Grandfather found dead in his home, as Eaton Fire ravaged the neighborhood
Kimiko Nickerson stands in front of what used to be her childhood home in Altadena
By Julie Sharp
Click here for updates on this story
LOS ANGELES COUNTY, California (KCAL/KCBS) — An 83-year-old grandfather was found by his family, dead in his bed amid the rubble and ash after the Eaton Fire raged through his Altadena neighborhood.
As Kimiko Nickerson walked through what was left of her childhood home on Thursday, she said that the last thing her father said to her on the phone was “I’ll be here tomorrow.”
At least five people have lost their lives in the wildfire that broke out Tuesday night near Altadena Drive and Midwick Drive, about three miles from Rodney Nickerson’s home.
“We found his bones, his whole body was intact,” Kimiko said.
The devastation of the Eaton Fire is still not fully realized Thursday, as it continues to burn and is zero percent contained. So far, it has scorched 10,600 acres through Pasadena, Altadena and the Angeles National Forest.
Kimiko said her father Rodney insisted on staying in their family home that he purchased in 1968 for $5. The Nickerson family is deeply rooted in the Los Angeles community. Kimiko said her great-grandfather, William Nickerson was the founder and owner of Nickerson Gardens in Watts, the largest public housing development in Los Angeles.
Rodney worked at Lockheed Martin for 45 years where he was a project engineer. Kimiko said her mother also worked at Lockheed. She said he was probably going to bed just after her last conversation with him around 9:30 p.m., as he was still used to waking up at 4 a.m. “That was the last thing he verbally said to me was, ‘I’ll be here tomorrow,'” she said. “My son tried to get him to leave, my neighbors and myself, and he said he’ll be fine…”
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said at a Thursday morning news conference … “be patient with us when you ask about death toll numbers, right now frankly, we don’t know yet.”
“At one point we will be able to do a more thorough search of these impacted areas — some of them look like a bomb was dropped in them –- where we will be able to bring in K-9s and other things to help us, hopefully not discover too many fatalities, that’s our prayer.”
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
