A single mother from California lost everything in Altadena this week During the Eaton fire She praises her community's resilience, telling Fox News Digital that “we have not lost our determination and our spirit.”
Brenda King said Friday she did Lived in California and Los Angeles for more than 20 years, but she “always knew there was something very special about the energy of Altadena,” calling it “a paradise because of all the love and care all the citizens put into it and the way they maintained everything.”
“The day the fire happened, it was so weird because I literally just found out. I just found out about a little promotion for myself at work,” the writer and intimacy coordinator told Fox News Digital, noting how her 5-year-old daughter was… The eldest son would get his own room in the property she was renting.
King remembers finding her son's “first big bed” on Facebook Marketplace and organizing his favorite toys and books on a shelf. However, this vision was interrupted when the Eaton Fire began attacking her home.
Brenda King, left, said her child was in elementary school at the time of the fire. Her chickens and dog were safely evacuated from the property she was renting in Altadena. (Courtesy Brenda King)
King told Fox News Digital that she was out with a friend and was driving when she “suddenly saw what looked like hell break loose on the mountain.”
“Just this long line, coming from the top and heading toward my house. And we were looking at it and I said, 'Oh my God, where is this? This is so close to my house,'” she continued.
“I thought, 'They'll get this under control, but I just have to go home and get my dog,'” she added.
King says she returned home to rescue her pet, grabbing a few of her son's possessions and other items, including photo albums from her childhood.
She then fled Altadena, but later called her neighbor, whose father remained there, “and said, 'Okay, Brenda, he's gone. Everything's gone.'” “I couldn't believe it.”
What remains of the house that Brenda King was renting in Altadena, California, after the Eaton Fire in Los Angeles County. (Courtesy Brenda King)
Although she lost her home and almost all of her possessions, the community she was a part of in Altadena “isn't going away,” King says.
“I was watching the news, and I was watching my beloved city burning everywhere,” King told Fox News Digital. “And the news reporter – I don't even think she was an Altadena resident, but she was saying that she had been to other fire areas and she was amazed that there were so many people out there and still helping and doing that. They were pouring water on their neighbors' lawns and they were still out there fighting to keep “What's left of our city, which is basically nothing but our lives.”
Charred cars are left inside a dealership following the Eaton Fire on Friday, January 10, 2025, in Altadena, California. (Jay Si Hong/AP)
“People lost their lives in Altadena,” King said. “I am very sorry about that. But we have not lost our resolve and our spirit.”
A GoFundMe The title “Helping Brenda Rebuild After Wildfire Loss” has now been prepared to assist King in the wake of the tragedy.
Shane Torry, left, and Stephanie Rodriguez embrace as they look at what's left of their home destroyed by the Eaton Fire on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025, in Altadena, California. (AP/John Lusher)
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“I've lived in a lot of different places, and Altadena was my heart,” King told Fox News Digital. “I never found happiness, community, and love Anywhere else in Los Angeles. The way I personally found it there.”
