Victor Shaw
Victor Shaw stayed behind to try to fight the Eaton Fire and was found holding a garden hose in his hand after the blaze swept through his neighborhood.
Another son, also in his 20s, lived with the pair but was in the hospital, and no caregivers were on hand, White said, adding “It’s very hard. It’s like a ton of bricks just fell on me.”
She said authorities told the family Mitchell was found by the side of his son’s bed in Altadena. The Washington Post reported the family believes Mitchell was trying to save his son, who was in his early 20s.
A family friend, Al Tanner, told KTLA they found Victor’s charred body on the side of the road with the hose the next morning. Said Tanner, “It looks like he was trying to save the home that his parents had for almost 55 years.”
“They didn’t make it out,” said Mitchell’s daughter, Hajime White.
Rodney Nickerson
Rodney Nickerson, an 82-year-old Altadena resident, died in his bed after staying behind because he felt that he would be OK waiting it out at home, said his daughter, Kimiko Nickerson.
“He was gathering some things, packing up his car a bit, and he said that he was going to gather up his stuff, but he said he was going to stay here too … he said that he felt this was going to pass over and that he would be here,” she said.
Kimiko Nickerson said her father bought the home in 1968 with a $5 down payment and raised his family there.
