Luis Resendiz in South Pasadena (Photo – Christian Brewster)
When Altadena resident Luis Resendiz received a call about the spreading fire nearing his neighborhood, he immediately reached out to everyone he knew who might also be affected. He downloaded an app to track wind speeds and the fire’s rate of spread. With the power out, he had to conserve his phone’s battery.
By Christian Brewster
As the hours passed, Luis began to grow more concerned. He talked to his dad and sister about being prepared in case the worst case scenario came to fruition. His dad, trying to maintain a sense of normalcy, insisted that fires happen all the time and that they’ll be fine. Luis, however, sbegan packing the essentials: passport, birth certificate, clothes, and more. He wanted to be ready for anything.
Once midnight arrived, their street filled with smoke. At 3:00 am, they received an evacuation order. Luis woke his dad and sister, urging them to head over to his mom’s studio apartment. His dad decided to stay behind, so Luis and his sister left. As more time passed and the fire worsened, nearing their home, Luis called his dad again, urging him to leave. His dad opened the front door, and through the thick smoke and choking air, saw that the fire was only a few blocks away. He finally left.
The following day, Luis was glued to the news. “Familiar places in my neighborhood were burning down—places like the bank where I opened my first checking account, the place where I wash my car every other week. It was a calculation in my head, about how much time we had left.”
Later, Luis received a call from his friend José, who lived two blocks away. José’s house had burned down. It was at that moment that Luis realized the possibility of losing his own home was very real, and that he had to make peace with it. Luis’s sister began looking at Airbnbs, Luis called his school to ask about possibly getting back money he had just sent them, and he began searching for trailers he could buy for his family to live in.
As they scrambled to come up with a plan, Luis’s sister checked on the locations of their other family members. To their surprise, they saw that their dad was back at the house—the house he should be nowhere near.
Luis decided to return to the house and found his dad trying to salvage whatever he could before the flames engulfed their home—the home where he had spent 13 years growing up.
When the Altadena Fire was finally extinguished and the feelings of anxiety and helplessness began to subside, Luis’s house remained standing, untouched by the fire. What separated his house from total destruction was a mere two blocks. Despite the immense relief he felt, he also struggled with severe survivor’s guilt, thinking of those he knew who weren’t as fortunate.
“Finding out that my coworkers lost their homes—some of the most incredible people I’ve ever known—it’s like, what did I do to deserve my house not getting burned down?” Luis said. “What did they deserve?”
Trying to push away the negative thoughts, Luis reflected on what he had learned from the experience. Whether or not his home survived the flames, he knew that he would always be fortunate enough to have his family, no matter the circumstances. His gratitude for having them close grew deeper. All he could do now was show support and help others rebuild from the rubble.
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