Help Becky Rebuild After Fire Loss

I'm Becky Nicolaides, historian of suburbia. My family lived on a cul-de-sac in Altadena, our home and those of our neighbors were all destroyed by the fire on Tuesday night. Our power was out, the winds were blowing hard, we had taken a drive down the hill to call my daughter and noticed a red glow to east. On the drive back up, we could see flames. We rushed back to the house, and in the dark with flashlights, had 10 minutes to pack up what we could. My husband, son and I each packed a small suitcase of clothes. I grabbed my laptop, we grabbed the dogs, our go-box and we rushed out and drove down the hill to safety. We lost everything else. These are the things breaking me - family photos dating back to early 1900s, my dear mom's beautiful china cabinet, her photo in our kitchen, my husband's family memorabilia, all of my work/research files for decades, my wedding ring, my car. It all burned. Much of this is irreplaceable. We are devastated and traumatized, along with our dear neighbors and friends who also lost homes. I'm worried about our homeowner insurance and what they're gonna cover. So I'm swallowing my pride and we're asking for help. We will use the funds to rebuild our household and workspace.

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