What some Canadians saved from the L.A. wildfires — ice skates, a guitar and grandma’s quilt

Raymond Francis can hold the all items he saved from his home in Altadena, Calif., which was gutted by wildfire, in his hands. 

One is a blue metal tin containing his most treasured mementos — such as NASA and military medals and souvenir rocks from geological digs in Canada, clues to Francis’s life and work. 

Originally from Sudbury, Ont., he moved to Los Angeles a few years ago to work at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in AI robotics.

The other keepsake is a Canadian maple leaf patchwork quilt made by his mother and grandmother, with all of their names embroidered in the corner. 

Francis moved into his newly bought home on Dec. 15. He was supposed to host his first dinner party there the night of Jan. 7 but instead fled, like thousands of others, as fire was pushed deep into suburban L.A. neighbourhoods by strong Santa Ana winds from the east. 

“It’s very difficult to lose everything. I had a vision of what the future would be after I settled into that house and that looks very different now,” he told CBC News. 

His house and most others around it are gone. Streets in Altadena hit by the Eaton wildfire look like a confused war zone — with houses burned to the ground right beside a handful left completely intact, with oranges and lemons still hanging untouched in fruit trees. 

The Consul General of Canada estimates one million Canadians live in California, Arizona and Nevada. Los Angeles, in particular, has long been a draw for Canadians working in the entertainment, music and aerospace industries. The fires upended life for many of them and, for some, ties to Canada are evident in what they chose to save, and their upcoming plans. 

Sifting through ashes

Karyn Weber and her husband Rob are contemplating spending a few months in her home city, Vancouver, as they make plans to rebuild their home in L.A. Palisades neighbourhood. She says the lower Canadian dollar may help stretch their insurance money for the two years she expects the process will take.

“We’ve always talked about spending some time there, and maybe this is our opportunity.” she said. 

The family secured a month-to-month rental in Santa Monica, after a process Weber describes as “gross.” The day after the fire, she started filling out applications for rentals in the area only to be repeatedly outbid. Even though California has anti-gouging laws, she says some people were offering to pay far more than the home’s asking price, or were telling landlords they would pay for a year up front in order to rent the property. 

“The prices are going higher and higher and higher” she said. “It’s also insane, because who has that kind of money? It’s horrific.”

WATCH | Home and studio, gone:

One guitar saved, out of 40

Musician Brian Hughes managed to save one guitar from his home and music studio in Alta Dena, Calif., losing another 40 to the wildfires that swept through the L.A. area last week.

The Webers managed to see what remains of their home on Saturday, when police were providing escorts to the affected area. In the ashes, they found a tea cup from her grandmother’s bridal shower, her son’s clay volcano from a school project a decade ago, and metal bookends from a trip to China. 

She says the salvaged mementos will eventually have a special place in their rebuilt home. In the rush to get out Tuesday, her daughter also managed to grab the most Canadian of essentials — ice skates.

“My son was a hockey player and my daughter was a big figure skater and we have their skates” said Weber. “We’re so Canadian.” 

‘It was paradise’

Guitarist Brian Hughes is relying on a network of Canadian friends, after his Altadena home and music studio were destroyed in the Eaton Fire. He and his wife Pamela are currently staying in the Venice Beach guest house of a friend originally from Ontario and plan to spend several weeks at the Pasadena condo of a former Edmonton-raised guitar student, who is currently on tour. 

“We’re fortunate to land here with our good friends,” he said. 

Hughes leads the tour band for Canadian singer-songwriter Lorena McKennitt, playing guitar and other stringed instruments such as the oud and balalaika. He saved one guitar, but 40 others, many vintage instruments with sentimental value, were destroyed in the fire. Hughes says 75 per cent of the instruments he lost are “irreplaceable” and calls the loss of his backyard studio, where he would write and record albums, huge. 

“It was paradise.” he said. 

Hughes isn’t sure if he will rebuild on the same location. He doesn’t think he will replace all the instruments he lost, saying this might be an opportunity to accumulate fewer possessions. 

“It’s like we’re starting over again, starting our life again,” he said.