ALTADENA, Calif. (KGO) -- At least 17 people died in the Eaton Fire that burned in Altadena and a FedEx worker and musician who got his parents out of their home before it burned believes an earlier evacuation order could have saved lives.
This comes as some in the neighborhood said they never even received an evacuation order. Christopher deGroot says that he got his parents out of their home around 4 a.m. on January 8, but he didn't receive an evacuation order until 5:50 a.m.
"So as soon as I saw these embers fly, I woke up my parents and I told them we need to get out of here and by that time, in short, we got out and structures already south of us were on fire," deGroot said.
He describes the frightening scene as he evacuated.
"I know that when we left, the building was not engulfed in flames yet, but again I was putting out embers with my feet as I was pushing my dad into the car," deGroot said. "This was all in the midst of no power and 80, 90, 100 miles per hour wind gusts and I was putting out embers on the curb. I suspect that the building probably caught fire between 4 when we left and about when we got the evacuation order officially and by that time we had already evacuated to an IHOP in Pasadena."
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DeGroot lost everything in the fire and addressed that as well as the evacuation orders given.
"I had more than five guitars that were completely destroyed. Among other things my compositions, my laptops, my equipment, my amps, my effects boards, they are all destroyed," he said. "If we had a proper evacuation order, even a Level 2 to get ready to go, we would have been more prepared certainly but unfortunately we didn't get that until it was too late. Thousands of people have been affected and I just urge people that if you know somebody personally, help them and be there for them because so many people are affected by this natural disaster that people are in need, I want to stress that."
DeGroot set up a GoFundMe which can be found here.