Last updated on January 13, 2025
Officials say at least 11 people have died, though the true death toll remains unknown.
By Arjit Kapur | Jan 12, 2025 at 02:08 a.m. ET Updated | Top Stories
As wildfires continue to tear through the Los Angeles area, officials said that at least 11 people have died, though the actual death toll remains unknown.
Some of the victims have been identified by family members, neighbors and friends. Among them are a father and son who were waiting to be evacuated, as well as residents who had weathered past wildfires and wanted to stay behind to protect their homes.
Here’s what we know about the victims so far.
Anthony and Justin Mitchell
A father and son died in their Altadena home on Wednesday, family members said.
Anthony Mitchell Jr. told The New York Times that his father, a 67-year-old amputee who used a wheelchair, called him early on Wednesday to say that he was waiting for Anthony’s brother, Justin, who has cerebral palsy and did not walk, to be evacuated. That night, both of them were found dead.
Mitchell said his father did not want to leave Justin behind. “He probably could have gotten himself out, but he wasn’t going to leave my brother,” he told NBC News. “He really loved his kids.”
Mitchell described his father as a family man who considered his family as his legacy. “He said, ‘Money don’t matter, property don’t matter. My kids and my family are my treasure,’” Mitchell told NBC News.
Mitchell said his brother Justin was a “sweet kid.” In an interview with The Washington Post, Justin’s half sister, Hajime White, said authorities told them that their father was found by Justin’s bedside.
People with disabilities are disproportionately affected by natural disasters. A 2019 state audit found that California emergency officials had continued to overlook people with disabilities and other vulnerable residents when preparing for disasters like wildfires. Victims of the deadly Camp Fire in 2018, for example, were mostly older or disabled.
Rodney Nickerson
Nickerson, 82, did not want to leave the home he lived in for decades and reassured family members and neighbors that he would be fine, his daughter Kimiko Nickerson told KTLA.
Her father had experienced other fires before, she said. “He said that he was going to gather up his stuff, but he said he was going to stay here, too,” she added. “He said that he felt this was going to pass over and that he would be here.”
Nickerson’s son, Eric Nickerson, told the New York Times his father was a retired aerospace engineer for Lockheed Martin and an active deacon at his church.
Victor Shaw
Shaw, 66, lived with his sister in the home that he grew up in. His sister, Shari Shaw, told KTLA that she tried to get him to evacuate with her Tuesday night as the Eaton Fire closed in, but that he was determined to stay behind and protect their home from the fire.
Shaw’s friend Al Tanner told KTLA that they found his burned body at the side of the road with a garden hose. “It looks like he was trying to save the home that his parents had for almost 55 years,” Tanner said.
Erliene Louise Kelley
Briana Navarro told NBC News that her 83-year-old grandmother, who had experienced a previous major wildfire, decided to stay behind when her family evacuated.
“My husband, he’s not from out here, so he kind of was looking at it a little different than we were,” Navarro said. “We asked [my grandmother] … and she’s like, ‘No, no I’m fine. You guys go ahead.’”
Kelley was a familiar face in the neighborhood, Navarro said. Terry Pyburn, a neighbor, described Kelley to the Times as an “angel” who was “so, so, so sweet.”
Randall Miod
Friends and family confirmed that Miod, a surfer and well-known figure in Malibu, died in the Palisades Fire.
Miod, 55, loved living a simple life in Malibu, in a house he called “the Crab Shack,” his friend Corina Cline told The Washington Post. His house burned down, and a cousin said that authorities found remains they believed to be Miod’s in the home, the Post reported.
Rory Callum Sykes
Sykes, a former child actor from Australia, died on his family’s Malibu estate on Wednesday, his mother, Shelley Sykes, wrote in a post on X.
According to the post, she could not put out the cinders on the roof of his cottage because of a lack of water.
Sykes, who was born blind and had cerebral palsy, starred in the British TV show “Kiddy Kapers.”
“He overcame so much with surgeries & therapies to regain his sight & to be able to learn to walk,” his mother wrote. “Despite the pain, he still enthused about traveling the world with me from Africa to Antarctica.”
