The sister of Victor Shaw, a 66-year-old man who tragically lost his life while trying to protect his family home from the devastating Eaton Fire, shared her final moments with her brother and the heart-wrenching attempts to save him.
Victor, who battled diabetes and chronic kidney disease, was asleep in his Altadena home when the fire, raging down a nearby mountain, crept toward the cul-de-sac. His sister, Shari Shaw, recalled her frantic attempts to get him to leave the house.
“Victor, we have to get out!” Shari cried out as she shook her brother and tried to wake him up, according to the LA Times. Despite her urgency, Victor was slow to react, initially expressing reluctance to leave. “Let me just sit here for a few minutes,” he said.
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As the fire neared, Shari pleaded with him to evacuate, but he remained steadfast in his determination to protect their home. She quickly gathered her belongings and fled to her car, but before she could drive away, she witnessed the house engulfed in flames. “The embers were so big and flying like a firestorm that I had to save myself,” she recalled to KTLA.
Victor’s body was later found by a family friend along the road, still clutching a garden hose in what appeared to be a last-ditch effort to protect the home he had lived in since 1965.
The painful reality of losing her brother overwhelmed Shari when she returned to the charred remains of the house. “I couldn’t be here to save him,” she tearfully told ABC News. “That’s what hurts the most.”
Victor Shaw died from smoke inhalation and thermal injuries, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner.
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The Eaton Fire, which broke out on Tuesday afternoon, has claimed at least six lives and scorched more than 14,000 acres. It remains only three percent contained. The nearby Palisades Fire, which has burned over 21,000 acres, has also led to the loss of at least five lives.
In a related incident, 85-year-old Annette Rossilli died in the Palisades Fire after she refused to leave her home, opting to stay with her pets instead. She was found deceased in her car by firefighters.
As the fires continue to rage and authorities struggle to contain the flames, the death toll from both fires now exceeds 10, and thousands of homes have been destroyed.
