Despite losing everything in the destruction, it is still raging Los Angeles County Bushfires This week, Daisy Suarez Giles' family returned to survey the burned-out wreckage of their home, where her two young sons were delighted to find some of their toys among the rubble.
They moved home ironically, said Suarez Giles, a three-time business owner Altadena, Californiahome because during the coronavirus pandemic they were living above a pharmacy, where, in the middle of the night, someone tried to burn the building to the ground.
“Right after Covid, we left downtown Los Angeles, when there were a lot of protests and riots as well. We left because the building we were staying in had a ritual aid in the basement, and people, you know, tried to burn the rituals,” Suarez-Giles said. “We ran.” “I went downstairs and put out the fire with a fire extinguisher because they were trying to burn the building down. “And I had my youngest son, Lucas, who was only six months old, and I thought, 'They're going to burn us alive here,' so we had to get out.”
“I told my husband: 'We need to find a way to get money and get a new house because we can't stay here; they will burn us here with our children.' Fighting back tears, she added: “We escaped from that to be here, and then we left our house burned.”
Daisy Suarez Giles, left, with her family, including her husband and two sons, in front of their destroyed home in Altadena, California. (Daisy Suarez Giles)
Suarez-Giles said her home was the result of hard work, determination and a desire to keep her family safe.
The family learned of the ferocious fires midday Tuesday, but despite their anxiety, they weren't sure if they should evacuate at first, even though they saw neighbors leaving and moving horses and animals away from the affected area. Eaton fire.
Eventually, Suarez-Giles said, at about 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, they decided it was best to wake their sons, Henry and Lucas, grab some important items and sleep in the car overnight just in case.
“We woke them up at 1:30, so we practically didn't leave until like 2, because it took us a while to like, you know, pack anything up and get out, and within three hours, the house was already ready,” she said.
When Suarez-Giles woke her family to leave, she said the realization of what was happening became disturbing for the boys.
She said: “Henry was very upset about it. He actually cried. Lucas was scared when the fire broke out. There was a lot of panic leaving, especially with two young children. Lucas was crying.” “He was in a state of great panic when I woke him up. I told him: 'We have to go, my dear. The fire is getting closer.'”
Daisy Suarez Giles' family surveys the damage to their home in Altadena, California, in the wake of the Eaton Fire in Los Angeles County. (Daisy Suarez Giles)
Henry, who was interviewed by a reporter in the aftermath of the fire Thursday while standing next to his mother, recounted the terrifying moments before losing his home while clutching the only two things he had left in this world.
“And then the power went out, yeah, and then we were going to get our father, but he was coming. Then we got the power, and the light bulbs, which are very good, and they went, and they woke us up, me and my brother, and then we left our house,” Henry said. It will burn that way. And a lot of the stuff that we left in our house, it burned down, and we had a 3D printer, and it was very special to me, and it would make me a little sad, but, I don't know why, but that's what happened to our house.
“A lot of the things I love are gone. Now, everything is broken, all its color and stuff. These are the only things I have.”
Later, the power went out, and that's when some panic began to set in, Suarez-Giles said. Her youngest son, Lucas, started crying.
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“He was starting to get scared, and then my husband went and got some flashlights, and then Henry was very brave, and he was helping us pack things, you know. I said let's get everything ready so we can go, you know.” She said. “Around 11, we were still at home, and they were like, ‘Oh, we’re tired, we want to go to sleep.’ They were tired, so I said, ‘Okay, you guys can sleep, I’ll stay up.
Remains of the Suarez-Giles House in Altadena, California, after the Eaton Fire destroyed the house. (Daisy Suarez Giles)
Suarez-Giles said her family wasn't the only one in the house when the fire approached. A teacher from her son's school was renting a room in their house, and didn't leave until it was almost too late.
“The fire woke him up,” she said. “My husband tried to tell him to go, but he knew everything that was happening because the school was in contact with all the teachers and other people.” “He didn't think much of it and said he almost got burned because the fire was coming through the windows.”
For his part, the brave Henry wanted to return to the site of his former home to ascertain what had been broken and to see what remained.
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“I wanted to check it and see if it was broken, and my father took a video (to show) it was broken,” he said. “We're gone, so we know what happened and that was our chimney where Santa comes, and now it's gone. Now we can't get presents here anymore.”
According to Los Angeles County officials, the Eaton, Palisades, Kenneth, Hurst, and Lydia fires have burned more than 35,000 acres, with the Eaton and Palisades fires claiming at least 11 lives.
