Calif. wildfires: Former Delco student loses everything

Chris Pack, who lives in Altadena, California, had his home destroyed by the Eaton Fire. He studied at Eastern University, in St. Davids, and then went back to work in the entertainment industry in L.A.

Like many other fire victims in California, Pack is now homeless but says not helpless.

The backstory:

A week after a wildfire destroyed his apartment home in Altadena, California, Pack says he’ll always remember that night on a moment’s notice he left his home forever.

He not only helped evacuate his neighbors, he also helped save another woman’s life by pulling her out of a fire. Now he’s homeless.

For the past week he’s been visiting area relief sites for basic needs like food and water along with a visit from FEMA.

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The California native spent years in Philadelphia studying at Eastern University in St. David’s.

A week after the fire he's staying temporarily with his cousins. Where he’ll go after that he doesn’t know.

What they're saying:

"Mind boggling. Like, I have no idea where I’m going to live," said Pack who joined FOX 29’s Chris O’Connell from outside his neighborhood, which was being guarded by the National Guard, to protect from looters. "If we had gone to sleep and waited for the evacuation order we would have died straight up," he said.

Pack continued, "Literally everything I’m wearing today someone took out of their dresser and gave me. The shorts I’m wearing, the shirt and the shoes. Everything was lost."

Local perspective:

Unable to contain his emotion, Pack was able to return to the ashes he and others in the entertainment business used to call home. There wasn’t much to come back to.

Going through the rubble of what was once his home, Pack found the only thing that survived the fire - a gift from his grandmother.

"The nativity set that my grandmother made from hand and painted by hand there as the ashes as my soles of the shoes were melting from the embers under my feet," Pack said.

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What's next:

"I know we are going to get through this. We don’t know what it’s going to look like on the other side, but together we are going to make it stronger and better than before."

Pack says outside his apartment building, a wooden dinner table the community used was left untouched while everything around it survived. The group of friends are planning to use that table for a community meal to signify their rising from the ashes. 

What you can do:

His family and friends set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for him as he and many neighbors try to rise from these ashes. Pack says the one thing is keeping him going is the support and generosity of others.

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