Help Jack Dean Moore's Family Rebuild After Fire

My name is Jack Dean Moore and I am trying to raise funds to help my family rebuild- It is with a heavy heart that my parents lost their Altadena home of 21 years in the Eaton Fire. I was born and raised in that home I lived there my entire life and it kills me to see it gone.

Everything burned down. It happened so quickly and we barely escaped with our lives. We knew the fire was raging, but it was far away, miles away, on the other side of Lake Street and near the Canyons. We thought, "how could the fire travel through several miles of concrete and reach our home? " We also didn't get an evacuation notice, at least not for our area. In the past we had actual "threats of evacuation", through previous fires or high wind warnings, but we never had to actually leave our home.

On January 8, 2025 ...around 1 am, my friends and I anxiously checked the neighborhood, driving through streets and checking surrounding areas. The fire was so far away, and no where near our home. So after driving around, and checking out the fires' latest location, we felt sure we were far enough away. Besides, we never received an evacuation notice, so I felt safe. My friends dropped me off at home and I went straight to bed. My mom said she would stay up and watch the house 'to be sure we were all okay'.

Around 3:45 am my mom woke me up from a heavy slumber and said " the house is filling with smoke, it is time to leave." When she stepped outside, she came right back in, screaming, "the house across the street is on fire." I was looking for a suitcase, when my mom said, "no, there is no time, we have to get the pets and go." It seemed like a nightmare, but all I could do was grab was my cat, Nikko (one-eyed 15 year old cat), and my guitar.

As we are leaving, the wind blew burning embers onto my face. My dad saw our other neighbors fence was on fire and rushed to put it out. He happened to have 5 fire extinguishers, he sprayed the flames, but each time the fire seemed to be dimming, the wind would enrage it within a few seconds. He ended up using all the fire extinguishers and the fire was still burning just as bright as when he started. He had already tried the hoses, but there wasn't any water. So we collectively left. Three dogs, a cat and the clothing on our back, each one of us in our own vehicle, driving one behind the other. Not to mention driving through the smoke and fire was like driving through hell itself.

At 8 am, we had been driving all over Pasadena, for hours, looking for a hotel that would take us in with all of our pets. Every hotel was booked, so we drove out of the city, as far as the beach, where we found a hotel willing to take us in.

After several days of repacking, moving and unpacking my seriously pared down possessions, I am finally coming to terms that my childhood home is gone.

And today, after nearly a month away, I have returned with a broken heart to the place where my world fell apart, it seems so long ago but also not real. I am still in shock and emotionally traumatized. One of the hardest things I have had to deal with has been the realization that I can't just go home. I don't have a home, or a room or a place for me and my friends. My parents worked so hard to make a nice home for me and my sister, Emma. And, now it's just not there. I am grieving a terrible loss, but we are somehow still alive, and for that I am so grateful. So Grateful my mom stayed awake, anxious over the fire. So grateful we are all together.

The most valuable thing that I have learned from all of this, is the act of being present and connected with my family as a unit, that is what matters most. I may have lost all of my things, but I have my family.