Loved ones are rallying to support a jazz musician and his wife who lost their Altadena home in the Eaton Fire.
Dale Fielder was on his way home from a gig when the wildfire broke out on January 7th.
“There was just flames everywhere,” Fielder recalled. “It was 1 a.m.”
He and his wife, Patricia, quickly grabbed their belongings and evacuated their home as the fire came dangerously close. They hoped for the best, but when they returned to the neighborhood the next day, the house had been destroyed.
“All the houses on my block are gone,” Fielder said. “I pulled over and couldn’t move. I sat in the car for 20 minutes just yelling. The only time I cried this much was when I lost my mother.”
Although he was able to save his saxophone, he lost several valuable instruments and thousands of pages of original sheet music.
Dale Fielder’s Altadena home was destroyed by the Eaton Fire on January 7, 2025. (Fielder Family) A page of sheet music written by Dan Fielder was discovered in the rubble. (Fielder Family) Dale Fielder’s Altadena home was destroyed by the Eaton Fire on January 7, 2025. (Fielder Family) Dale and Patricia Fielder are pictured in a family photo. Dave Fielder speaks with KTLA’s Rick Chambers on January 17th. 2025. (KTLA) Dave Fielder’s Altadena home and backyard before it was destroyed by the Eaton Fire. (Fielder Family) Dave Fielder’s Altadena home and backyard before it was destroyed by the Eaton Fire. (Fielder Family) Jazz musician Dave Fielder is shown playing the saxophone in a personal photo. Beloved Southern California music teacher loses home in Eaton Fire
“I’m a composer, so I had a lot of original music manuscripts. Everything I wrote since the ’70s is gone,” he said.
Searching through the rubble where his home once stood, Fielder discovered a page of sheet music that had survived the fire. Fielder said he is devastated by the loss of his home, but grateful to be alive and ready to see what the future holds.
“Life involves change, and it worked for me for a long time, but the universe decided for me to do something different,” he said.
A GoFundMe page to help the Fielder family rebuild their lives can be found here.
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