January 16, 2025: Wildfires in Los Angeles, Palisades and Eaton fires, car fire in Ventura

The last time Shaw Zhao spoke to his 84-year-old father, Zhi Feng Zhao, was around noon on Jan. 7, he told CNN.

Shaw lives primarily in Portland, Oregon, but his father lived alone in their shared home in Altadena, California — an area ravaged by the Eaton fire.

Shaw, 54, planned to fly to Altadena the next day for reasons unrelated to the fire, and his father called him Jan. 7 to confirm his flight time and ask what he wanted to eat the next day.

Around 8:30 p.m., a longtime Altadena neighbor informed Shaw of the fire. Shaw said he tried to contact his father throughout the night and the following morning, but was unsuccessful.

He took his scheduled flight and landed at the Burbank airport around 7 a.m

When his Lyft driver Gilian “Ian” Villatoro picked him up, Shaw explained the situation.

Ian tried to drive Shaw to his home in Altadena, but it was still blocked off because of the fire, Ian said. Although Ian tried many avenues for a few hours, they could not get in. Eventually they gave up and Ian dropped him off at the Pasadena Convention Center where evacuees were staying.

“I went through thousands of beds twice. I couldn’t find him,” Shaw said. “My heart sank. I know something terrible could have happened.”

They stayed in touch that night as the situation hit close to home for Ian, who unexpectedly lost his mother in October to a heart attack.

The next morning, Ian offered to drive Shaw in his SUV back up to Altadena to see if they could find a way to look at his home. The neighborhood was still cordoned off when they arrived, but Shaw, Ian and Ian’s wife all decided to make the 3km walk through the rubble to try and find the house using Google Maps.

When they finally found Shaw’s home of 20 years, it was destroyed. They saw a coyote in the yard – what Ian described as a bad omen.

Ian later discovered Shaw’s father’s remains, sparing Shaw from having to see them up close.

“I was crying really hard and my friends (Gilian and his wife) were trying to hold me,” Shaw cried. “I feel so grateful to Gilian and his wife, they spent a day and a half helping me … you can see the generosity of people.”

Shaw described his father, who was born in China, as a smart and talented person. Throughout Shaw’s education and career, he felt he followed life lessons his father taught him.