A woman looks over the remains of her father’s home in the Rubio Canyon section of Altadena late Wednesday morning. Driven by relentless Santa Ana winds, the Eaton Canyon Fire had destroyed between 200 to 500 structures and consumed more than 15,000 acres.
At least two dead, hundreds of homes and structures are destroyed by the wind-driven blaze.
RAFU STAFF AND WIRE SERVICE REPORTS
ALTADENA. – A homeowner in the Rubio Canyon section of Altadena simply refused to evacuate late Wednesday morning.
“I’ve been here since 5 a.m. and no one is coming to help. I worked my ass off for this house and I’m going to protect it. It’s my home and it’s all I’ve got,” he insisted.
Most of his neighbors had long since left the area, as the blaze dubbed the Eaton Canyon Fire continued to ravage communities across Altadena, consuming hundreds of structures and thousands of acres of land, according to Cal Fire officials.
At least two people have been reported killed by the blaze, which was first reported Tuesday evening and exploded across the area, driven by powerful Santa Ana winds and tinder-dry landscapes.
In front of a home on Rubio Canyon Road, two men were seen using buckets of water to douse hot spots in the yard, as houses on either side were either actively burning or had already been completely destroyed. Across the street, another man was packing what appeared to be a sneaker collection into his car amid the choking smoke.
On nearby Rubio Crest Drive, a woman stared with disbelief at the charred remains of her father’s hillside home.
“The only things that survived are the [emergency generator] and my safe, so I’m thankful for that,” the father said.
Around 1 p.m. Wednesday, Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said between 200 to 500 structures had been destroyed, and another 13,000 structures were at risk. More than 32,500 residents were placed under evacuation orders in the nearby regions including Pasadena and Altadena, she said.
Los Angeles County Fire also reported “a number of significant injuries” due to the fire.
Some of the most urgent evacuations took place at a pair of senior and assisted care facilities on Washington Boulevard near where the fire was first reported. With little time to gather belongings, some residents were carried down stairs by staff members, while other were whisked away in wheelchairs to escape the encroaching flames.
Most of the evacuees were taken to the Pasadena Convention Center, where emergency personnel and neighborhood volunteers received them and helped coordinate a staging area ahead of the arrival of American Red Cross staff.
The Pasadena Buddhist Temple reportedly suffered slight singeing but thanks to the quick action of neighbors, was spared significant damage.
“We’re really lucky that we had people who noticed the smoke,” said temple co-president Jeannie Toshima. “They were very generous with their time, even though they had their own homes to worry about.”
Speaking at a briefing early Wednesday, Sheriff Robert Luna said two people were arrested that morning for looting evacuated homes in the Eaton Fire burn area.
The fire expanded rapidly during the night and early morning hours – the strongest hours of a windstorm that began Tuesday morning and was set to continue into Thursday. The erratic winds grounded aerial firefighting assets, and ground crews were unable to keep pace with the flames’ advance overnight. Aircraft were able to resume flights Wednesday morning.
Residents of La Ca?ada Flintridge were ordered to evacuate by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department at 5:30 a.m. Wednesday. Soon after, the City of Glendale issued an evacuation alert for residents of Chevy Chase Canyon and Glenoaks Canyon, and an evacuation center was established at the Pacific Community Center, just east of the Golden State Freeway.
The blaze is one of at least four out-of-control fires that have devastated large areas of Los Angeles County, most notably the massive fire burning in the Pacific Palisades area.
Driven by unrelenting winds, that fire has obliterated over 15,000 acres through the Pacific Palisades area, destroying or damaging more than 1,000 structures and forcing thousands of people from their homes, as it moved toward Malibu on the west and Santa Monica.
The Palisades Fire was reported around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday in the area of Piedra Morada and Monte Hermoso drives, according to Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman David Ortiz. It continued to grow exponentially throughout the day thanks to heavy fuel loads and powerful Santa Ana winds.
The Eaton Canyon Fire broke out as emergency crews were already stretched thin due to battling the Pacific Palisades fire. As a result of that fire, classes were canceled Wednesday for schools in the Pasadena, Glendale, Alhambra, South Pasadena, San Marino, La Ca?ada, Burbank, Arcadia and Monrovia unified school districts. Caltech also closed its Pasadena campus “for all nonessential operations” and canceled classes for the day.