California Wildfires

Family of UCSD student loses home in Eaton Fire

The devastation from the fires that have displaced thousands of our neighbors in Los Angeles is hitting home for one young man here in San Diego

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The devastation of the Los Angeles fires is hitting home for one young man here in San Diego. NBC 7’s Jeanette Quezada shows us how a UCSD student and his family are coping with the reality of losing their Altadena home in the fire.

Cameron Martinez was home in Altadena last weekend, but he never imagined that would be the last time he would ever see his house.

“All that’s left is the frame and all that was left is the core of my soul and then mom broke down, and I held her and at that point. It was beyond anything that I’ve experienced as far as loss,” Richard Martinez, Cameron’s father described over the phone on Saturday.

Cameron’s family is among the hundreds of people who’ve lost their homes from the Eaton fire in Altadena.   

“When we got to the driveway we were driving west and we were turning left or south to the driveway of our home and I was speaking hopefully and my wife said, honey, it’s not there … at which point my heart fell and I was in shock and numbness,” Cameron’s father said.

Their once two-story home is now unrecognizable. Cameron and his family still can’t believe it’s reduced to rubble.

“It’s as difficult of a thing I’ve experienced, to see a lifetime of work come crashing down,” his father described, as he got emotional.  

NBC 7 met with Cameron at UC San Diego, where he’s currently a second-year student.  

“It’s pretty hard to talk to them … because obviously everybody is pretty emotional, especially my parents just because my dad put you know, his whole livelihood into that house,” Martinez said.

Cameron said Tuesday evening he got a photo from his sister of the Eaton Fire threatening their entire neighborhood.

“There was obviously giant flames on the mountain,” Cameron said.

With little to no time, his family grabbed their most important belongings.

“The only sentimental stuff I got to bring was one of my baby albums and then one of your baby albums,” Mia Martinez, Cameron’s sister said over the phone.

Cameron’s mother and sister evacuated first. His father stayed back as long as he could, trying to protect the home from the flames, but there was very little he could do.

While his childhood home went up in flames, Cameron was here in San Diego, listening to the scanners to track the path of the fire.

“As I heard you know, the streets start to go, and then you know, the park up the street start to go, I kind of realized okay, yeah it’s probably gone,” Cameron described.

Cameron is now struggling with the realization that years of childhood memories are now gone.

“Mentally, I’m pretty checked out, going to class is pretty difficult, just because I can’t really listen to the lecture, my mind just wanders,” Cameron said.

All he has left to help him move forward are his family and the belongings in his dorm room.

“I think the big worry is what’s going to happen to the neighborhood that I love moving forward,” Cameron said.

Cameron’s family is staying with family members while they find a place to live. A GoFundMe campaign has been set up by family friends to help them recover from this loss.

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