Altadena family of 4 stays brave in the face of devastating wildfire loss: 'The things I love are gone'

Despite losing everything in the wildfires in Los Angeles County this week, the family of Deisy-Suarez Giles returned to assess the damage of their burned house, where her two boys were happy to find a few of their toys in the area. garbage.

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

“Right after COVID, we left downtown LA, when there were a lot of protests and riots. We left because the building we lived in had a Rite Aid on the floor, and people, you know, were trying to burn down the Rite. Aid. So we ran down and put out the fire because they were trying burning down the building,” Suarez-Giles said. “And I had my youngest, Lucas, who was only six months old, and I was like, 'they're going to burn us here alive,' so we had to let's go out.

I told my husband, 'we had to find a way to earn money and get a new house because we can't live here; they will burn us and our children here.' And we ran away from that to be here, then we were burned leaving home,” he added, fighting back tears.

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

The family found out about the fires during the day on Tuesday, but, although they were alert, they weren't sure if they should go out at first, although they saw neighbors coming out and removing horses and animals from the area affected by Eaton. The fire.

Finally, Suarez-Giles said, at about 1:30 Wednesday morning, they decided it was best to wake up her boys, Henry and Lucas, grab a few essentials and spend the night in the car just in case.

“We woke them up at 1:30, so we didn't leave until 2, because it took us a little time to like, you know, gather anything and go out, and within three hours, the house was already . gone,” he said.

When Suarez-Giles woke up his family to leave, he said that's when what happened upset the boys.

“Henry was upset about it. He cried. Lucas was afraid when the fire came. There was a lot of fear, especially with the two small children. Lucas was crying,” he said. “She was very scared when I woke her up, I said, 'we have to go my child, the fire is near.'”

SINGLE MOTHER WHO LOST EVERYTHING IN EATON FIRE PRAISES ALTADENA'S 'TENACITY' AND 'SPIRIT'

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

Henry, who spoke to a reporter after the fire on Thursday while standing next to his mother, recounts the terrifying circumstances that led to the loss of his home while holding the only two things he has left in this world.

“Then the power went out, yes, and we went to get my father, but he came. Then we had power, the flashlights were very good, and I went to wake us up. Me and my brother, we left our house,” said Henry. “And we didn't realize that our house would burn like this. And a lot of things we left in our house, and it burned, and we had a 3D printer, and it was very special to me, too. it will make me a little sad, but, I don't know why, but this is what happened in our house.

“And many of the things I loved are gone. And now, everything is broken, and everything has lost its color and so on. And these are the only things I have.”

Suarez-Giles said later, the energy ran out and that's when another panic set in. His youngest son, Lucas, began to cry.

LA FIRE CHIEF SAYS CITIZENS NOT FAILED IN WILDFIRE PREP, BUDGET DEPENDENCE

“She was confused at first, then my husband went to get the torches and then Henry took courage, helping us to get things packed. I said let's get everything ready to go, and you know.” he said. “When it was about eleven o'clock, we were still in the house, they said, 'oh, we are tired, we want to sleep.' They were tired, and I said, 'Okay, you're going to sleep.'

The remains of the Suarez-Giles home in Altadena, California, after the Eaton Fire destroyed the property. (Daisy Suarez-Giles)

Suarez-Giles said her family was not alone when the fire broke out. His son's school teacher had rented a room in their house, and he didn't leave until it was almost late.

“He was woken up by the fire, my husband tried, he knew he should leave but he knew everything that was happening because the school was communicating with all the teachers and so on,” she said. “He didn't think much of anything, he said he almost got burned because the fire was coming through the windows.”

On the other hand, brave Henry wanted to go back to the place of his former house to confirm what was broken and see what was left.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS PROGRAM

“I wanted to check it and see if it was broken and my father took a video [to show] that it's broken,” he said. “We're gone, so we know what happened and that was our chimney where Santa came, and now he's gone. Now we won't be able to get gifts here anymore.”

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