A Family’s Story of Loss, Resilience, and Community – Los Angeles Sentinel

When Ifeanyi Ezieme was 5 years previous, his household moved right into a home in Altadena, California. The oldest of 5 siblings, he remembers that home as the middle of their lives, a spot the place core reminiscences have been made. Their church, Metropolitan Baptist Church, stood simply down the road.

Altadena was greater than residence; it was a haven for Black and Brown households, one of many first locations in California the place Black folks might personal properties.

“Altadena was our footprint on California in a constructive means,” Ifeanyi shared. However on the morning of Jan. 8, that beloved residence was misplaced to fireplace.

The evacuation started round 3 a.m. Earlier within the night, Ifeanyi and his household seen crimson smoke within the distance however believed they have been protected.

“The wind was blowing the opposite route. I even took movies at 10:30 p.m. and instructed my household I assumed we have been good,” he mentioned.

Dwelling in the home on the time have been Ifeanyi, his mother, two brothers, and their two canines. Whereas keeping track of the fireplace, he and his brother devised a plan: If the scenario worsened, his mother and one brother would depart first whereas the 2 of them stayed again to defend the home.

That plan was upended when a neighbor’s palm tree abruptly caught hearth, and the wind shifted towards their residence.

“My mother panicked, threw her stuff within the automotive, and insisted all of us depart,” Ifeanyi mentioned. The household evacuated to his sister’s house, and he stayed at a buddy’s home close by.

But, the considered their residence consumed him. “I instructed my brother, ‘I wish to return and struggle this fireplace.’”

At 3:40 a.m., Ifeanyi tried to return however was stopped by police at Altadena Drive. Unable to sleep, he discovered from his youthful brother, who managed to bypass roadblocks the following morning, that their home was gone.

“He drove by means of our neighborhood, and each residence was burned down. When he acquired to our avenue, all the things was flat. I requested if there was something salvageable. He mentioned no.”

The brothers delayed telling their mother and father the devastating information, however have been grateful for the response as soon as they did expose the information.

“My dad, he’s the rock of our residence. He saved us chipper although this broke all of us. And my mother mentioned she already knew in her coronary heart once we drove away that it was the final time she’d see the home,” Ifeanyi mentioned.

Essentially the most speedy drawback was air high quality; Ifeanyi’s center brother has sickle cell anemia and a historical past of respiratory points. For security, the household despatched him to be with household in Virginia indefinitely, till the air high quality proved protected for even probably the most at-risk people.

“The primary factor is that he’s wholesome,” Ifeanyi defined.  The household is now navigating insurance coverage claims, fundraising, and looking for group help.

“My mother was on the Pasadena Civic Heart making an attempt to get a $250 grant,” he mentioned. Whereas grateful for his or her security, Ifeanyi expressed frustration with how the fireplace was dealt with.

“We don’t blame anybody for fires within the mountains, however the lack of water at hydrants and the best way sources have been distributed — it makes me marvel what number of properties might’ve been saved. My 60-year-old neighbors have been left preventing a hearth on their home whereas firefighters stood by.”

Regardless of the loss, Ifeanyi is comforted by Altadena’s robust sense of group.

“Everybody’s checking in on one another. Altadena has at all times been a type of locations the place you nod at your neighbors strolling their canines. When Altadena will get again on its toes, it’s going to be a spot the place everybody has one another’s again,” he mentioned.

For now, the Ezieme household is taking it daily, holding onto the hope of rebuilding. “Altadena was the place we grew up, the place we made reminiscences. It’s nonetheless residence in our hearts.”

To contribute to the Ezieme household, please go to https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-rebuild-the-ezieme-familys-home