An amputee and his son, who had cerebral palsy, were among 24 deaths in the fires raging around Los Angeles. The father was found next to his son’s bed.
One of the victims told a relative that he did not want to evacuate. He died trying to fight the fire that consumed his home for more than 50 years.
Another victim, an 85-year-old woman, refused to leave her home as the fast-moving Palisades Fire approached, preferring instead to stay with her beloved pets. Also among the dead was a former child star from Australia, as well as a Malibu resident and surfer who was called a “people magnet.”
Eight of the 24 deaths appear to be linked to the Palisades Fire near the Southern California coast, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner. Another 16 deaths were attributed to the Eaton Fire, which broke out east of Los Angeles.
Authorities say the full death toll will not be clear until it is safe for investigators to enter neighborhoods with downed power lines, gas leaks and other hazards.
Here’s what we know about the victims:
Annette Rosselli
Annette Roselli, 85, insisted on staying at her Pacific Palisades home with her dog Greetly, Pepper the canary, her parrots and a tortoise, according to Luxe Homecare, the company that provided her with home care three days a week.
The Palisades fire, the largest of several, began Tuesday morning. Rosselli was encouraged to leave Tuesday afternoon.
Faye Vahdani, president of Luxe Homecare, said Friday that a caregiver later offered to take Rosselli even though it was her day off. Neighbors tried to convince her to evacuate, but Rosselli refused to leave.
On Wednesday, firefighters found Rosselli’s body in her car, according to Vahdani and the victim’s relatives.
Rosselli is survived by a daughter and a son. She ran a plumbing company in Pacific Palisades for many years with her late husband. She continued to live in the same house after his death.
She was a kind, friendly and grateful person who had many friends in the community and will be greatly missed, according to Luxe Homecare.
Anthony and Justin Mitchell
Anthony Mitchell, an amputee who uses a wheelchair, last spoke to his daughter Hajime White, who lives in Arkansas, on Wednesday morning, she told The Washington Post.
He told his daughter that he planned to vacate his home in Altadena, a neighborhood north of Pasadena, in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains.
Mitchell and his adult son Justin, who has cerebral palsy, live together, White told the newspaper.
They were never evacuated: White said authorities told her that Mitchell’s body was found next to his son’s bed.
“He didn’t want to leave his son behind. No matter what happens,” White told the newspaper. “It’s very difficult. “It’s like a ton of bricks just fell on me.”
Erlene Kelly
Erlene Kelly chose not to evacuate Tuesday night with her granddaughter and family. She wanted to stay in the Altadena home where she had lived for more than 40 years.
“It’s in God’s hands,” Kelly told family members, according to her granddaughter, Brianna Navarro.
Navarro wrote in a GoFundMe post that the family was notified Friday that Kelly had died in the Eaton fire.
“We made the decision to evacuate Tuesday night, but my grandmother decided she wanted to stay,” Navarro wrote. She later asked her father to check on Kelly, who refused to evacuate again.
Navarro’s father returned home Wednesday and found it had been destroyed in the fire.
Navarro, her husband, and their two children lived with Kelly. They lost everything in the fire, according to the post.
Victor Shaw
Victor Shaw, 66, decided to try to fight the raging Eaton Fire with a garden hose this week instead of evacuating his longtime family home, according to KTLA.
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner confirmed his death, indicating that he died at his home as a result of smoke inhalation and thermal injuries.
Shaw lived with his younger sister, Shari Shaw, who told KTLA that the intensity of the approaching fire forced her to evacuate Tuesday night, but her brother insisted on staying.
Rodney Nickerson
In one of his last phone calls, as the Eaton Fire approached his home in Altadena, Rodney Nickerson said, “Son, the wind’s getting real bad, really bad.”
The son, Eric Nickerson, remembers every word of that last conversation with his father. They were very close and talked every day.
“It was a normal conversation. Like most mornings,” Eric Nickerson told CNN’s Erin Burnett on Friday.
The younger Nickerson remembers being unable to reach his father later that Tuesday, nor the next morning.
After other family members and friends learned of Rodney’s death, they struggled to break the news to his son.
“They didn’t know what to tell me,” Eric Nickerson said. “They didn’t really know what words to say to me because of the situation.”
The close-knit, working-class neighborhood where Rodney Nickerson lived for more than 50 years — and where his son grew up — was virtually destroyed by fire.
“It’s devastating,” Eric Nickerson lamented. “It looks like a movie set.”
Rory Callum Sykes
A former child star from Australia died when wildfires in Los Angeles swept through his family’s Malibu, California, property earlier this week, according to his mother.
Rory Callum Sykes was on the family property at the 17-acre Mount Malibu TV Studios, where he had his own cabin, when it burned during the Palisades Fire on Jan. 8, his mother, Shelley Sykes, wrote on Thursday.
Shelley Sykes described her son, who appeared in the 1998 British TV series “Kiddy Kapers,” as “beautiful” and “wonderful,” and said she was “absolutely heartbroken” by his death.
She said she tried to extinguish the forest fire ash on the roof of her house using a hose, but she could not because the water was not working.
“He said: ‘Mother, leave me. No mother can leave her child.’” “I broke my arm, I couldn’t lift him, I couldn’t move him,” Sykes told Australia’s 10 News First.
Her son, 32, was born blind with cerebral palsy and became famous for his sermons about overcoming disability. He was one of the founders of Happy Charity, which according to its website offers “hope, happiness and health to those who are hurting.”
On his website, Sykes describes himself as a professional speaker and consultant for several companies including the Tony Robbins Foundation and the Cerebral Palsy Alliance.
“He overcame a lot of surgeries and treatments to regain his sight and learn to walk. Despite the pain, he was still excited to travel with me around the world from Africa to Antarctica.
Randall “Randy” Meod
Randall “Randy” Meod, 55, died in the place he loved most: his home.
That’s according to his mother, Carol Smith, who said Mead lived in the Malibu beach house for decades.
Smith said investigators found human remains in Mead’s home, and he told CNN that all of his roommates have been identified.
“(His house) was his prized possession. This is the only house he ever owned,” Smith said. He felt blessed to be able to live in Malibu. This was his dream come true because he had been surfing since he was a teenager.
About 30 years ago, Meod rented a studio apartment attached to the house. After 13 years, the owner offered to sell the house at a reduced price, an opportunity that Myod took advantage of.
From there, the house on Pacific Coast Highway became known locally as the “Crab Shack,” Smith said. Mudd had an open-door policy as friends were constantly coming in and out of the red barn-style home built in 1924, she said.
He was just kind of a magnet for people. People loved him and he loved people. “He was a very nice person,” Smith said. “There was always a party. Wherever Randy went, there was a party.”
Myod was determined to protect his beloved home.
When they spoke by phone Tuesday, he told Smith he had a garden hose ready to use. She thought he didn’t know how big the fire would get.
“He had been through many of these fires and escaped unharmed. “I think he thought he could do it again,” Smith said. “Now that I realize how many memories he had in that house, I can understand why he didn’t want to leave.” “
A lifelong Californian, Maud has spent most of the past few decades managing restaurants and surfing.
“He used to cut class in high school to go surfing. I can remember one time I had to hide his surfboard,” Smith laughed. “I said, ‘You’re supposed to be at school. You’re not supposed to be at the beach.’ “
She said that the past year was difficult for Maud, as he lost his job in the restaurant, broke his finger and had to say goodbye to his cat, which he had lived with for many years. However, Smith said he always maintained a positive outlook on life and looked for the silver lining despite difficulties. He even recently picked up a new kitten.
“He was one of a kind… and I never knew anyone like him,” Smith said.
Charles Mortimer
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner identified Charles Mortimer as one of the victims of the Palisades Fire.
Mortimer, 84, died at an area hospital on Jan. 8, the coroner’s office says.
The office lists the causes of death as acute myocardial infarction, effects of smoke inhalation, thermal injury, and coronary atherosclerosis.
Dalles Curry
The remains of 95-year-old Dalis Curry were discovered in the ruins of her home in Altadena, CNN affiliate KABC reported Monday. The coroner confirmed the news to Curry’s family on Sunday evening.
CNN reached out to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner for comment, but did not receive an immediate response.
Carey was reported missing after the Eaton Fire set fire to her home, leading to fears for her safety, according to KABC.
Dalis Kelly, Carrie’s granddaughter and part-time caregiver, dropped her grandmother off late at night after a hospital visit. Kelly, unaware of the possibility of a fire, returned to check on her grandmother after receiving alerts about the power outage, KABC reported.
When Kelly arrived at the scene, an officer informed her that the property was gone. She recalled the officer telling her, “I regret to inform you that your grandmother’s house has been completely destroyed,” as she approached the checkpoint.
“It was total devastation,” Kelly told KABC. “Everything was gone except her blue Cadillac.”
Known as “Momma D,” Carrey had a vibrant presence and was part of Old Black Hollywood in the 1950s, appearing as an extra in classic films like “The Ten Commandments” and “Lady Sings the Blues,” according to KABC .
Evelyn McLendon
Evelyn McLendon last spoke to her brother as flames from the Eaton Fire approached her Altadena neighborhood. She was packing her belongings to evacuate her home.
“She felt like she was on her way out,” her brother Zaire Calvin told CNN’s Victor Blackwell on Saturday.
Calvin said he was focused on getting his wife, his 1-year-old child and his mother, who is disabled and in her 80s, out of the neighborhood. Their homes were next to each other, he said, and McLendon’s house was directly behind them.
“As we were leaving, I glanced over and I remember seeing her (Evelyn’s) car still parked in front of the house,” Calvin said.
At that moment, Calvin said he went to his sister’s house and shouted, “We have to get out, we have to go now,” then rushed back down the driveway to help his mother.
“It looked like a scene out of a volcano movie, with wind blowing and fire everywhere. It was hard,” Calvin said.
He added that when he returned the next day, the three homes had been destroyed and McClendon’s car was still in front of her house.
Calvin asked the authorities to do a health check, but they couldn’t find her. Calvin said his cousin came to help search for his sister and found her remains in her bedroom.
