Los Angeles Fire Victims: Stories of those who died in the Palisades and Eaton fires

Los Angeles woke up on the morning of January 7, unaware that the city and the people in it were about to change forever.

The most destructive fire in the city’s history has claimed the lives of thousands of homes and businesses, with at least 24 people dead as of Sunday.

Here are some of the people killed in the 2025 Southern California fires.

Altadena

Erliene Kelley and her late husband, Howard, purchased their blue-and-gray three-bedroom house on Alta Dinatoonia Avenue in the late 1960s.

They raised their two children there, watched their grandchildren and great-grandchildren grow up, and celebrated holidays, birthdays and anniversaries.

Kelly is a retired pharmacist, and her spotless home is filled with family photos and knick-knacks that give the house a cozy, homey feel.

“She knows everyone in town” granddaughter Brianna Navarro said. “If you go anywhere with her, she’ll stop and talk to someone about five times. She’s really sweet.

After Howard’s death, Navarro and her family moved in with her grandmother. On the evening of January 7, the Navarro family was at home and saw thick smoke rising in the distance through the kitchen window.

She and her husband packed their bags and were ready to go. The fire still seemed far away, and Kelly refused to evacuate with them.

At 1:22 a.m. the next morning, her grandmother responded to a text message from Navarro in which she asked about the situation at home. “Looking out from the living room,” she wrote. “I’m going to take a picture.”

Photos never arrived. Navarro said that on Jan. 9, police notified the family that a body had been found in the rubble where the house once stood.

Randall Miod, 55

Malibu

exist His Instagram pageRandy “Craw” Miod describes himself as “the mysterious guy from Malibu.”

After death in Palisades fire, friends recall a fun-filled event on the Malibu surf scene.

As a teenager growing up in Chatsworth, long-haired skater Miod was “like Jeff Spicoli in Fast Times.” [at Ridgemont High]”, wrote Miod’s friend In a joint post on Instagram. “He was always fun to be around.”

Thirty years ago, he moved to Malibu and rented a studio in a century-old red barn-style house near the beach, where his mother, Carol Smith, tell CNN. Later, when his landlord offered him the opportunity to buy a house, he jumped at it.

On social media, friends paid tribute to Meod and the many parties he hosted at the Crab Shack, as his home was known locally.

Miod’s body was found there after the fire. He holds his kitten, According to the Malibu Times.

“He’s been through a lot of fires and he’s come out unscathed. I think he thinks he can do it again,” Smith said tell CNN. “Now that I realize how many memories he had in that home, I can understand why he didn’t want to leave.”

Anthony Mitchell Sr. and Justin Mitchell

Altadena

Anthony Mitchell Sr., the beloved patriarch of a large family, died with his son, Justin Mitchell, huddled together in their Altadena home when the Eaton Fire struck.

Anthony Sr., a man in his early 70s, was a father figure to many and a “surrogate dad” to many of his cousins, said his son, Anthony Mitchell Jr. . [his job] Seriously” as a father, big brother and uncle.

Anthony Jr. told his sons and their friends that he was “the type of man, African-American men in general, who would see a child they didn’t even recognize if they saw the same child too often. — and they’ll offer advice. Anthony Jr. added that his father, who lived with his grandfather in the 1960s, inherited “real old-fashioned family values.”

Anthony Sr. gave his niece and nephew nicknames – Chocolat, Cocoa, Peanut Butter, and Horchata. A nephew earned the nickname “Payday” after he kept stealing his father’s payday candies over Christmas.

“He told me about his children, his great-grandchildren — he considered them all his legacy,” Anthony Jr. said.

Anthony Sr. lived in the home of his other son, Jordan, where they welcomed the family together for Thanksgiving and Christmas. The father is an amputee and uses a wheelchair to care for his son Justin, who has congenital cerebral palsy.

“They told my dad they thought he was lucky to make it to 12 years old. So it’s a miracle that he made it to his 30s,” Anthony Jr. said. “My dad loved my brother and he would sit down and talk to him. That was his son.

Justin “had a kid’s mentality” and loved cartoons, his brother said.

“He’s cute,” Anthony Jr. said of Justin.

Rodney Kent Nickerson, 82

Altadena

Rodney Kent Nickerson purchased his beloved Altadena home in 1968 for a total of $5 and his daughter Kimiko Nickerson Tell KCAL News.

There he raised his children and then his grandchildren. He built a swimming pool in his lush backyard.

The family has deep roots in Los Angeles. His grandfather, William Nickerson Jr., founded Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Co., which at one time became the largest insurance company in the United States. largest black business West of the Mississippi River. The Watts public housing complex Nickerson Gardens is named for him.

But to Rodney, Altadena was home. He spent 45 years as a project engineer at Lockheed Martin, where his late wife also worked. Nickerson’s daughter told KCAL that when Lockheed moved from Burbank to Palmdale in 1989, Nickerson chose to commute about 130 miles a day rather than leave his community.

He also didn’t plan to leave when the Eaton fire happened about three miles from his home, his daughter said.

As his grandson, who lived with him, frantically packed up a car, Nickerson resisted all requests to evacuate.

“If I need to go, I’m going to go,” Kimiko Nickerson said he told her son. “But grandson, I don’t need to leave now.”

While he slept at night, his family kept in touch with him by phone. When they were allowed to return to their residence, they found him there.

“‘It’s going to be cool,’ he tell his daughter On the evening of January 7, they had their last conversation. “I’ll be here when you get back.”

Annette Rossili

Pacific Palisades

Annette Rossilli, who was in her 80s, died in her car outside her Pacific Palisades home on Jan. 7 after refusing to evacuate with neighbors and other caregivers.

Luxe Homecare owner Fay Vahdani said a worker from her home health care company drove to Rosili’s home to evacuate her as the fire approached. Rosili’s carer, who was on day off, also offered to offer her their own home as a place to escape. Two of Rossili’s neighbors also contacted her. Wahdani said Rosili refused help from all of them, saying she wanted to be with her pets – two parrots, a canary, a tortoise and a dog.

“We can take them away easily,” Wahdani said. “The thing is you can never force anyone to do anything. It was her choice.

Rossili lives alone in the house she once shared with her late husband. Together they ran a plumbing business. Wahdani said she is survived by a daughter and a son, both of whom live out of state.

Wahdani last saw Rosili on Dec. 23, when she brought freshly baked cookies and other delicious holiday gifts to all her customers.

“She was a very sweet little lady, very pleasant and full of life,” Vahdani said.

She added that Rossili had difficulty walking. “She must be [had] The frustration was so severe that she was able to take control, walk down the stairs, and get into her car, but she couldn’t drive away.

Victor Shaw, 66

Altadena

Victor Shaw, a former delivery driver, died outside his long-time home with a garden hose in his hand.

Victor had diabetes and chronic kidney disease and had been dealing with some breathing issues as well as balance and vision issues, said his sister Shari Shaw.

On Jan. 7, when she went to visit the modest Altadena home her parents bought on Monterrosa Avenue in the 1960s, she found him becoming agitated while watching local television news reports. disturbed. She said he took epilepsy medication to calm himself and began to fall asleep while she was packing some of his belongings.

When she went out to load the SUV around 2 a.m. the next morning, she saw orange flames and smoke billowing toward their home.

“Victor, we have to get out!” she screamed. She tried several times to get him to leave, but to no avail. She thought that if she didn’t get out of there, both of them would end up dead. She jumped into her SUV.

Throughout the evening, her calls to his cell phone went to voicemail.

When Sally Shaw finally returned to the neighborhood, the modest bungalow where her family had lived for more than half a century was gone.

Her brother’s body lay on the walkway outside the front door.

“He probably felt like he was trying to do the right thing and trying to put out the flames,” she said. “I don’t know if he really believed he could, but I know he tried.”

Victor enjoys driving along the highways to different cities across the United States and is fascinated by Route 66.

“You know, when you’re young, you don’t really appreciate your siblings,” Sally said. “As we’ve gotten older, our relationship has evolved. … He’s a good guy.

Shaw’s family has created a GoFundMe page to help raise funeral expenses.

Rory Sykes, 32

Malibu

The rosy-cheeked, flaming-haired 10-year-old paused and let out a frustrated chuckle. he is on an Australian morning talk showIn 2003, he was about to leave for a speaking engagement in the United States, but his nerves caused him to collapse.

“Being on TV, it’s nerve-wracking, isn’t it?” his mother, Shelley Sykes, said softly in the chair next to him. “Tell them: This is not what’s going on in your life…”

“What matters is what you do with it,” he finished with a smile.

Sykes was born blind and diagnosed with cerebral palsy, but he has spent his 32 years doing many things: child actor and model, host of the British TV show “Kiddy Kapers,” Just kidding foodie He could have been a competitive eater with a promising career.

He often gave inspirational speeches about how he gained his sight and ability to walk after at least a dozen surgeries and decades of physical therapy.

After leaving school at 15, he turned his passion for technology and games into a career as a digital marketing consultant. he is happy charityis a non-profit organization that supports disadvantaged youth and families, and is an avid player of the fantasy game RuneScape.

“He was a very kind and caring person,” said Jane Manchun Wong, a San Francisco blogger and software engineer who first contacted Skyes via Twitter about five years ago.

Sykes died on Jan. 8 at a cabin on his family’s Malibu property, where his mother, Shelley Said in X’s post.

This story was contributed by Times staff writers Jenny Jarvie, Faith E. Pinho, Corinne Purtill, Sonya Sharp Written by Sonja Sharp and Ruben Vives. This information will be updated as more fire victims are identified.