A Pasadena firefighter who lost his home in the Eaton Fire while trying to save the homes in his neighborhood is finding comfort amidst the ashes…literally.
Chien Yu described the extreme weather conditions that made saving those homes nearly impossible.
“We’d go to a street and try to put out a fire and then walk to the backyard and there would be three to four more homes on fire on the other side of the street,” during the wind-whipped fire, he said to ABC7.
Yu recalls being at home when the fire broke out. As the flames approached, he helped his family run to safety and then immediately went to work.
“When you’re trying to go help fight fires and it’s actually your home. It’s unbelievable,” said Yu. “There’s no words, no words. It’s just crazy what everybody in the neighborhood, the family’s gone through.”
Despite his personal family tragedy, he has returned to work to do the job he so much loves.
“I just wanted normalcy, so that’s why I came back to work,” he told CNN while fighting back tears. “But its never going to be the same for the kids.”
He took CNN’s Erin Burnett on a tour of his former home. He points out the basketball hoop and the bench that somehow survived the fire. Despite those few objects, not much else is left.
He said he won’t take his two boys back to see their former home, saying they’ve gone through enough.
However, his fellow firefighters also went back to his home as well.
They helped him shifting through the ashes, hoping to find his wedding ring.
“What’s that, what’s that,” a colleague says while holding a round object.
“What’s that,” asks Burnett?
“That’s it,” proclaims Yu as he laughs in excitement. “Yeah, baby!”
He rushes to show his wife their discovery.
“What?” Oh my God,” she said as she embraces her husband and begins crying uncontrollably.
You can watch the interview, and the moment Yu finds his ring in this video.
A friend has organized a GoFundMe page to assist the Yu family. Those interested in giving can do so here.
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