AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Standing on the front porch of my house here, where I have been standing every morning, assessing the color of the sky as if it offers some inkling on whether I can feel less shaky, less jittery each day. I have watched these skies go from the color of gray dishwater to a light blue this morning, almost the kind of blue sky that draws so many people to this city by the ocean. And it's like the sky is telling me things are going back to normal, but I know very deeply that they are not.
For thousands and thousands of people, the struggle has only begun. I mean, everyone in this county has heard of someone, has a friend whose home has been decimated, whose entire life has been upended. And every time you hear of one tragic story, your brain tries to multiply that out by thousands and thousands, and you just cannot compute the depth and breadth of that loss. And you can't help but think to yourself, what if you lost everything? What would you do? How would you begin?
MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Ah, Ailsa. We do know that as officials sift through the wreckage of these wildfires, they are getting a better sense of what has been lost. We know the flames have destroyed thousands of homes and buildings and cars.
CHANG: And at least 24 people have lost their lives, a number that is likely to rise. Anthony Mitchell and his son, Justin Mitchell, are two of the victims. Anthony's daughter, Hajime White, says both used wheelchairs. And they were waiting to be evacuated from their Altadena home when White last spoke to her dad.
HAJIME WHITE: And he had told me that he loved me and everything. And before we get off the phone, he said, baby, I got to go. He said, the fire just made it in the yard.
KELLY: The fire just made it in the yard. A few hours later, she got a call telling her, her dad and her brother had both died in the blaze.
WHITE: Right there, I just lost it. I started screaming, called my husband. He was like, what's wrong, what's wrong? I said, my daddy and brother's gone.
CHANG: White says she remembers her father as someone who would do anything for family.
WHITE: And he'd always tell me, I'll do anything for you, baby. He said, whatever you tell me to do, I'm going to do it. He said, you tell me to jump, I'm going to say, how high? And I'm going to jump.
CHANG: She pointed to the fact that her dad, despite his own ailments, continued to care for his son, Justin, who had cerebral palsy.
WHITE: Oh, wow. Justin, my dad would tell him - he'd say, Haji (ph) on the phone. Tell Haji hi. He would try his best to tell me hi. And my dad would say, tell Haji you love her. And he'd be, like - he'd be trying to tell me he loved me.
KELLY: White says she's still trying to comprehend the gravity of what she's lost. She says she will always carry with her a reminder of her dad.
WHITE: Because when I look in the mirror, I see my dad. I look like my dad and my mom. But I know my dad is with me 'cause I look just like him, and I have features of him.
KELLY: That is Hajime White, who lost her father, Anthony Mitchell, and her brother, Justin Mitchell, in the Eaton Fire. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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