Among the LA wildfires’ victims: A great-grandmother, surfer, father and son

As Los Angeles’ devastating wildfires spread, some victims died trying to beat back the relentless flames. Others who were elderly or disabled died trapped in their beds, unable to escape the scorching heat. Some died trying to help others.

In a few instances, friends and family were on the phone and able to piece together their loved ones’ final minutes.

“The fire’s in the yard,” Anthony Mitchell told his daughter before the line went dead. For others, the moments of desperate prayers or tears will never be known.

Police expect to find more victims in the coming days, with six active fires still ablaze and rescue workers in the early stages of sifting through the ash and rubble of more than 10,000 structures.

Identification of some bodies could take several weeks because of “fire conditions and safety concerns,” the Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office is warning.

Its website notes: “Please also keep in mind, traditional means of identification such as fingerprinting and visual identification may not be available and will add more time for naming these decedents.”

Officials have confirmed 13 deaths with two additional fatalities announced overnight, bringing the toll from the Eaton fire in the northeast part of the county to eight. Five deaths have previously been confirmed from the Palisades fire on the city’s west side.

One of those killed is Australian man Rory Callum Sykes, 32, who was killed on Wednesday when the fire incinerated their 6.8ha property in Malibu, according to his mother Shelley Sykes.

She said cadaver dogs would be required to find her son’s remains in the ashes and rubble of his home before his death was considered part of the official toll.

Here’s what we know so far about some of those individuals.

EATON FIRE

Anthony and Justin Mitchell

Hajime White picked up the phone Wednesday morning to hear her father’s voice on the other end of the line.

“He said, ‘Baby, I’m just letting you know the fire’s broke out, and we’re going to have to evacuate,’” White, a doula in Warren, Arkansas, recounted Thursday. “Then he said, ‘I’ve got to go - the fire’s in the yard.’”

Mitchell, 67, was a retired salesman and amputee who used a wheelchair and lived in Altadena with his son Justin, who was in his early 20s and had cerebral palsy, White said. Another son, Jordan, also in his 20s, lived with the pair but was in the hospital.

A few hours later, White got the terrible news. “They didn’t make it out,” she said.

Mitchell had been waiting for an ambulance to come for him and Justin, but it never arrived. White said that authorities told the family that Mitchell was found by the side of his son’s bed. The family believes Mitchell was trying to save him.

“He was not going to leave his son behind. No matter what,” White said.

She described her father as a bighearted man who loved his four children, 11 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. Her Arkansas-based family all called him FaFa - short for “far away.”

He kept track of his growing brood of “great-grands” by giving all the little ones nicknames. “Strawberry Shortcake, Marshmallow, Bug, he just went on and on,” she said.

Justin, her half brother, struggled with his disability but used a computer to read and communicate. White was awaiting word from other relatives in Los Angeles on when it would be safe to fly there to make the funeral arrangements.

“It’s very hard,” she said. “It’s like a ton of bricks just fell on me.”

Rodney Nickerson

At his Baptist church, Rodney Nickerson was known as a leader. In his neighborhood, he was known for his daily fitness walks around the Rose Bowl - motivation to many on Alta Pine Drive, where Nickerson had bought his home more than half a century ago.

“That’s my real dad, my dad,” said his son, Eric Nickerson, talking on his cellphone as he surveyed the “burn site” where his father died Wednesday. “He was just old-school L.A. And this was where you wanted to live, a nice suburb near everything. We fished. We would love to watch ‘Sanford and Son,’ you know, that 1970s sitcom. I have so many good memories, in that house, just talking sports.”

The elder Nickerson figured the Santa Ana winds that were forecast wouldn’t be that bad, according to his son, but what kicked up were 100 mph gusts that quickly fanned massive wildfires. Although Eric’s sister tried to get him to leave, he insisted he wasn’t going anywhere. He died in bed as flames torched the neighborhood, his son said. He was 82, with four grandchildren.

“My dad, he just loved that house and the area,” his son said. “We enjoyed sports together, we did a lot of fishing, we did everything in that neighborhood. Now only one house remains. Almost the entire block burnt down.”

Nickerson worked for 45 years at Lockheed Martin, where he was a project engineer. He still chaired the deacon board at Weller Street Missionary Baptist Church and helped feed hot meals to families, Pastor K.W. Tulloss said.

“He was the heart of our church,” Tulloss said. “He would also go with us once a month to skid row and feed 100 hot meals to folks. This is a huge loss to our faith community.”

The family has a long history in the Los Angeles area. Rodney Nickerson’s grandfather, William Nickerson Jr., was a prominent Black businessman. He founded Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Co. - which grew to become one of the largest Black-owned companies in the country - and the Nickerson Gardens housing project was later named for him.

Kimiko Nickerson sounded exhausted Friday in the midst of grief over her father.

“The last thing he said to me as we encouraged him to leave was ‘Don’t worry, I’ll be here tomorrow.’”

Erliene Kelley

Erliene Kelley, 83, had lived in her Altadena home for more than four decades, and the great-grandmother stayed put Tuesday night despite the entreaties of other family members evacuating the house as the wildfire began threatening their neighborhood.

“My grandmother decided she wanted to stay,” Briana Navarro wrote on a GoFundMe page. “She said, ‘It’s in God’s hands.’”

Navarro said her father went back once to check on Kelley, but she still wanted to stay. The house was destroyed.

Police confirmed Kelley’s death for her family on Friday, Navarro wrote. The family is “truly devastated having to deal with this immense loss.” she wrote.

Victor Shaw

Victor Shaw died with a garden hose in his hand, evidence to relatives of how he was trying to protect his family’s longtime home in Altadena to the very end.

“All of the family papers and newspapers and things from the latter part of the 1800s, everything was in there,” a cousin, Benita Shaw-Malone, said Friday. “So our whole legacy is gone. Pictures, albums, everything is gone. That’s why he wanted to save it.”

Shaw, 66, had worked as a courier in Altadena, until recently, when his eyesight became too bad for him to drive. “He was a friendly man. He liked being with the family,” Shaw-Malone said. “He liked riding in the car, just going to San Diego or Palm Springs. He loved long car rides.”

His sister, Shari Shaw, was there Tuesday as evacuation orders were issued, and within minutes, the situation was dire. “She tried to wake him up. He was on medication, and he wasn’t able to get up,” their cousin said. Then embers landed on the roof. “She barely escaped. When she came [out of the neighborhood], she told a sheriff that her brother was still up there, and he ignored her. He just told her to keep going.”

The next day, she returned to Monterosa Drive and found the small bungalow in blackened ruins and her brother dead, the hose still in his hand.

His sister is haunted by what happened, Shaw-Malone said. “All they had was each other.”

PALISADES FIRE

Randall Miod

Artist Corina Cline opened Facebook on Wednesday to check on the safety of her friend, Randall Miod, a passionate surfer who lived on the beach in Malibu near where the wildfire was spreading.

She was chilled to see he had written: “God please save Malibu.”

Was he in danger? Or was the post a tribute to the Sex Pistols song they both loved?

She began calling and calling. His phone rang and rang.

Cline had first met Miod in 2016 on Surfrider Beach in Malibu, where he often hung out to catch a wave. They were both from the San Fernando Valley, so they bonded right away. He had a mop of hair that seemed to have a life of its own, a friendly spirit - always offering to share his beer or food - and a relaxed vibe.

Miod, 55, had lived in a modest red house on the Pacific Coast Highway since 1993. He called it the Crab Shack, a nod to his nickname, which was Crawdaddy or Craw, and he shared it with a black and white cat he named The Bu, after Malibu. The feline liked only him.

Friends saw him as a throwback to the old days of the beach town, before the mega-mansions and ritzy restaurants, when working-class people could still afford to live there. He got by in the present day by managing a sushi restaurant and taking in roommates.

“He loved Malibu. That was his life,” Cline recalled. “He wasn’t rich. He lived in that little red shack that was kind of run-down.”

Her fear for his safety grew when friends began posting pictures online of the Crab Shack, burned to the foundation. A cousin soon confirmed the terrible news - authorities had found human remains in the home that were believed to be Miod’s.

Cline was left to wonder why he didn’t evacuate when he had the chance.

“I think he loved his place so much he thought, ‘You know what? I think I’m going to stay. I’m going to help save it,’” she said.

On Friday, friends inundated social media with remembrances and photos of Randy, as most everyone called him - nearly always on the water or with surfboard in hand.

“It’s not just me that thinks he’s awesome,” Cline said. “He was a one-of-a-kind person. There’s not going to be another Craw.”

Rory Callum Sykes

British-born former Australian actor Rory Callum Sykes, 32, was also among the fire victims, his mother, Shelley Sykes, said in a statement Thursday on X.

Rory Sykes, who had cerebral palsy and was partially blind, was killed in his self-contained cottage on the family’s estate as the Palisades Fire spread through the hills above Malibu on Wednesday, according to Shelley Sykes.

She said she was unable to douse the cinders that landed on his cottage roof because the water had been turned off by local water authorities.

Shelley Sykes told the Australian news program 10 News First that she was unable to lift or move her son because she has a broken arm. She said her calls to 911 would not connect.

“He died needlessly,” she told the program. “He said ‘Mum, leave me.’ No mum can leave her kid … I couldn’t lift him, I couldn’t move him.”

The former actor appeared in the British TV show “Kiddy Kapers” during the 1990s. His mother described him in her statement as a “wonderful son” and a “humanitarian” who loved gaming and technology.

“He overcame so much with surgeries & therapies to regain his sight & to be able to learn to walk. Despite the pain, he still enthused about traveling the world with me from Africa to Antarctica,” she said.

The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in an emailed statement that it was aware of reports of the death of an Australian citizen and was “engaging closely with local authorities” and “providing consular assistance to his family.”

Cate Cadell, Vivian Ho and Aaron Schaffer contributed to this report.

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