Some emigrated from around the world — the Soviet Union, rural China, Germany, Costa Rica, the Netherlands and Britain — to find their slice of paradise in Southern California. Others lived their entire lives right here, in houses passed through their families for generations
Pacific Palisades, Malibu and Altadena were home. And though the communities are vastly different — the Palisades and Malibu both exclusive coastal enclaves with high-powered and celebrity residents, Altadena a more modest town with a blue-collar feel — they share a common bond: all three are tight-knit and beloved by the people who live there.
The 31 residents who died last January in unprecedented fires — 19 in Altadena, five in Pacific Palisades and seven in Malibu or Topanga Canyon — came from all walks of life. Some resisted pleas to evacuate when the fires came, some were too infirmed to get out, others had no idea they were in danger until it was too late. Three were in their 90s, nine in their 80s.
Here’s a look at those who perished in the Palisades and Eaton fires, with links to expanded profiles where available:
Eaton fire deaths
Oswald Altmetz, 75: Altmetz lived in his home on West Pine Street in Altadena since emigrating from Germany with his family. “He had lived there his whole life, that was his everything,” said a stepdaughter. Altmetz ran his own auto body business, had a passion for jazz music and cars and would do anything for his pets, she said. “He was the fun uncle,” said a niece, “the one who always had the treats and cookies you weren’t supposed to have.”
Carolyn Burns, 56: Burns was bedridden and reported missing by her family in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 fire. Her remains were found at her home on East Sacramento Street in Altadena. She died from smoke inhalation and thermal injuries. Efforts to reach her family were unsuccessful.
Edwin Cridland, 94: Cridland was a Korean War veteran who lived his entire life in his 738-square-foot home on Wapello Street in Altadena. “His life began and ended right there. He loved everything about the place,” said close friend Dennis Chapman. Cridland was a trucker who made his living on roadways up and down the corridors of California, hauling anything that didn’t “breathe, spoil or blow up,” Chapman said.
Dalyce Curry, 95: Curry was an Arkansas native who came to Southern California when she was young and soon after began singing, dancing and appearing as a bit player in movies such as “Lady Sings the Blues,” and “The Blues Brothers.” Eventually, the Altadena resident pursued a career in nursing. Known to her extended family as “Momma D,” Curry was described by a granddaughter as “full of vitality, elegance and an unmatched zest for life.”
Stacey Darden, 54: Darden, a sister of O.J. Simpson prosecutor Christopher Darden, was a Philadelphia native who moved to Southern California with her family in 1978. She lived on Marengo Avenue in Altadena. A lifetime love of reading and libraries developed early in life when she spent much of her free time at the Altadena Library, reported the Arcadia Weekly. Darden graduated from Bryn Mawr College with a political science degree and worked in library and information sciences, including at Caltech, the Weekly reported.
Kevin Devine, 54: Devine was a native of Michigan who received a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Michigan in 1992. He was a substitute teacher at a high school in Altadena and also worked as an actor in small roles, often cast as a police officer or member of the military because of his clean-cut looks, according to an online obituary posted by his family. A resident of Boston Street in Altadena, Devine was described by his family as “an old soul, and always a kid at heart. He was sensitive, spiritual and loving.”
Juan Francisco Espinoza, 74: Officially, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office still lists the human remains found July 21 on La Vinezia Court in Altadena as Unidentified Doe #431 because they have not been positively identified. However, neighbors believe the remains are those of Espinoza, who lived alone on the property with his dogs. Neighbors who were evacuating on the day of the Eaton fire saw Espinoza returning to his property, possibly to retrieve his dogs or some belongings. His family had filed a missing person’s report on him in late May 2025.
Miva Friedli, 86: Friedli was a native of Costa Rica who came to the United States as an adult and raised three children in her home on Mariposa Street in Altadena. A widow, she was described by relatives as a devout Christian and woman of strong faith known to be “independent and rambunctious,” the Los Angeles Times reported. Friedli worked in the medical field until later in life, when she provided child care.
Erliene Kelley, 83: Kelley was a retired Rite-Aid pharmacy technician who shared her home on Tonia Avenue in Altadena with her granddaughter and her granddaughter’s family. The Los Angeles Times reported that she loved tending to the garden at the three-bedroom home she and her late husband had bought in the 1960s and where they had raised two children.
Barbara Lewis, 84: Lewis, who was last seen Jan. 1 at her home on East Palm Street in Altadena, was reported missing by her family in the aftermath of the Eaton fire. “Ms. Lewis has impaired memory and her family is concerned for her well-being and asking for the public’s help,” the missing person’s notice said. Lewis died from smoke inhalation and thermal injuries. Her family could not be reached for comment.
Evelyn McClendon, 59: McClendon was a Loyola Marymount University graduate and school bus driver who loved goofy jokes, politics and scary movies. She was the sister of Muir High School football coach Zaire Calvin and made her home on East Las Flores Drive in Altadena, the same block where four other extended family members lived. The Eaton fire, her brother said, destroyed four of the family’s five homes in the community.
Patricia McKenna, 77: McKenna worked for years in the theater department at Los Angeles City College, where she served as costume shop forewoman, according to the Los Angeles Times. She grew up in Whittier and lived on Punahou Street in Altadena. McKenna drew from an encyclopedic knowledge of fashion from the medieval age onward, a friend told the Times. She was known for her generosity — giving scores of her books and nearly-new clothes and jewelry to friends and keeping a petty cash fund just for veterinary bills for loved ones’ ailing pets, the friend said.
Anthony Mitchell Sr., 68: Mitchell was a native of Pensacola, Florida, who had a large extended family — four children, 11 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. One of his grandsons said Mitchell “brought everybody together. He would always take care of everybody.” Trained as a respiratory therapist, Anthony was confined to a wheelchair since he lost a leg to diabetes, as was a son who was born with cerebral palsy and lived with him in Altadena. Justin Mitchell also perished when the fire raced through their home on West Terrace Street.
Justin Mitchell, 35: Mitchell was a paraplegic born with cerebral palsy who, like his father, Anthony Sr., was confined to a wheelchair. He lived with a brother and their father in the family home on West Terrace Street in Altadena. The brother was in the hospital when the Eaton fire swept through the neighborhood as Mitchell and his father waited to be rescued. Family members said Mitchell was an avid reader who was always smiling. A relative said he loved “ being on a computer, playing games (and) reading.”
Rodney Nickerson, 82: Nickerson was a U.S. Navy veteran who spent 45 years working as a project engineer at Lockheed Martin. He was the grandson of William Nickerson, a businessman who was the founder and namesake of Nickerson Gardens, the largest public housing development in L.A. Nickerson had lived in his home on Alta Pine Drive for five decades and resisted family pleas to evacuate during the fire. He “insisted on staying in his home, a place that was deeply meaningful to our family,” said a grandson.
Victor Shaw, 66: Shaw lived alone in his beloved Altadena home on Monterosa Drive that had been in his family since childhood. Shaw, who worked as a courier, will be remembered for his quiet, gentle and unassuming personality and love for shopping and sports, especially football and basketball, a cousin said. A sister who served as his caretaker found him sleeping and medicated from various health problems as burning embers landed on his roof. She left to get help, but when she returned she found the house destroyed, with a garden hose in Shaw’s hand.
Lora Swayne, 71: Swayne, a graduate of Pitzer College, had served as a vice president and director of special projects at Cathay Bank. She lived on East Flores Drive in Altadena. Although her family was not available for comment, in a brief online obituary they remembered her kindness with “heavy hearts.” They also wrote: “Though Lora Elizabeth may no longer walk among us, her spirit lives on in the memories held dear by her family and friends.”
Kim Winiecki, 77: Winiecki was a private person whose home on East Flores Drive, where she lived alone, was her refuge. She did not allow people inside, and once told a close friend that if she ended up sick and dying, she wanted her home bulldozed. Her friend described Winiecki, the oldest of three children, as unique and eccentric, but also insightful. “If you were struggling with something, she could articulate it,” the friend said. “Everybody needs a friend you could talk to. That was her gift.”
Zhi Feng Zhao, 84: Zhao was born into a life of poverty in rural China and overcame the death of his parents when he was 4 years old to eventually flourish in the United States. His son used the words “fortitude, perseverance, intelligence” to describe Zhao’s life. Education was his ticket out of poverty: He earned college degrees in math and mechanical engineering in China. After immigrating to the United States, however, Zhao had a successful career in the restaurant business. He had lived on Tonia Avenue in Altadena for more than two decades and enjoyed hiking along nearby trails.
Palisades fire deaths
Marilyn Hamilton, 71: Little is known about Hamilton beyond the fact that she died Jan. 14 at her home on Las Lomas Avenue in Pacific Palisades but her remains were not identified until July. Her family and friends apparently have not given interviews to the media. Like most victims of the Palisades and Eaton fires, her cause of death was listed by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office as from inhalation of products of combustion and thermal injuries.
Randall Miod, 55: As a kid growing up in the San Fernando Valley, Miod always dreamed of living in iconic Malibu. When he finally made the move, he quickly embraced the beach culture of the town – and its locals quickly embraced him back. He knew how to approach people — from celebrities to ordinary folks — and grab their attention. Miod was nicknamed Crawdaddy and his rustic red home on Pacific Coast Highway was known as the Crab Shack. A Malibu tour guide described the home as a “slow, progressive party” that went on nonstop for 25 years.
Elizabeth Morgan, 79: Morgan lived on Aloha Drive in the Tahitian Terrace neighborhood of Pacific Palisades and operated a hairstyling business in Brentwood for many years, a friend told the Los Angeles Times. She immigrated to the United States from the Netherlands in the 1980s and studied psychology at Cal State Northridge, the friend posted on Instagram. “She had a very forthright personality and was very blunt in that classic Dutch sort of way,” the friend told the Times. “If you ask her for an opinion, you better be ready to receive it.”
Charlie Mortimer, 84: Mortimer was a longtime resident of Pacific Palisades who “truly lived life to the fullest,” according to a niece who confirmed his death in the aftermath of the Palisades fire. Mortimer died Jan. 8 of a heart attack in a hospital after inhaling smoke and sustaining thermal burns in the fire, reported the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner. “He was a world traveler, a sun worshipper, and an avid sports fan,” said his niece. “He will be remembered as a man with a quick wit, a brilliant mind, and a love for his family.”
Betty O’Meara, 94: O’Meara was a native of Hawaii who moved to Malibu with her husband in 1969. She called the community “heaven,” and within a few years the couple bought the tiny Malibu Cinema at the urging of sheriff’s deputies to keep local youth from hanging out in Santa Monica. O’Meara and her husband often hosted parties that attracted some of the biggest stars from Hollywood who lived in the community. O’Meara, who lived on Boca Chica Drive, was known around town for her cookies, brownies and lemon bars as well as handmade watercolor greeting cards that were a hit with neighbors.
Annette Rossilli, 85: Neighbors, church friends and caregivers tried several times to persuade Rossilli to evacuate her Friends Drive home when the monster Palisades fire swept through her neighborhood. But she didn’t want to abandon her dog, canary, two parrots and a turtle. “She kept saying no,” said the owner of a home health care agency that provided Rossilli with help because of mobility issues. She loved orchids, had purple hair and was described as “such a lovely lady” by the agency owner.
Mark Shterenberg, 80: Shterenberg emigrated from the Soviet Union more than four decades ago with his young family and, after a stint in Chicago, settled in Southern California for its warmer climate. With his engineering background, Shterenberg found success in the aerospace industry, working at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory as well as Hughes Aerospace Corp. In 1993, the family swapped a condo in Santa Monica for a house on Glenhaven Drive in the Pacific Palisades. After telling his daughter he was going to “stick it out” through the Palisades fire, he texted her in Russian: “Don’t think badly of me.”
Arthur Simoneau, 69: Simoneau had a deep love for the great outdoors and was always seeking the next adventure. Though hang gliding was his biggest passion, he also enjoyed skiing — downhill and cross-country — motorcycling, kayaking, rock climbing and hiking. His girlfriend recalled an “incredible road trip to Alaska” where they drove for six weeks. “We ended up skinny dipping in the midnight sun in the Arctic sea,” she said. But Arthur’s roots were planted in the home he built himself in Topanga Canyon, a place where he raised his son and built his life. He was skiing in Mammoth when he heard about the Palisades fire, and returned to Topanga to check on his house.
Rory Callum Sykes, 32: Born in England with cerebral palsy, Sykes overcame a lifetime of obstacles to flourish in the gaming world and as an inspirational speaker. He and his mom moved to Southern California not only for the warmer climate, but because he wanted to be close to good pizzas, big burgers and Apple stores. Over his 32 years, Sykes endured 17 years of surgeries, but he still became a “great communicator,” spreading goodness and inspiration to all he encountered, his mother said. When the Palisades fire hit the family’s 17-acre ranch in Malibu, Sykes locked himself in his cottage on Rambla Pacifico Street and refused to come out.
Jeffrey Takeyama, 69: Little has been shared publicly about Takeyama because his family has asked for privacy, but a Facebook post from a classmate in the 1973 graduating class at North High School in Torrance said he was a “brilliant CPA” who had excelled in tennis in school. “He was a fierce competitor!” the classmate said. “He was also a funny and mischievous soul.” Takeyama lived in Malibu for 41 years, and had survived natural disasters before. “This time, the fire was different, and we are heartbroken beyond words,” the family wrote on GoFundMe. He leaves behind his grieving wife, Jane.
Diana Webb, 82: Little is known about Webb because family and friends apparently have never talked to the media. She died at her home on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. A missing person’s bulletin said her family last had contact with her two days after the Palisades fire broke out.
Hak Wong, 69: Wong died Jan. 25 at a hospital as a result of injuries sustained in the Palisades fire. Online records indicate he lived on Inland Lane in Malibu, but the circumstances of his death are unknown. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office reported that he suffered blunt trauma and thermal burns in the fire. Friends and family members could not be reached for comment on Wong’s background.
This article was compiled from profiles largely gathered by staff of the Southern California News Group.