“My wife and I worked so hard to save and finally bought our first home in 2018. It was in that home, in Altadena, where we welcomed our beautiful baby girl. I still can’t believe the house we saved for over 20 years to buy is gone. I haven’t been back since we evacuated.”
Liz Oh(wife) and Ray An(husband), a second-generation Korean-American couple, loaded their luggage into the trunk of their car at a hotel in Arcadia on January 17. After dropping off their 5-year-old daughter, Sae Yu, at school that morning, they set out to find a new temporary home. All they had were their two cars and a few clothes packed in the trunk.
“The reality we’re facing feels unreal,” says Oh. “The evacuation warning was issued around 10 p.m. on January 7, and the smoke from the wildfires spread quickly through our Altadena neighborhood. I was worried about my child’s health, so I packed a few clothes and went to my cousin’s house, never imagining that our home would burn down.”
The next day, the Oh family was left speechless when they saw photos and videos sent by a neighbor. The small house the couple had spent all their savings on was gone.
“It hurts so much to think that everything we have is gone.”
The Oh family hasn’t been back home since the wildfires started two weeks ago. They tried to go home once, but the National Guard stopped them for safety reasons.
Oh chokes up at the thought of never seeing her mother and grandfather’s photos and memorabilia again.
“My mom died when I was young, and all the photos I took with her were destroyed in the forest fire. I can’t touch the gifts she made for me, the photos she took.”
Oh feels sorry for her daughter Sae Yu whenever she sees her struggling. At the beginning of the evacuation, she says, she asked when they were going home. Now she tells her friends, “Our house burned down, did yours burn down? We don’t have a house anymore.”
“All of our family memories are gone, including the ultrasound photos I took when I was pregnant with my daughter, and the drawings and artwork she made as she grew up,” An said. “I feel sad and sick that I couldn’t protect my child’s precious ’memories’ more than my house burned down.”
The Oh family has been fighting their fire insurance claim with Farmers Insurance and California Fairplan for two weeks.
Their world came crashing down when Farmers Insurance informed them that their homeowner’s insurance was covered, but their fire insurance had not been renewed. “When we were told that our fire insurance was not renewed, we were so upset that we couldn’t sleep, couldn’t eat, and felt like we were going to die,” said Oh. “Fairplan told us they would cover some of the fire damage.”
The Oh family also expressed concern for their Altadena neighbors. The Altadena neighborhood is a mix of Asian, black, Latino, and white neighbors, many of whom have lived there for more than 50 years. “People who have owned their homes for a long time often don’t have fire insurance. I’m sorry to say we’re struggling because there are so many residents who have nowhere to go.”
Deehan and Julie Lee, who lost their home in the Palisades Fire, sent us two photos.
The Lee family’s one-story single-family home nestled in the Palisades hills is now completely gone. There’s no green front lawn, no brightly painted white house. Only a cement path to the front door and a section of the blackened exterior wall are left to remind us that this was once a home.
“Our house was completely burnt down,” says Deehan Lee, ”My parents and daughters are staying at my sister’s house in Yovarinda.”
The couple is currently staying in the Palisades neighborhood, fighting with their insurer over whether or not they will be covered by fire insurance.
“We’re looking for a temporary place to live, but so much has happened in such a short time. We’ve had to make a lot of decisions about work and other things, and it’s exhausting,” he said.
The family left their home on the day of the Palisades Fire, following evacuation orders with only a few belongings. As they were evacuating to a Santa Monica church, they were told that their home had burned to the ground.
“It’s surreal and sad to think that we can’t go back home,” Lee said. As a pastor, he relies on the power of religion. “It feels strange to realize that we need help right now, but I believe God will give us the strength and hope to get through it.”
Lee and his wife are preparing to recover and rebuild as the Palisades wildfire slowly recedes and evacuations are lifted. They expect it will be two to three years before they can build a new home. In the meantime, they need money to pay for temporary housing and rebuilding costs.
“Sometimes it feels awkward to live with people’s support and help,” said Lee, adding that he is grateful that so many people have sent their support and love, and it gives us great strength.”
By HYOUNGJAE KIM [kim.ian@koreadaily.com]
