Altadena family of 4 braces for devastating wildfire loss: ‘Things I love are gone’

Devastating and still hot despite losing everything Los Angeles County wildfires this week, the family of Deisy-Suarez Giles returned to explore the wreckage of their burned home where her two young sons were happy to find a few toys among the wreckage.

Suarez-Giles, a three-time business owner, said ironically they moved in themselves Altadena, California ;house because they lived above a pharmacy during the COVID pandemic, where someone tried to burn down the building in the middle of the night.

“We left downtown Los Angeles when there were a lot of protests and riots right after COVID. We left because there was a Rite Aid downstairs in the building we were staying in and people, you know, tried to burn down the Rite. Help, we ran down and they tried to burn the building down. “And I had my youngest son, Lucas, who was only six months old, and I said, ‘They’re going to burn us alive here,’ so we got out.” we had to leave.

“I said to my husband, ‘We have to find a way to get money and buy a new house because we can’t stay here; they will burn us here with our children. And we ran away from there to be here, and then our house burned down,” she added, fighting back tears.

Deisy Suarez-Giles left her devastated home in Altadena, California with her family, including her husband and two sons. (Daisy Suarez-Giles)

Suarez-Giles said their home came from hard work, determination and a desire to keep her family safe.

The family learned of the raging fires mid-day Tuesday, but they were not sure if they had evacuated first, although they were cautious and saw neighbors’ horses and animals moving away from the fire-affected area. Eaton Fire.

Eventually, Suarez-Giles said, around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, they decided it was best to wake their boys, Henry and Lucas, grab a few essentials and sleep in the car for the night just in case.

“We woke them up at 1:30, so technically we didn’t leave until 2, because it took us a while to like, you know, pack something and go out and within three hours the house was ready,” he said.

As Suarez-Giles woke his family to leave, he said the realization of what had happened was upsetting for the boys.

“Henry was very upset about it. He cried. Lucas was scared when the fire came. There was a lot of panic, especially with the two little kids. Lucas was crying,” she said. “When I woke him up, he was in a panic. I said we have to go, baby, the fire is coming.”

SINGLE MUM WHO LOST EVERYTHING IN EATON FIRE SAVES ALTADENAN ‘SANITY’ AND ‘SOUL’

The family of Deisy Suarez-Giles is investigating the destruction of their home in Altadena, California, after the Eaton fire in Los Angeles County. (Daisy Suarez-Giles)

Henry, who was interviewed by a reporter as he stood by his mother Thursday after the fire, recounted the terrifying moments that led to the loss of his home as he hugged the only two things he had left in this world.

“And then the power went out, yeah, then we, then we were going to get our dad, but he was coming. Then we had power, we had flashlights, they were very good, I went and they woke us up. Me and my brother, then we left our house,” Henry said. “And then we didn’t realize that our house was going to burn down like that. A lot of things that we put in our house burned down and we had a 3D printer and it was very special to me and it’s going to make me a little sad, but I don’t know why, but it came to our house like that.

“And many things that I loved are gone. And now everything is broken and all discolored and stuffy. And these are the only things I have.”

Then the power went out, Suarez-Giles said, and panic ensued. Her youngest son, Lucas, began to cry.

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“She started getting angry and then my husband went and got a flashlight and then Henry was very brave, he was helping us pack up. I said let’s go and get everything ready, you know,” she said. “Around 11 o’clock we were still at home and they said, ‘We are tired, we want to sleep.’ They were tired and I said, well, you can sleep, I’ll stay awake.

After the Eaton fire, the remains of the Suarez-Giles home in Altadena, California, destroyed the property. (Daisy Suarez-Giles)

Suarez-Giles said that his family was not the only one in the house when the fire was extinguished. The teacher at her son’s school was renting a room in their house, and she didn’t leave the house until it was almost too late.

“He was woken up by the fire. My husband tried to go, you know, let him know, but the school was in touch with all the teachers and stuff so he was aware of everything that was going on,” she said. “He didn’t think anything of it and said he almost got burned because the flames were coming from the windows.”

For his part, brave Henry wanted to return to the site of his former home to confirm what was broken and see what remained.

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“I wanted to check that it wasn’t broken, my father took a video (to show) that it was broken,” he said. “We went so we know what happened and our chimney was where Santa came and now he’s gone. Now we can’t get presents here anymore.”

The Eaton, Palisades, Kenneth, Hurst Fire and Lidia fires have burned more than 35,000 acres, with the Eaton and Palisades fires killing at least 11 people, according to LA County officials.