‘Everything is gone’: Agony on a tight-knit LA street razed by infernopublished at 08:09 Greenwich Mean Time
Max Matza & Christal Hayes
Reporting from Altadena, Caifornia
It all started on Tuesday night. The Santa Ana winds had been fierce much of the day.
Professional chef Daron Anderson was in his front yard just after 18:00 local time trying to secure items from flying away.
Across the street at 296 West Las Flores Drive, Rachel Gillespie was taking down Christmas decorations, concerned about her plastic icicles and patio furniture.
They exchanged worried glances. “This doesn’t look good, does it?” she remarked.
Residents on this tight-knit Altadena street, where neighbours have watched each other start families and the children who once played in the streets grow up, have had their worlds upended, and say they now barely recognise the area.
“God, everything is gone,” says Daron, his voice cracking.
But some things remain amidst the ruins. A scorched lemon tree sits in the lawn, some fruit still warm to the touch.
“If I can get a seed, we can replant one,” he says, grabbing a handful.
“It’s like a way you can start over.”
