Professional chef Darron Anderson always tells people that he was “born in the kitchen” – literally.
The 45-year-old woman gave birth at home at 295 West Las Flores Drive, where he lived with his mother until this week.
On Thursday, he stepped over charred debris where his kitchen once stood in Altadena, a tight-knit neighborhood in Northeast Los Angeles.
He searched for his cast-iron pans in the hope they had survived the blaze, one of several historic fires in the area that have killed at least 16 people, destroyed several communities and left thousands homeless.
Across the road – at number 296 – his friend Rachel’s house is also in ashes. The neighboring house – 281 – where he used to arrange family parties, is no longer there.
About three blocks away, on Devirian Place, where his girlfriend lived, some neighbors were trying to fight off the raging flames engulfing their homes with garden hoses.
Now they are also searching for valuables in the rubble after a fire destroyed this entire community nestled in the shadow of the San Gabriel Mountains.
It all started on Tuesday night.
