PASADENA, Calif. — Pasadena Fire Engineer Chien Yu faced a personal tragedy while fighting to contain the Eaton Fire and protect his community.
Shortly after evacuating his home with his wife and two children, Yu joined the front lines to battle the devastating blaze, KABC reported.
“We worked all night, worked really hard. We tried,” Yu said, describing how hard he and his crew tried to save homes from the wind-driven fire.
Among the homes destroyed in the fire was Yu’s own. As the flames approached, his wife, Kim, quickly packed a few belongings and evacuated with their two sons. Meanwhile, Yu rushed to join the firefighting efforts, taking only socks and underwear.
“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.”
Days after tirelessly fighting to save homes, Yu returned to the site where his own house once stood. During an interview with CNN on Jan. 14, he reflected on the devastating impact of the fire.
While Yu and firefighters were searching through the rubble of his home, a firefighter found Yu’s wedding ring — something he thought he lost in the fire. The touching moment was captured on video.
During the interview, Yu was asked about what it’s like to be personally affected by the fire, saying it’s “indescribable.”
“When we go to a house fire you try to detach and do what’s best for the homeowner and put their fire out and salvage what we can for them and hopefully some of their stuff makes it. But this is just gone.”
As Yu and his family begin the long journey of rebuilding, their community has rallied to support them. A GoFundMe has been created to help the Yu family recover.
This article, originally published on Jan. 14, has been updated with relevant information to Yu’s story.
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