These men have dedicated their careers to stopping people’s homes from burning down, but when the Eaton fire arrived on their doorstep, even their decades of firefighting expertise were no match for its wrath.
“I’ve never seen anything like this; it’s like battling a hurricane, but instead of water it is flames,” said Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Jerry Puga, describing the fire that razed his Altadena home.
Now these Los Angeles firefighters find themselves in the same position as so many of their Altadena neighbors — staring at a smoldering pile of rubble and wondering how they can rebuild their lives from the ashes.
The Eaton fire has destroyed the homes of at least four active LAFD members, one retired member and two members of the Pasadena Fire Department, and has displaced at least 15 LAFD families, said Chris Stine, president of the Los Angeles Firemen’s Relief Assn. At least three firefighters from the L.A. County Fire Department have also lost their houses, said a representative for the L.A. County Firefighters’ Benefit & Welfare Assn.
Donation information for fundraisers organized by the county and city firefighter associations, as well as individual impacted families
These are a few of the heart-wrenching stories of the homes and history firefighters lost.
‘I’m worried about getting hit by bullets’
When George Baxter retired after 30 years of fire service, he firmly believed that his firefighting days were behind him. That was, until the Eaton fire exploded last week, sending him on one last mission — to save his own home.
“I was probably the only person on my street that did not evacuate,” said the recently retired LAFD firefighter. “But you know me, being a stubborn firefighter, I’m going to try to defend my property.”
From 11 p.m. Jan. 7 to 7 a.m. the following morning, Baxter stood in his yard armed with a garden hose and fought a valiant battle against one of the most destructive firestorms in California history.
“My fence is on fire, the tree is on fire, my car tire is on fire,” he said. “So I’m running around like a chicken with his head cut off, and as soon as I put out one fire, the next one starts.”
As he worked through the night, chaos unfolded around him. The house across the street caught on fire, causing all of the guns stored inside to start exploding.
“It felt like a war zone,” he said. “All the rounds of ammunition are going off, and now I’m worried about getting hit by bullets.”
It took his nephew showing up and begging him to leave for Baxter to lay down the hose and admit defeat. He was then rushed to the hospital because his eyes were burning from the smoke and he couldn’t see. When he emerged from the emergency room hours later, his neighbor showed him photos of his ravaged home.
“I just broke down in tears,” he said. “I could not believe my house of 30 years was burned to the ground. It’s like a bad dream.”
‘A pouring rain of embers’
Jerry Puga lives in a household of firefighters. He’s a 22-year veteran of the LAFD, his son Adrian is a probationary LAFD firefighter and his daughter’s boyfriend, Sam Smiley, is also an LAFD firefighter. But even their combined expertise couldn’t save the Pugas’ Altadena home.
Jerry Puga, left, his son, Adrian, and Sam Smiley, Puga’s daughter’s boyfriend, are all LAFD firefighters.
(Jerry Puga)
Puga recalls being woken up at 3:30 a.m. Jan. 8 by the smell of smoke. He decided to take a drive around the neighborhood to see what was going on and was shocked by the weather he witnessed.
“It was a pouring rain of embers — and that’s when I realized that the wind was blowing in the exact direction of my house,” he said. “It very quickly got to the point where I realized we don’t stand a chance.”
He packed up his family and fled. Just a few hours later, his home was nothing but rubble. That reality has been hard for Puga to wrap his head around.
“I went back every morning for two to three days thinking I was going to find different results,” he said. “I was thinking, OK, maybe this is not true, maybe it’s a bad dream.”
‘We’re just broken’
Firefighter John Stuhlman has lived in the San Gabriel Valley his entire life, but after the Eaton fire razed his home, he doesn’t think he and his wife, Monica, will be able to return.
“We’re just broken,” he said. “We’re not going to recover from this. We are already looking at different cities.”
The fire burned the couple’s most prized possessions — his wife’s wedding ring and dress, Stuhlman and his father’s Marine Corps ribbons, his grandfather’s coin collection and family photos dating back to the 1930s.
“I’ve consulted a lot of people about losing their homes, but being on the receiving end is a whole new ball game,” said Stuhlman, who has 25 years of firefighting experience in the Marine Corps and the LAFD.
When the fire broke out, Stuhlman told Monica to evacuate and then stayed behind to protect his home. He was doing a decent job managing the ember cast until suddenly “everything blew up.”
His neighbors’ homes went up in flames, as did the trees and the transmission boxes.
He jumped in his car and fled down the street as power lines were ripped down by the wind and walloped his car. At the base of the neighborhood, he stopped and directed some 20 cars away from the fire zone.
“People were screaming, ‘My house is up there,’” he said. “And I told them, ‘No it’s gone, everything’s gone.’”
He reunited with his wife, who took him to the hospital, where he was treated for smoke inhalation and critical face burns. He will recover, but his home will not.
‘Complete disbelief’
James Clingmon is a probationary firefighter, but he has already witnessed what will likely be one of the most destructive firestorms of his career. And it took down his childhood home.
“My first reaction was complete disbelief,” he said, describing the moment he found out the home was lost. “My heart sank. It’s one of those things that you don’t want to believe is real.”
The fire has also destroyed three generations of family history and heirlooms.
His grandmother raised three children in Altadena as a single mom, making her living as an entrepreneur and noted seamstress who created some of the costumes for the original “Star Trek” television series.
It was her blood, sweat and tears that allowed the family to purchase Clingmon’s childhood home and his aunt’s home, both of which burned to the ground in the Eaton fire.
Clingmon has still been working in the aftermath, helping a very strained LAFD respond to calls across the city.
“It helps to be able to still serve people and see a smile on their face,” he said. “People are so thankful and appreciative. They are honking as we drive down the street.”
The fire may have taken his family’s home, but it has not diminished his drive.
“Seeing a event like this really puts the hammer to the nail of why I made the right decision to become a firefighter,” he said. “To help the community.”
How to help firefighters affected by L.A.’s wildfires
Here are the links for the firefighters’ GoFundMe accounts: the Baxters, the Pugas, the Stuhlmans, the Clingmons. Additional donations can be made to support firefighters’ recovery on the Los Angeles Firemen’s Relief Assn.’s website and on the L.A. County Firefighters’ Benefit & Welfare Assn.’s GoFundMe page.
