Jan 09, 2025
FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – Dinuba native Julianne Vordtriede, her husband Tim and their two young children are all safe and are staying at a family member's house in Fresno after evacuating from the deadly Eaton Fire in Altadena.  While that is a relief,  she is devastated to know her beloved community in Altadena will never be the same.  "It's everything that we built and saved and just wanted our whole life. And it's gone," Vordtriede said. Her home burned down as the flames moved through.  "We looked out the back door, we could see a fire from our back door of our house. And so knowing that the winds were that strong, we didn't know how fast it was going to be and when they would get to us, so we just tried to get out as quickly as possible," she said.  She said her entire block and most of her neighborhood is gone.  "You wonder, could I have stayed around longer? Could I have done something? Could I have grabbed something more sentimental? But it was so unpredictable and the winds were moving so fast that we didn't know if it would be two seconds or four hours," she said.  She showed us a picture of what's left of her over 100-year-old home. The house is gutted and the walls are charred. All that remains is part of the exterior structure, and of course their memories.  "Altadena is a very warm, loving community, more so than any other part of L.A. I've lived in. And so, you know, we hope to rebuild. We hope to have a new home there, but we don't know what's going to happen to that entire community. Everything's changed," she said. And while the future is unknown, they're holding onto each other and taking it one day at a time.  "We're all going to be scrambling for rent places to rent now and we're going to be scrambling for homes and we're going to you know, my husband's actually an architect, so hoping maybe he can be part of making Los Angeles beautiful. It's going to take a while," she said.  Vordtriede said some of the most gut-wrenching things they have lost to the flames are furniture pieces that were hand made by her husband 's family, along with her wedding dress.  If you'd like to help the Vordtriede's, click here. 
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