A survivor of the Eaton Fire that ravaged the Altadena area in Los Angeles County recently shared his account of combating the blaze.
Altadena resident Justin Christie discussed his experience with Fox News Digital on Saturday. As of Saturday night, the Eaton Fire, which ignited on Tuesday, has only been contained to 15%.
Christie explained that his family has lived in the area since 1967, and had never seen anything as destructive as the Eaton Fire before.
“I have witnessed numerous fires on this hillside,” Christie recounted. “But when I looked out onto the street and witnessed the flames on the hillside, something inside me just knew that this was unlike anything before.”
But Christie said that that sense of relief was short-lived before another neighbor of his suffered a fire in their garage. Though Christie’s house was unscathed from that fire, the resident described the whole situation as “just shocking.”
“It’s heartbreaking. It’s just enough to make you want to cry,” Christie said. “So many people just lost everything.”
“And I never, ever thought….we’ve been here for so long…I always thought we were just far enough out of the fire’s reach.”
When thinking back to the experience, Christie described the sounds and sights of the wildfires as “incredible.”
The auditorium at Elliott Junior High is barely recognizable after being ravaged by wildfire in Altadena, Calif., on Friday. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
“The breaking glass, the explosions from gas lines, people’s propane tanks, cars catching on fire,” he vividly described. “It just sounded like several freight trains coming at you.”
Overall, Christie said that his house’s survival from the Eaton Fire was nothing short of a miracle.
“It was some miracle that I got a hold of the fire…the wind died down at one opportune time,” he said. “And if it hadn’t….it would have caught this trellis I have next to me, it would have caught my house on fire and I would have been done. And there were several times when I wanted to leave, but I didn’t. I stayed.
“If I had left, the house would be gone. Totally gone.”
