Amidst the many tragic losses his family has suffered during the ongoing wildfires in Los Angeles County, an Altadena man stands out, and like many others, he accepts responsibility for the unimaginable catastrophe. I’m pursuing it.
On Tuesday, January 7, the day the Eaton Fire broke out, Jordan Mitchell was in the hospital battling sepsis and suffered a concussion during a hard fall.
Mitchell, who is the primary caregiver for her 68-year-old father, Anthony, who lost a leg to diabetes, and her 35-year-old brother, Justin, who is partially paralyzed due to cerebral palsy, learned that her father had called for help from paramedics. Evacuate that Tuesday.
“When I heard he called for an evacuation, I had full faith that they were going to take care of me,” Mitchell told KTLA’s Mary Beth McDade.
But emergency crews arrived early Wednesday morning, just as embers kicked up by the hurricane’s strong winds hit the Altadena family’s home, starting a fire that gutted the property and claimed the lives of Anthony and Justin. I was disappointed.
“Sparks struck the house,” Mitchell told KTLA. “The people who evacuated them and the emergency personnel were at the corner when the incident occurred and were unable to get inside.”
Mitchell’s father was on the phone with his aunt as the fire raged.
“My mother’s sister tried to get in, but they wouldn’t let her in. She wanted to go in and try to get them herself,” he said.
The father fought to the end, trying to get himself and his son Justin out of the house.
“He believed they would get out of there. He was like, ‘Help me, help my son, help us.’ “He was really trying to get himself and his brother out of this situation,” Mitchell said.
The Eaton Fire in Altadena occurred on January 7, 2025. (Viewer Image) This undated photo shows Jordan Mitchell’s father Anthony with his mother. (Viewer image) Jordan Mitchell’s younger brother Justin (35) is pictured in this undated family photo. (viewer image)
The tragedy occurred just a year and a half after Mitchell lost her mother to early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. He said his mother was the love of his father’s life.
“It was incredibly tough on me,” Mitchell added. “I try my best every day.”
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He explained that his brother was everything to him and that he always knew that his brother would take care of him and was focused on making sure Justin was safe and comfortable. Mitchell remembers her father as someone who loved spending time with her, was a master rib cook and someone who kept the house filled with food.
Mitchell and her family are now considering joining one of the lawsuits filed against Southern California Edison, alleging that the utility’s equipment helped ignite the deadly fire.
The lawsuit alleges that SCE failed to take appropriate precautions, even though the Eaton Canyon area is in an extremely high fire risk area.
“There are several videos circulating in the news media, on Reddit, on subreddits, etc. that show actual fires starting from power transmission towers,” Kasper Zibagain, an attorney with KJT Law Group, told KTLA. “We also spoke to witnesses.”
Mitchell said she is among those seeking answers from the utility company and wants to know why it took so long for first responders to respond to her father’s calls for help.
“He called me on a Tuesday afternoon and they shouldn’t have shown up at 6:30 the next day because of two disabled adults,” he said.
Friends have organized a GoFundMe campaign to help Jordan rebuild after losing his father, brother and family home.
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