Eaton Fire survivor recounts harrowing experience of saving his home: 'A miracle'

Recently, a survivor of the Eaton Fire, which destroyed the Altadena area of Los Angeles County, shared his experience of fighting the inferno.

On Saturday afternoon, Justin Christie from Altadena shared his experience with Planet Chronicle Digital regarding the Eaton Fire, which has only been contained at 15% as of Saturday evening.

Since 1967, Christie's family has resided in the region and never witnessed anything as devastating as the Eaton Fire.

"Christie remembered seeing "tons of fires on this hillside." When she saw the flames up on the hillside, something told her that this was different."

"I was terrified and began contemplating the actions I needed to take in preparation."

After seeing one of his palm trees catch on fire for the first time, Christie became especially alarmed and quickly got his family members into his car and drove them away from the scene.

"Never before had one of our trees caught on fire in all the fires we've experienced," he said. "That was the one that truly indicated we were in trouble."

Christie drove by his house later to check on its status. Upon realizing that no one would put out the fire on his palm tree, he decided to take matters into his own hands and fight the fire himself.

"He remembered how he often thought his house would burn down, from 8 pm to noon the next day. The house next to him was the last one to put him in danger."

"After that person settled down, I felt a bit of relief."

Christie's relief was short-lived when another neighbor's house caught fire in their garage. Though his house remained unscathed, the resident described the situation as "just shocking."

"Christie said it's heartbreaking to see so many people lose everything, it's enough to make you want to cry."

"Never did I imagine that we would be here for such a long time, always believing we were safe from the fire's grasp."

Christie described the sounds and sights of the wildfires as "incredible" when recalling the experience.

"The sound of several freight trains coming at you was what he vividly described as the breaking glass, explosions from gas lines, people's propane tanks, and cars catching on fire."

The Eaton Fire's failure to destroy Christie's house was nothing short of a miracle, as he stated.

I was fortunate to grab the fire at just the right moment, as the wind died down," he said. "If it hadn't, it would have ignited the trellis next to me and my house, and I would have been destroyed. Despite wanting to leave several times, I remained.

"Had I left, the house would have been completely destroyed."