The BBCProfessional chef Darron Anderson always tells people that he was “born in the kitchen”—quite literally.
The 45-year-old was born at 295 West Las Flores Drive, where he lived with his mother until this week.
On Thursday, he stepped over the charred rubble where his kitchen once stood in Altadena, a tight-knit neighborhood in northeast Los Angeles.
He was looking for his cast-iron pan in hopes that it might have survived the fire, one of several historic fires in the area that have killed at least 16 people and destroyed several communities. and has made thousands homeless.
Across the street — at number 296 — her friend Rachel’s house also sits in ashes. The house next door – 281 – where he enjoyed family parties, is gone.
About three blocks away, on Devarian Place, where his girlfriend lived, some neighbors tried to contain the roaring flames that would consume their homes with garden hoses.
After the fire destroyed this entire community nestled in the shadow of the San Gabriel Mountains, they too are now searching for valuables in the rubble.
It all started on Tuesday night.
Santa Ana winds were strong throughout the day.
Darwin was trying to protect objects from flying in his front yard after 18:00 local time.
Across the street at 296 West Las Flores Drive, Rachel Gillespie was taking down Christmas decorations, worried about her plastic icicles and patio furniture.
They exchanged worried glances. “That doesn’t sound good, does it?” he commented.
At the time, it was only the wind that worried them.
Little did they know that one of the two worst wildfires in L.A. history was raging just a few miles away, part of a one-day nightmare that would see its climax. Six blazes Simultaneously threatening America’s second largest city
The Eaton fire in Altadena has now burned more than 14,000 acres, destroyed thousands of homes and businesses, and killed 11 people. By the weekend, Eaton was only 15% occupied.
In West LA, the Palisades Fire, which started this morning, will burn more than 23,000 acres. Most vibrant community burning to ashes, and killing at least five people.
Darron’s next-door neighbor in house 281, Dillon Akers, was working at a donut stand at the Topanga Mall — about 40 miles away — when smoke began to fill their neighborhood.
The 20-year-old fled back upon hearing the news, only to find his northwest corner of Altadena pitch black and family members frantically evacuating their home.
His uncle jumped over their white picket fence to save precious seconds as he loaded the luggage into the back of his car.
For the next two hours, Dillon did just that, gathering food, medicine, clothing and toiletries. In his rush, he misplaced his keys, and wasted 30 minutes searching in the smoky darkness with torches until he found it blown up against a fence.
During his desperate search, he kept telling himself that local authorities would be able to handle the fire that was roaring down the mountain toward the home he shared with his mother, grandmother, aunt and two younger cousins. .
Dillon had encountered storms before, and seen smoke in the mountains, but this time felt different. This time the orange glow in the sky was directly overhead.
“I was a full 10 on the scale of scared,” he said.
At 00:30 on Wednesday, Dillon said he and his mother were the last people to leave West Las Flores Drive. They may have been the last to get out alive.
The next day, authorities would announce that the neighbor’s remains had been discovered down the road.
Rachel and Darron had left the neighborhood about two hours before Dillon. Rachel is forced out by a friend who demands: “You have to leave now.”
Rachel – with his wife, toddler, five cats and two days’ worth of clothes – said goodbye to the house they bought just over a year ago.
Darron also grabbed what he could: a guitar he bought when he was 14 with money he earned working as an extra in a karate film, and a painting of his family crossing Abbey Road in London. , which was modeled after the famous Beatles album cover. .
As people on Las Flores Drive were evacuated, Derron’s neighbors tried to fight the flames a few blocks away.
At 417 Devirian Place, Hipolito Cisneros and his close friend and neighbor Larry Villescas, who lived across the street at 416, grabbed garden hoses.
The scene outside looked hellish.
The garage of a house was engulfed in flames. One car in front of another.
They pulled hoses from several houses and flooded the structure – including the home of Darwin’s girlfriend, Saatchi.
“The water was just receding. It wasn’t even penetrating or anything,” Hippolyto said, referring to the bone-dry ground and brush around the homes.
Over time, they evolved to include embers and spitfires. Larry thought they might be winning.
Then their hoses ran dry – because of everyone Water pressure problems They later learned that firefighting efforts in Los Angeles County had been hampered amid heavy demand.
An explosion was heard nearby, another house caught fire. By 01:00, both their families were packing to leave.
“We tried. We really tried,” Hipolito said.
By 02:30 on Wednesday morning, police cars rolled up their street with loudspeakers, telling everyone to leave immediately.
As he turned the corner of his street, Larry looked in his truck’s rear view mirror as his garage caught fire.
By 03:00, the street was empty.
Most of the Los Angeles area is made up of neighborhoods and small communities like Altadena.
On any given morning, people would walk past the rows of houses to grab a cup of coffee at The Little Red Hen Coffee Shop, stopping to grab one on their way to work in the morning.
Many have described the tight-knit community here over the decades, where they’ve seen neighbors start families and children who once played in the streets grow up.
But driving through the area for the first time since his world was destroyed, Darron barely recognizes his neighborhood.
The big blue house marked a familiar turning point. All the signs that once guided him have disappeared. He points to each neighbor’s property, gasping to realize that no one is standing.
He takes pictures of his and Rachel’s house and the street he shares with Dillon. Outside his girlfriend’s house – which Larry and Hippolyto try to save – he videos and chats with her family before calling Sachi to explain the state of her house.
“God, it’s all over,” he says, his voice breaking.
But few objects remain among the ruins.
Upon returning to his sister’s home on West Los Flores Drive, he found multicolored plastic ornaments strewn across her lawn, somehow untouched by the fire.
He plucks each stake from the ground, knowing that while these flower arrangements may feel unusual in times of disaster, they may also make him smile.
Across the street from what was once his house, the red brick chimney is all that stands. Around him is a pile of pottery.
With his hands blackened with soot, he collects what he can, but many pieces crumble at his touch.
A charred lemon tree sits on the lawn, some of the fruit still warm to the touch.
“If I can get a seed, we can replant it,” he says, holding up a handful.
“It’s a way you can start over.”