At least two of the people killed in the Southern California wildfires tried to protect the homes where they raised families and lived for decades, while another stayed behind with his son who had cerebral palsy and could not evacuate.
Eleven people are so far known to have died across the Los Angeles area after destructive wildfires fueled by dry conditions and powerful winds erupted Tuesday. Thousands of structures have been destroyed and roughly 180,000 people have been forced from their homes. Officials have said the true death toll is not known as the fires continue to destroy neighborhoods.
Here is what we know so far about the victims:
Anthony and Justin Mitchell
Anthony Mitchell remembered his father as a “protector” who would do anything for his family. The 67-year-old great-grandfather of 10, who shared the same name as his son, died in his Altadena home. Anthony’s younger brother, Justin Mitchell, also died.
Anthony said his father used a wheelchair after having a leg amputated last year and refused to leave Justin, who had cerebral palsy and did not walk.
“He probably could have gotten himself out but he wasn’t going to leave my brother,” he told NBC News on Friday. “He really loved his kids.”
Anthony said he last spoke to his father around 5 a.m. on Wednesday. His father said they were waiting to be evacuated but about 30 minutes later, his father called another family member and said he could see the fire across the street from the home.
“Everybody is just distraught over what happened,” he said.
Anthony described his father as a leader who cherished his family. He gave each one of his grandchildren and great-grandchildren nicknames and was always willing to lend a helping hand.
“My dad loved his family,” Anthony said. “Me and him had a long conversation and he said ‘I want you to know that my kids and my grandkids, my nieces and nephews, you guys are all my legacy. You guys are my treasure.’ He said, ‘Money don’t matter, property don’t matter, my kids and my family are my treasure.’”
Justin enjoyed watching television and having people read to him.
“He was just a real sweet kid,” Anthony said.
Erliene Louise Kelley
Briana Navarro, 33, remembered her grandmother, Erliene Louise Kelley, as a “sweet” but “stern” woman who knew just about everyone in their neighborhood.
“If I’m out with her, you’re getting stopped like four or five times. Everyone knew her. Her generation, my parents’ generation, even all of my friends in high school, they’re all like, ‘She was so sweet,'” Navarro told NBC News on Thursday.
Navarro said she was at the family’s Altadena home — where she lived with her husband, two daughters and grandmother — when she looked out a window and saw smoke.
“We walk outside, you could just see a red glow,” she recalled. “It didn’t look like anything major.”
The family wasn’t in a rush to leave, but Navarro’s husband wanted to evacuate.
“My husband, he’s not from out here, so he kind of was looking at it a little different than we were,” Navarro said. “We asked (my grandmother) … and she’s like, ‘No, no I’m fine. You guys go ahead.'”
Kelley, 83, who had been through a major wildfire in the past, assumed everything would be fine, her granddaughter said. Police confirmed to Navarro on Thursday night that Kelley died when the fire engulfed the home.
Navarro said she thinks her grandmother was “at peace” staying in the home she “tended to every day” for more than four decades. The family is now grappling with the loss.
“My grandmother was really active. … I thought she would be 99, just walking around. We didn’t expect to lose her so tragically and that’s what hurts the most,” she said.
Victor Shaw
Victor Shaw, 66, was trying to protect his home that had been in the family for over five decades when he was killed Tuesday night in the Eaton Fire, his family said.
His sister, Shari Shaw, told KTLA that they lived together in the home, and as the flames started to engulf the property she tried to get him to leave.
“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,” she said. “I looked behind me and the house was starting to go up in flames and I had to leave.”
Shari Shaw declined to be interviewed when contacted by NBC News, saying she needed to focus on funeral arrangements for her brother.
Al Tanner, a family friend, told KTLA that when they went back to the home Wednesday morning they found Victor’s body on the side of a road with a garden hose in his hand.
“It looks like he was trying to save the home that his parents had had for almost 55 years,” Tanner said.
Rodney Kent Nickerson
Rodney Kent Nickerson, 83, had reassured loved ones that he would be fine as his family and neighbors tried to get him to evacuate his Altadena home, his daughter Kimiko Nickerson told KCAL News.
“My son tried to get him to leave, and my neighbors and myself and he said he’ll be fine, I’ll be here when you guys come back. And he said his house would be here,” she said.
Nickerson was outside trying to hose down his property around 7 p.m. Tuesday, his daughter said. The last time she talked to him was on FaceTime around 9:30 p.m.
“His house is here and he was here too. He was in his bed when I found him. His whole body was there intact,” she told the station.
Kimiko could not immediately be reached at phone numbers listed for her.
Nickerson, who worked for the aerospace and defense company Lockheed Martin for 45 years as a project engineer manager, had lived in the home since 1968. Kimiko told the station, “I don’t know anywhere else other than here.”
“I’ve been here my whole life,” she said. “Myself and my brother and my son and his other grandchildren, this is where we’ve been our whole life.”
