Los Angeles fire victim found dead clutching water hose as he tried to save his family home
One of the victims of the Eaton Fire was found with a water hose still in his hand as he tried to save his family home of 55 years amid the devastating Los Angeles wildfire.
The remains of Victor Shaw, 66, were found on Wednesday morning, January 8, by a family friend outside the Monterose Avenue home he lived in with his younger sister, Shari Shaw, KTLA reported.
Shari said she had tried to get her brother to evacuate on Tuesday night, January 8, as the fast-moving inferno closed in but as she was going out the door, Victor told her he wanted to stay behind and fight the fire, despite having health problems that limited his mobility.
“When I went back in and yelled out his name, he didn’t reply back, and I had to get out because the embers were so big and flying like a firestorm that I had to save myself,” Shari told KTLA.
“And I looked behind me, and the house was starting to go up in flames, and I had to leave.”
Family friend Al Tanner found Victor’s burned body on the side of the road the next morning — still with the garden hose in his hands.
“It looks like he was trying to save the home that his parents had for almost 55 years,” Tanner told the outlet.
Shari said she “fell to the ground” when she learned the horrible news — and couldn’t bring herself to look at her dead brother.
“They just told me that he was lying on the ground and that he looked serene as if he was at peace,” she said.
Victor Shaw is one of five victims so far confirmed killed in the Eaton Fire, the second-largest of the five wildfires ravaging Los Angeles County, which has exploded to more than 10,600 acres (16.5 square miles) and destroyed 972 structures as of Thursday morning.
The Los Angeles area has been devastated by multiple destructive wildfires raging through the area. The Palisades and Eaton Fires alone have collectively burned over 25,000 acres and over 1,000 structures.
