dampened his drive.
“When I see events like this, it drives home why I made the right decision to become a firefighter,” he said. “To help the community.”
How to help firefighters affected by Los Angeles wildfires
Here are links to the firefighters’ GoFundMe accounts: Baxter Family, Puga Family, Stahlman Family, and Klingmon Family. Additional donations can be made to support the firefighters’ recovery on the Los Angeles Firefighters Relief Association website and the Los Angeles County Firefighters Benefits and Welfare Association GoFundMe page.
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