At least 11 people have died in wildfires burning in the Los Angeles area. Details are emerging about the six Los Angeles residents who died in the deadliest wildfire in the west Los Angeles city's history as local law enforcement scrambles to identify the victims and inform their families.
On Friday, authorities announced that five people had died in the Palisades fire and six people had died in the Eaton fire.
Annette Rossilli, 85, died in the Palisades fire, the home health care company caring for her announced. CNN.
Caregivers and neighbors encouraged Rossilli to evacuate, but she wanted to be with her pets, including a dog, a canary, two parrots and a turtle, said Lux Homecare president. Faye Vahadani told the press. Firefighters found Rossilli's body inside the car on Wednesday.
The company said Mr. Rossilli had been running a plumbing business in Pacific Palisades for many years and was well-liked by nearby residents. She leaves behind a daughter and a son.
All other publicly identified people died in the Eaton Fire. The fire is a 13,690-acre fire that destroyed the Altadena area. Altadena is a diverse residential neighborhood near Pasadena that is home to working and middle-class families, including many black residents. Generations lived there.
Victor Shaw, 66, was the first person named in the Eaton Fire, which raged in northeast Los Angeles, while fighting a fire at his home of 55 years in Altadena.
His sister Shari Shaw reportedly tried to evacuate him as the Eaton Fire spread through the neighborhood, but when he refused to come with her, she was forced to leave him behind. He says he didn't get it. She fled just as the flames consumed the house.
“When I went back into the room and shouted his name, he didn't respond. The embers were so big and flying like a firestorm that I had to go outside. I had to save myself,'' she told a local television station. KTLA.
Victor's severely burned body was found the next day by a family friend, lying on the road next to his home, still clutching a garden hose in his hand. “He was apparently trying to protect the home that his parents had owned for almost 55 years,” friend Al Tanner told KTLA.
When his sister Shari heard the news, she said, “I fell to the ground and I didn't know. I didn't want to look at him.” They just said he was lying on the ground and looked calm, as if he was at peace,” she told KTLA.
“I'm going to miss talking to him, joking with him, traveling with him. I'm going to miss him to death,” she added to CBS. “I really hate that he had to go out like that.”
The death toll rose to 11 Friday afternoon, according to the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office, after the first of a series of fires across Los Angeles County broke out in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles on Tuesday.
The agency said it could take weeks to identify the victims because the massive Eaton and Palisades fires are still raging and safety concerns are extremely high. The ministry added that traditional identification methods such as fingerprinting and visual identification may not be available.
Amputee Anthony Mitchell, 67, and his son Justin, who has cerebral palsy, identified as two of the victims of the Altadena wildfire. Mitchell's daughter, Hajime White, said they died while waiting for an ambulance.
“They didn't work out,” White said, the Associated Press reported.
“He wasn't going to leave his son behind, no matter what,” added White, who lives in Arkansas.
She said authorities told the family that Mitchell was found next to her son's bed. washington post reported The family believes Mitchell was trying to save her son, who is in his early 20s.
Ms White added that her other son, also in his 20s, was living with the couple but was in hospital and without a caregiver, adding: “It's very difficult.'' It feels like a ton of bricks fell on me. ” Mitchell was a father of four, grandfather of 11, and great-grandfather of 10.
Rodney Nickerson, 82, also of Altadena, died at his home. According to She told her daughter, Kimiko Nickerson, that she had experienced several fires in the 57 years she had lived there, so she thought it was safe to wait inside the house for the fire to go out.
“He was collecting some things, packing up his car a little bit, and he said he was going to pack up, but he also said he was going to stay here… He said he felt it would pass, and he would be here,” Kimiko said. KTLA.
Kimiko said her father bought the house in 1968 with a $5 down payment. The last thing her father said was, “I'll be here tomorrow,” she said. CBS. She confirmed to the report that she had found her father's body in the wreckage.
Arlene Kelly, a former pharmacy technician from Altadena who lived just down the road from Shaw and Nickerson, also died at her home in the Eaton fire, The New York Times reported. reportedThis was reported by a relative.
Rita and Terry Pyburn, who lived on the same block as Kelly, told the newspaper that she described Kelly as an angel and that Kelly, a longtime neighbor, was “very, very kind.” .
Terry Pyburn said he often had short conversations with Kelly about gardening and local news, and often left small Christmas presents for her and other neighbors in the close-knit community. he said.
They said residents thought they had avoided the fire, but suddenly the fire swept through the neighborhood, causing people to flee in a frenzy, perhaps under late emergency warnings and evacuation orders, without a chance to check on the safety of others. I explained the situation.
It appeared Kelly might be among the dead, and her granddaughter Brianna Navarro told the Los Angeles Times that Kelly was “adamant” she didn't want to evacuate. Kelly and her late husband bought the house in the late 1960s, and it had never had a fire.
The Palisades fire is said to be the deadliest in the city's history and was fueled by several other large and intense wildfires across Los Angeles County, the most populous county in the United States, among the worst ever witnessed in Southern California. It was one of the most devastating catastrophes. by hurricane-force dry winds.
About 180,000 people have been ordered to evacuate across the region, and the fire has so far destroyed about 10,000 homes and buildings. The names of those who died will be released as emergency services have reached their limits. It would be late.
The largest fire is burning about 40 miles west and north of downtown Los Angeles, leaving the nation's second-largest city in shock and fear.
The Associated Press contributed reporting.
