Thousands of peopleincluding at least 12 firemenhave lost their homes in fires in Los Angeles County, according to the California Fire Foundation.
They include Pasadena Fire Department Firefighter Charles Hawes and Fire Engineer Chien Yu, an 18-year veteran of the department.
Hawes was battling the blaze about a minute from his parents’ home, where he lived with his 2-year-old son Liam, when he found it on fire.
Pasadena Firefighter Charles Hawes is one of at least 12 firefighters who have lost their homes in wildfires in the Los Angeles area.
ABC News
“It was like a fever dream where everything was on fire,” Hawes recalled “Good Morning America”. “I went up the street and I saw my parents’ entire roof was on fire. I felt so helpless … we’re supposed to be fixers in this job, and that night it wasn’t.”
Hawes took “GMA” from his neighborhood, the one he fought so hard to save.
“There’s nothing. It takes your breath away,” Hawes said. “The hardest thing is losing the sentimental things. We will never lose the memories.”
Yu spent hours fighting fires in a nearby town before learning that his Pasadena home, which he shared with his wife Kim and sons Hudson and Atticus, had burned down.
Chien Yu, a fire engineer with the Pasadena Fire Department, lost his Pasadena home in the wildfires around Los Angeles.
ABC News
“They took me off the rig to get some peace, you know, to rest. “Hey, can we please go over to my house to see if it’s still up?” I asked Yu. “So we went up, and it was gone. It burned to the ground.”
Yu said she is “devastated” to lose her home and regrets what happened.
“Maybe I should have tried to stay, you know? Maybe I shouldn’t have gone to work, you know? Maybe I should have stayed and tried to fight, take on more things,” he said.
While most of his house is gone, Yu was able to recover at least one sentimental item: his wedding ring.
Flames rise from a structure during the Eaton Fire in Pasadena, California, on January 8, 2025.
Mario Anzuoni/Reuters
“We got back with my crew and I was half-jokingly saying, ‘Hey, maybe I could find my ring.’ they were like, ‘I think this is it,'” Yu recounted.
Despite the terrible personal loss, Hawes and his firemen They are still working and battling multiple active fires, including the Palisades Fire and Eaton Fire in Los Angeles County and the Auto Fire in Ventura County.
Pasadena Firefighters and their families will be reunited live on “Good Morning America” on January 17, 2024.
ABC News
“Unfortunately, I don’t think you really have an option to turn around and give up on this job. We have an obligation to serve the community,” Hawes said. “I needed time to be with my family and spend time with my family. That was the priority. But I also needed to make time for my community and give back to the community, work with my colleagues, give back.”
Firefighters say it’s the bond between them and their families that helps them get through these difficult times.
“I think personally, it’s my parents and my kids that really keep me going, my 2-year-old son,” Hawes said.
Yu added: “We have to stick together. We will move forward. In the end, it always works out.”
In support of the California Fire Foundation and its mission to provide emotional and financial support to firefighters and their families and communities, Planet Fitness and its Los Angeles franchise announced Friday that they are donating $100,000 on “GMA” to the nonprofit.
Uber Eats and Postmates also announced that they will donate $500,000 to the California Fire Foundation to be used for meals, groceries and other essential items.
