More than a week after the fire, Los Angeles evacuees remain in limbo

“There will be times when you are strong and you can see a way forward,” he said, “and then there will be times when you feel lost, helpless and unsure and sometimes feel overwhelmed.”

Although the evacuation order has been lifted, many families do not have a home to return to.

Almost every day for the past nine days, Raymond Sarkis, 32, has tried to return to the Altadena neighborhood to see what’s left of the home he and his wife bought in 2021, after collecting credit for almost ten years. They spent months building it, poured “sweat and tears” into it, and got married in the backyard that same year.

An insurance agent and a neighbor told Mr. Sarkis that the house was on fire, and even showed him two pictures. But he wanted to see himself.

“I just need to stand there and take it,” he said. “Looking for myself, to find something.”

He added: “I’ll take half of the children’s toys. I took a necklace. I’ll take anything you can think of just to remind us, just to remember, ‘Wow, that happened.’ “

So far he hasn’t got it.

“I went to every street corner, every street opening – no less than two policemen and one military vehicle, sometimes two,” he said.

Eric Escott, 62, has been able to sneak into the derelict house in Altadena twice since being moved. His house was still standing, and he was able to get out with the essentials. But he returned twice, leaving food for his cat, Rosie.

Mr. Escott has not seen Rosie since he left, but the wet food he left behind last Thursday, when he returned for his last visit on Sunday.

Rosie, a fierce cat adopted by her husband and gradually won over to trust him, is shy and unfriendly, and rarely interacts with Mr. Escott. He said there was no way he showed up when he was there or allowed himself to be taken away from the neighborhood.