ALTADENA , Calif. — Despite evacuation orders and fire warnings as wildfires tore through Los Angeles County on Jan. 7, a group of residents in Altadena returned home to save their block.
Southern California was hit by multiple wildfires starting Jan. 7, affecting neighboring Pasadena and Altadena after the fire began in Eaton Canyon. With winds reaching up to 80 mph, three homeowners and a group of volunteers worked together to save homes on Boston Street.
The National Weather Service had issued warnings about Southern California’s infamous Santa Ana winds and fire risks as early as Dec. 30. By Jan. 6, Southern California Edison had alerted residents to the “elevated risk of fire danger” and potential public safety power shutoffs.
GROUND ZERO
Around 3 p.m. on Jan. 7, Altadena resident Hunt, who lives on the west end of Boston Street and asked to be identified only by his first name, told the Daily Caller News Foundation that his power had been shut off. Given the annual threat of the winds, Hunt and his wife went out to dinner in a nearby town. However, they later received a text from a friend warning them to return home because the fire had broken out and was “serious.”
Hunt and his wife waited to evacuate until around 9 p.m., as they didn’t want to disturb their 14-year-old German shepherd.
“When the smoke got bad and the wind was blowing this way, we left because we’re like, ‘This is smoke in your eyes, and that’s not good.’ So we left at that moment, went to La Cañada,” Hunt said.
Leaving was difficult for Hunt, who described his 1964 Porsche, which has been in his family for 60 years, as stuck in the garage due to a malfunctioning door. That night, he listened to a fire radio, hoping he wouldn’t hear his street being called.
By the morning of Jan. 8, after being evacuated again, Hunt received a text from a neighbor urging him to “come back.”
“So I came back at 7:45 a.m., and that’s when those houses were ablaze,” Hunt said, pointing across the street. “Then that’s when you’re like, ‘OK, this is it. It’s real.’”
![Eaton Fire in Altadena, California on Boston Street [Photo Provided To DCNF By Hunt]](https://cdn01.dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Untitled-design.jpg)
Eaton Fire in Altadena, California on Boston Street [Photo Provided To DCNF By Hunt]
![Eaton Fire in Altadena, California on Boston Street [Photo Provided To DCNF By Hunt]](https://cdn01.dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Untitled-design-4.jpg)
Eaton Fire in Altadena, California on Boston Street [Photo Provided To DCNF By Hunt]
Hunt spent what felt like “forever” running around his home, dousing it with pool water. Eventually, friends arrived and helped him pour larger buckets of water onto neighboring houses that were on fire and spots where embers had landed.
The Altadena resident said he considered the house directly across the street from him “ground zero,” believing they “had a chance” if they could keep it safe.
“We kept splashing water on the grass to put out the embers, because if that thing goes, that’s going to give a lot of coverage, which would be bad,” Hunt told the DCNF. “So we’ve got them going and I’m up here. I was standing up there where that red brick is when these gentlemen showed up in the truck.”
“I remember just looking down like, ‘Who are these cool people showing up on our street?’ They jumped out and just grabbed buckets and just started dousing [the homes],” Hunt added. “I was like, ‘This is so cool. I don’t know who these people are, but they’re here helping.’ It was pretty moving, actually.’”
CALLING THE CALVARY
That same morning, another Boston Street resident, Josh, who lives closer to the east end, also returned home. Josh told the DCNF that he and his father found nearby homes on fire, including some on their block.
In an effort to save their home, Josh’s father watered down the property, putting out a fire in their backyard. When they spotted a firetruck nearby, officials told them firefighters were working their way “from the top down,” heading south to Boston Street’s area only after they’ve worked on homes closer to the mountain.
By around 7:30 a.m., Josh said firefighters arrived for a short time, though he noted that it was thanks to people like Hunt, whom he saw attempting to stop the fire from neighboring homes already burning from spreading onto others so that the street didn’t suffer worse damage.
“I was going to leave. I packed up. I’m like, you know what? We just got to move on,” Josh said. “I don’t think the house is going to survive with the block.”
“[But] I called my wife and said, ‘Can you call all these guys to come over?’ So it went from being very pessimistic to very optimistic by the time they arrived,” Josh added. “I saw all these guys just really fully involved in putting out the fire. So it was a rollercoaster that day, seeing so many people coming together to really keep this street intact. That was inspiring.”
Around 2 p.m., Josh’s wife had called in a group of men who immediately joined Josh and Hunt to help prevent the fire from spreading. When asked why they risked their lives to help, some explained they were locals who wanted to save their hometown, while others said there was no hesitation to assist Josh.
![Eaton Fire in Altadena, California, people coming to help save homes [Photo Provided To DCNF By Josh]](https://cdn01.dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Untitled-design-5.jpg)
Eaton Fire in Altadena, California, people coming to help save homes [Photo Provided To DCNF By Josh]
![Boston Street West End Group Photo [Photo Taken By Ian Duly, Provided To DCNF]](https://cdn01.dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Untitled-design-5-1.jpg)
Boston Street West End Group Photo [Photo Taken By Ian Duly, Provided To DCNF]
On the east end of the street, homeowners Darius and Carla also returned the morning of Jan. 8, after Carla had evacuated her family. She described the chaotic winds the day the fire broke out but said she didn’t think the fire could reach that far south from the mountains.
“So when we left, nobody, nobody thought [it would travel south],” Carla told the DCNF. “It was like we’re living out of an abundance of caution because we need to allow emergency crews to get in. Firefighters need to access, do their thing. We don’t want to be in the way, et cetera, et cetera.”
![Eaton Fire in Altadena, California [Photo Provided By Darius & Carla]](https://cdn01.dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Untitled-design-4-1.jpg)
Eaton Fire in Altadena, California [Photo Provided By Darius & Carla]
With their power already out, Carla packed up and left her home, only to return the morning of Jan. 8 with her husband. They described how their hope turned to concern as they saw burnt cars and homes just streets away from their own residence.
“Immediately when we pull up, we see our neighbor Arvid, his garage is smoky,” Darius told the DCNF. “Basically, we know there’s a situation. So there’s smoke building out of both [vents] … [and] our garage touches up to theirs.”
“So we come up here, and the first thing we do is turn on the hose, nothing — bone dry, not even a drop, nothing,” Darius said.
FIGHTING FIRE WITHOUT A HOSE
Darius and Carla described how they resorted to using just a dog bowl and their own pool water to attempt to put out the smoke in their neighbor’s garage, with Carla standing on their own garage to try and dump the water into the side vent. Darius said that, while they were working, a neighbor from a street away came on a bike and briefly jumped in to help.
With no improvement after a while, Carla walked around the block hoping to find reinforcements. She noted that if their neighbor’s garage had caught fire, it could have spread to the houses on the east end of Boston Street.
“So when I went up, that’s when I saw neighbors — kids. I mean, they looked like high school kids. It was almost, you know, dads, uncles, brothers, friends — like everybody, whoever could have the heart to show up to help, was there,” Carla said.
The group Carla witnessed had been using trash cans filled with pool water to “establish a water line that the fire could not pass,” as some homes had already burned to the ground. While witnessing the event, Carla spotted a firefighter near a green fire truck.
“He’s doing nothing. He’s just standing there,” Carla said. “So I went up to him and I tell him our situation. He said, ‘Ma’am, I’m so sorry, but I have nothing to help you with. I can’t do anything for you because we have no water. What people don’t realize is that without power, we can’t operate the water pumps. Without the water pumps, there’s no water pressure … There’s nothing I can do for you. I’m so sorry.’”
WATCH:
“I could see in his eyes [that] he’s speaking to me with like, ‘It hurts my heart to say this to you. I’m heartbroken over my inability, but I have to be honest with you.’ In that moment, we walked [back home], and that’s when I told Darius, I’m like, ‘There’s nothing, there’s no one coming,’” Carla added. “No one’s coming to help us. Nobody’s coming to help our neighbors down the street.”
With no hope left, Darius said he and his wife then gathered some photos from the home, believing it could be the last time they saw their place. However, as the couple was driving away, a neighbor called to tell them he had small fire extinguishers and baking powder they could use.
Darius and Carla immediately drove back to meet their neighbor, Dan. Together, they worked to find the source of the fire in their neighbor’s garage. After tearing into the wall and breaking down the garage door, Carla discovered the fire was inside the drywall.
“I yelled at Darius and I said, ‘Honey, look, I found the fire and I need more water. Bring me more water!’ Then we started throwing the baking powder on it too,” Carla told the DCNF.
![Eaton Fire in Altadena, California - home fire [Photo Provided To DCNF By Darius & Carla]](https://cdn01.dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Untitled-design-6.jpg)
Eaton Fire in Altadena, California – home fire [Photo Provided To DCNF By Darius & Carla]
“So then as soon as he brings me water, then from this higher elevation, because I’m at the top of the ladder, I can pour that water directly into the wall. That’s when it was real progress.”
While there was minor damage to the exterior of Darius and Carla’s home, the couple, with the help of some others, was ultimately able to prevent the east end of Boston Street from burning. When asked about the lack of resources and criticism of state and local leadership, both Darius and Carla echoed their frustration over the lack of preparation for the crisis.
“You know, Karen Bass, she’s on record, in one of her very first press conferences saying that, ‘My concern and the priority is to save homes and save lives.’ With all due respect, I thought to myself, a day late and a dollar short,” Carla told the DCNF.
“I continue to focus on the need for preventative measures because California is wildfire country. This is not a surprise to anybody,” Carla added. “If anyone claims to not know what to do or how to properly prepare, they’re lying. That’s just unacceptable because it’s the climate we live in. It’s the climate that we have always lived in.”
Both Democratic Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom have faced major pushback from locals throughout Los Angeles County for their response to residents who have either lost everything or are still unable to move back into their homes.
All the Boston Street heroes told the DCNF they were worried about how Altadena could change, with Josh stating his concern for the predominantly black community in the area. He warned that “shark investors” could “buy up their land” and force residents to relocate, and said he would be grateful to see President Donald Trump visit the area.
“The people of Altadena desperately need help. We are a multiethnic, multigenerational community where 80% of black residents own homes. We want to preserve this legacy,” Josh said.
“We need the support of the local, state and federal government to rebuild this community. We can’t afford continued apathy from the mayor and the governor,” Josh added. “We need intentionality. No one has visited us. I would be grateful for anyone showing up. I would be grateful if the President showed up.”
Trump is expected to visit the areas destroyed by the fire in Southern California on Friday.
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