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What do we know about the victims?

What do we know about the victims?

At least two people died in the attack Wildfires in Southern California tried to protect the homes where they raised their families and lived for decades, while another stayed with his son, who suffered from cerebral palsy and was unable to evacuate.

So far, ten people are known to have died in the devastating effects across Los Angeles fires caused by drought and strong winds it exploded on Tuesday. Thousands of buildings were destroyed and approximately 180,000 people were forced to flee their homes. Officials say the true death toll is unknown as fires continue to devastate neighborhoods.

Here’s what we know about the victims so far:

Anthony and Justin Mitchell

Anthony Mitchell remembered his father as a “protector” who would do anything for his family. The 67-year-old great-grandfather of 10, who had the same name as his son, died at his home in Altadena. Anthony’s younger brother, Justin Mitchell, also died.

Anthony said his father was in a wheelchair after having his leg amputated last year and didn’t want to leave Justin, who had cerebral palsy and couldn’t walk.

“He probably could have gotten out, but he wasn’t going to leave my brother,” he told NBC News on Friday. “He really loved his children.”

Anthony Mitchell.
Anthony Mitchell.Courtesy of the family

Anthony said he last spoke to his father around 5 a.m. Wednesday. His father said they were waiting to evacuate, but about 30 minutes later he called another family member and said he saw fire across the street from the house.

“Everyone is just devastated by what happened,” he said.

Anthony described his father as a leader who valued his family. He gave each of his grandchildren and great-grandchildren nicknames and was always ready to lend a helping hand.

“My dad loved his family,” Anthony said. “Me and him had a long conversation and he said, ‘I want you to know that my children and grandchildren, my nieces and nephews, you are all my legacy. You are my treasure. He said: “Money doesn’t matter, property doesn’t matter, my children and family are my treasure.”

Justin liked watching TV and listening to people read to him.

“He was just a really sweet kid,” Anthony said.

Erliene Louise Kelley

Briana Navarro, 33, remembered her grandmother, Erliene Louise Kelley, as a “sweet” but “strict” woman who knew almost everyone in her neighborhood.

“If I meet her, you’ll stop me like four or five times. Everyone knew her. “Her generation, my parents’ generation, even all my friends from high school, they all say, ‘She was so sweet,'” Navarro told NBC News on Thursday.

Erliene Louise Kelley.
Erliene Louise Kelley.Courtesy of Briana Navarro

Navarro said she was at her family’s home in Altadena – where she lived with her husband, two daughters and grandmother – when she looked out the window and saw smoke.

“We went outside and there was only a red glow,” he recalls. – It didn’t seem like anything serious.

The family was in no hurry to leave, but Navarro’s husband wanted to evacuate.

“My husband is not from here, so he looked at it a little differently than we did,” Navarro said. “We asked (my grandmother)… and she said, ‘No, no, I’m fine. Here you go””.

Kelley, 83, who had experienced a large fire in the past, assumed everything would be fine, her granddaughter said. On Thursday evening, police confirmed to Navarro that Kelley died when the house caught fire.

Navarro said she felt her grandmother “found peace” by remaining in the home she “took care of every day” for more than forty years. The family is now struggling with the loss.

“My grandmother was very active. … I thought she would be 99 years old and just walking around. We didn’t expect to lose her so tragically and that’s what hurts the most,” she said.

Victor Shaw

Victor Shaw, 66, was trying to protect his home, which had been in the family for more than fifty years, when he died in a fire in Eaton on Tuesday night, his family said.

said his sister, Shari Shaw KTLA that they lived together in this house, and when flames began to engulf the property, she tried to force him to leave.

Victor Shaw.
Victor Shaw.Family photo

“When I came back and screamed his name, he didn’t answer and I had to leave because the heat was so bad and coming like a firestorm,” she said. “I looked behind me and the house started to burst into flames and I had to get out.”

Shari Shaw declined to be interviewed when contacted by NBC News, saying she needed to focus on funeral arrangements for her brother.

Al Tanner, a family friend, told KTLA that when they returned home Wednesday morning, they found Victor’s body on the side of the road with a garden hose in his hand.

“It looks like he was trying to save the house that his parents had for almost 55 years,” Tanner said.

Rodney Kent Nickerson

Rodney Kent Nickerson, 83, assured loved ones that everything would be OK while family and neighbors tried to get him to evacuate his Altadena home, said his daughter Kimiko Nickerson KCAL News.

“My son tried to get him to leave and my neighbors and I said everything would be fine. I’ll be here when you come back. And he said his home would be here,” she said.

Rodney Nickerson.
Rodney Nickerson.Courtesy of Kimiko Nickerson

His daughter said Nickerson was outside trying to hose down his property around 7 p.m. on Tuesday. She last spoke to him on FaceTime around 9:30 p.m

“This is his home and he was here too. He was lying in bed when I found him. His whole body was intact there,” she told the station.

Kimiko could not immediately be reached at phone numbers listed for her.

Nickerson, who worked for 45 years at the aerospace and defense company Lockheed Martin as a project engineering manager, had lived in the house since 1968. Kimiko told the station: “I don’t know any other place than here.”

“I’ve been here all my life,” she said. “Me, my brother, my son and his other grandchildren, we’ve been here all our lives.”