Victims of the fires in the Los Angeles area

LOS ANGELES (AP) — At least five people were killed and thousands of structures were burned as fierce wildfires raged in the Los Angeles area. The dead include four men who were unable to leave or had stayed behind to defend their homes in Altadena, a community near Pasadena that is home to working and middle-class families, including many Black residents living there for generations.

Anthony Mitchell and his son, Justin

Anthony Mitchell, a 67-year-old amputee, and his son, Justin, who has cerebral palsy, were waiting for an ambulance to come for them.

“They didn’t make it out,” said Mitchell’s daughter, Hajime White.

She said authorities told the family Mitchell was found by the side of his son’s bed in Altadena. The Washington Post reported the family believes Mitchell was trying to save his son, who was in his early 20s.

“He was not going to leave his son behind. No matter what,” White said. White, who lives in Warren, Arkansas, and is Justin’s step-sister, said her father called her Wednesday morning and said they had to evacuate from approaching flames. “Then he said, ‘I’ve got to go — the fire’s in the yard,’” she recalled Thursday.

Another son, also in his 20s, lived with the pair but was in the hospital, and no caregivers were on hand, White said, adding “It’s very hard. It’s like a ton of bricks just fell on me.”

White didn’t immediately respond to a Facebook message from The Associated Press seeking comment.

Victor Shaw

Victor Shaw stayed behind to try to fight the Eaton Fire and was found holding a garden hose in his hand after the blaze swept through his neighborhood.

Shari Shaw told news outlet KTLA she tried to get her 66-year-old brother to evacuate with her Tuesday night as the fire approached the home they shared. He told her he wanted to stay behind and try to fight the fire, she recalled.

“When I went back in and yelled out his name, he didn’t reply back, and I had to get out because the embers were so big and flying like a firestorm – I had to save myself,” she said. “And I looked behind me, and the house was starting to go up in flames, and I had to leave.”

A family friend, Al Tanner, told KTLA they found Victor’s charred body on the side of the road with the hose the next morning. Said Tanner, “It looks like he was trying to save the home that his parents had for almost 55 years.”

Rodney Nickerson

Rodney Nickerson, an 82-year-old Altadena resident, died in his bed after staying behind because he felt that he would be OK waiting it out at home, said his daughter, Kimiko Nickerson.

She spoke with KTLA while standing by the still smoldering remains of the family home.

She said her father had experienced his fair share of fires over the decades.

“He was gathering some things, packing up his car a bit, and he said that he was going to gather up his stuff, but he said he was going to stay here too … he said that he felt this was going to pass over and that he would be here,” she said.

Kimiko Nickerson said her father bought the home in 1968 with a $5 down payment and raised his family there.

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