Raymond Francis can hold in his hands all the items he rescued from his home in Altadena, California, which was destroyed by a wildfire.
One of them is a blue metal box that contains his most valuable memorabilia – such as NASA and military medals as well as commemorative stones from geological excavations in Canada, clues to Francis’ life and work.
Originally from Sudbury, Ontario, he moved to Los Angeles several years ago to work in AI robotics at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The other keepsake is a Canadian maple leaf patchwork blanket made by his mother and grandmother with everyone’s names embroidered in the corner.
Francis moved into his newly purchased home on December 15th. He was scheduled to host his first dinner party there on the evening of January 7, but instead fled like thousands of others as strong Santa Ana winds spread the fire deep into L.A.’s suburban neighborhoods.
“It is very difficult to lose everything. I had a vision of what the future would look like after I settled into this house and it looks very different now,” he told CBC News.
His house and most of the others around him are gone. The streets of Altadena, ravaged by the Eaton wildfire, look like a confusing war zone, with homes burned to the ground, alongside a handful of houses that remain completely intact, and oranges and lemons still hanging untouched in fruit trees.
The Canadian Consul General estimates that one million Canadians live in California, Arizona and Nevada. Los Angeles, in particular, has long been a draw for Canadians working in the entertainment, music and aerospace industries. The fires have upended the lives of many of them, and for some, their connection to Canada is evident in their choices about what they chose to save and their upcoming plans.
Sift through ashes
Karyn Weber and her husband Rob are thinking about spending a few months in their hometown of Vancouver while they make plans to rebuild their home in the LA Palisades neighborhood. She says the lower Canadian dollar could help extend her insurance money for the expected two years the trial will take.
“We’ve always talked about spending some time there and maybe this is our chance,” she said.
The family secured a monthly rental in Santa Monica after a process that Weber describes as “disgusting.” The day after the fire, she began filling out rental applications for the area but kept getting outbid. Although there are anti-fuging laws in California, some people have offered to pay far more than the asking price for the home or told landlords they would pay a year in advance to rent the property.
“Prices are getting higher and higher,” she said. “It’s crazy too because who has that much money? It’s terrible.”
Musician Brian Hughes managed to save a guitar from his home and music studio in Alta Dena, California, and lost another 40 in the wildfires that swept through the LA area last week.
The Webers managed to see the remains of their home on Saturday as police provided an escort to the affected area. In the ashes, they found a teacup from their grandmother’s bridal shower, their son’s clay volcano from a school project a decade ago and metal bookends from a trip to China.
She says the recovered memorabilia will eventually hold a special place in her rebuilt home. In her rush to get out on Tuesday, her daughter also managed to snag the most Canadian of life essentials – ice skates.
“My son was a hockey player and my daughter was a great figure skater, and we have her skates,” Weber said. “We’re so Canadian.”
“It was paradise”
Guitarist Brian Hughes is relying on a network of Canadian friends after his Altadena home and music studio were destroyed in the Eaton fire. He and his wife Pamela are currently staying at the Venice Beach guest house of a friend originally from Ontario and plan to spend several weeks at the Pasadena apartment of a former Edmonton-raised guitar student who is currently on tour.
“We are lucky to end up here with our good friends,” he said.
Hughes leads Canadian singer-songwriter Lorena McKennitt’s touring band and plays guitar and other stringed instruments such as the oud and balalaika. He saved one guitar, but 40 others, many vintage instruments with sentimental value, were destroyed in the fire. Hughes says 75 percent of the instruments he lost are “irreplaceable” and describes the loss of his backyard studio, where he wrote and recorded albums, as enormous.
“It was paradise,” he said.
Hughes isn’t sure he’ll rebuild in the same spot. He doesn’t think he’ll replace all the lost instruments because it might be an opportunity to accumulate fewer possessions.
“It’s like we’re starting over, starting our lives over,” he said.
