My Last Departure From the House

Entrance to the house (Photo – Felita Kealing)

It was 3:28 am Tuesday, January 7, 2025, and I was awakened by the gusting wind. The wind wasn’t like any other wind; the kinetic energy was strong.

By Felita Kealing

I woke up and looked out the door window to see what items could possibly get caught in a gust of wind and break a house window or damage our cars. I moved to different areas of the house to examine the magnitude of the wind.  I heard the loose fence door bang, objects rolling, and the constant roaring of the wind. Restless, I gathered a load of clothes and headed to the laundry room. After starting a load of laundry, I returned to bed and back to sleep.

It was 5:30 am when my phone alarm rang. The winds were still swirling at an uncomfortable pace. Again I look out the door window at what mayhem the wind might produce. I put on shoes and a coat and headed outside to secure items around the perimeter. I returned inside and placed the load of clothes in the dryer.

I began getting ready for work.  Before 7:00 am, I heard something tumble in the front yard, I opened the door, faced the wind, and saw the Porta Potty, from our house remodel, horizontal on the front lawn.

It was around 7:20 am when I left the house, not knowing that in 12 hours I would depart for the last time from the house we called home for 25 years.  Following work and a meeting with the Tournament of Roses, I left the building. I started receiving calls. As I looked at my call log, I saw I had missed several calls from my family. As I drove home with bits and pieces of updates, I thought about my next steps.

Traveling north on Lincoln Avenue, I made the right turn from Lincoln Avenue onto Woodbury Road looking east. The image just a few miles away was a massive streak of orange matched by immense gray smoked clouds.

At Mendocino and Lake Avenue, near the Altadena Business District, I met a parade of cars traveling west on Mendocino to southbound Lake Avenue. As Mendocino is a main thoroughfare for residents, Tuesday night was no different. It was buzzing with cars.  Cars were still moving swiftly and orderly from the east toward the west to the safest exit on Lake Avenue.  Living six houses from the corner, my reality hit. We had no power, it was dark, and the wind was howling.

We had not personally received an evacuation notice. Our preparations to leave began with my son, Miles, who was returning from picking up food from the Hastings Ranch area around 6:45 pm and saw the flames for himself.  He went into action and called his brother, Preston, who was at home, who called Michael, my husband, who was still at work and too far away to help in our home evacuation. Michael spoke with Preston about the most pertinent items that should be packed in the evacuation. The list included two hard drives one with family images and video the second with financial information, and a multi-generational family album. In addition to these important items, they gathered clothing, toiletries, and hygiene items. I was impressed when I learned the next day that this included my facial wipes.  Miles and I spoke briefly. We couldn’t access the garage for suitcases. I instructed him to find canvas bags, empty the contents, and pack what was necessary.

When I arrived at the house, I parked on the street, walked up the driveway, and entered the house. It was dark until Miles placed the LED headlamp on my head. I now know it was the LED headlamp that helped me in my evacuation precision. My visual sense was not hindered by the darkness that many of my neighbors were experiencing. The light broke the darkness in front of me, allowing me to be intentional in my evacuation.

I immediately walked to my bedroom and into the closet. I grabbed a canvas bag and emptied the contents onto the floor, and I grabbed my Adidas shoes and a pair of boots. Next, I went to the laundry room emptied the morning’s laundry into my bag, and placed it by the front door. I went back to the office, grabbed my backpack with my personal computer, and then gathered the contents of the safe. I managed to get another bag that was partially unpacked from Rose Parade Day and added clothing items that had arrived via UPS on the same day. I instructed both Miles and Preston to get blankets and pillows. I entered the kitchen area, picked up a grocery Bag, and gathered fruit and nonperishable items. Based on my call logs I was home less than 10 minutes.

Our final moments in the house ended around 7:20 pm. Preston was in his car; Miles and I were still in the house. When he asked, “Mom, is there anything else that I can do?” I replied, “Please go to the bathroom and take a picture of the completed tile work, it may be the first and last time I get to see it.” He framed and snapped the photo. We both turned toward the front of the house, exited, and locked the front door for the last time.­­

The fireplace with bachelder tiles (Photo – Felita Kealing)