A Pasadena firefighter who worked tirelessly to contain the devastating Eaton Fire and save his community lost his house.
"We worked all night, worked really hard. We tried," Chien Yu told abc7 as he held back tears, describing how hard he and his crew tried to save homes in Altadena from the wind fueled fire.
"We'd go to a street and try to put out a fire and then walk to the backyard and there would be three to four more homes on fire on the other side of the street."
Among the houses that burned to the ground was his.
"When we saw the fire, I just said 'Guys it's coming' and I grabbed an empty box and started grabbing stuff," said Yu's wife, Kim.
She headed to safety along with their two sons while Chien went straight to work, only grabbing some socks and underwear.
"When you're trying to go help fight fires and it's actually your home. It's unbelievable. There's no words, no words. It's just crazy what everybody in the neighborhood, the family's gone through."
"We have a fighting spirit in us and we have hope and faith that it will be okay and we will rebuild Altadena," his wife added.
