01/09/2025
Brad here. I’m an Altadena resident, hiker, and mountain biker. My wife Ester, has been instrumental in her activism for Altadena Safe Streets, getting kids on bikes, her work with Altarena Wild and VP of Mount Wilson Bicycling Association.
Back during the summer of 2020, we purchased our dream home in Altadena. It was an emotional rollercoaster during the endless escrow period. We dumped our savings into getting the property, but we felt successful in achieving the American Dream.
Nothing in life could have prepared us for the recent wildfire event. We’ve all seen images of wildfires in the media, but it’s surreal to experience a wildfire under immediate threat.
Early Tuesday morning, Ester and I experienced the catastrophic results of an uncontrollable wildfire event. Around 6:30 PM on Monday, December 7th, a wildfire broke out in the Eaton Canyon area of Altadena. At first, we were unsure of the possibility that it could travel the 3 miles west across the canyon to our house, considering the wind was blowing south. We parked facing out just as a precaution. By midnight, the threat seemed imminent. At 3 AM, we were given the official order to evacuate. By then, Ester had prepared our necessities, and we quickly departed. Our neighborhood looked apocalyptic with the mountains on fire emitting a red glow, billowing smoke, fallen trees, and downed power lines, all while in a total blackout. The winds were gusting above 70 mph, and the old-growth trees were dancing about.
We safely drove off to visit family in Long Beach. The air was cool when we arrived, and the wind was almost non-existent.
After arriving and settling down, we were glued to our solar doorbell camera, which gave us a bird’s eye view of the front of our house. We watched as the winds tore through our hedges and spewed debris everywhere, and then, around 5 AM, the winds carried embers into our hedges directly in front of our house. Within minutes, our hedges were fully engulfed in flames, sending embers everywhere. By 5:30 AM, our fence & shed had caught fire, & we watched as our video footage went dark.
You can read more on our gofundme page w/ the limited text allowance - link in bio 😭