Support Doug and Beckett after the Eaton Fire

My name is Doug Friedman and I have lost my house, all my earthly possessions, and my beloved community in the Eaton Fire... but I did not lose hope. I have loved and lost in Altadena too many times, and I am determined to make it home again. This is my story and, with your help, will be my journey home.

My Intro to Altadena

I first came to Altadena in 2016, when I got married at an Airbnb house in this new-to-me area by the mountains in Northeast LA. Many of our friends stayed with us in that house for a truly magical weekend that made us all fall in love with this neighborhood nestled in nature.

This house on E. Calaveras was destroyed in the fire.

My First Home in Altadena

The following year my wife and I bought our own first house on Raymond Ave just blocks away from our wedding house. We were starting our beautiful life together in this beautiful neighborhood. We loved walking in nature with our dog, Franklin, every day on the local trails with waterfalls - like Millard Canyon and Eaton Canyon.

Our first house on Raymond

Loss and My Canine Companions

In 2017, Franklin, my dog and closest companion of 13 years, passed away in our house. The loss was profound, but life moved forward. We rescued another dog, Beckett, who quickly took to the neighborhood and we took to him. Three days after we brought him home from the shelter, we were burglarized. We lost possessions, but our house and hearts did not break. We began to rebuild our sense of security, while our love for Altadena only grew.

Beckett and Tessa playing at our next door neighbor, Holly’s house on Raymond Ave

Deep Tragedy

Towards the end of 2018, tragedy hit me hard. In the span of a week, I was diagnosed with MS and my wife passed away in our home. The loss was immeasurable. I was reeling and adjusting when the pandemic hit us all the following year. I made the difficult decision to sell our house, put everything in storage, and move away from Altadena. That house and our neighbor, Holly’s house were destroyed in the Eaton fire.

An old neighbor took this video of Holly’s house on our block of Raymond the day of the fires - our old house was the one just to the North (left) https://youtube.com/shorts/ZXIj1OXdxVE?feature=share

(this might be hard to watch for some)

Return to Altadena - My Home

After spending some time healing in Colorado and recording an album (I will share more on this later), I made my way back to Altadena with hope in my heart. Miraculously, in the middle of the pandemic in 2021, I found and bought a new house in the same neighborhood, just six blocks from the old one.

Settling In, At Last

I got our stuff out of storage, broke bread with our neighbors, and began to make Altadena home again. I spent the next few years rebuilding our sense of safety, security, and love for our community. Beckett and I were home. We welcomed new restaurants like Amara and Miya Thai, just down the road from us. And we were regulars again on the trails and at Farnsworth Park (which you may have seen in the tv show, Shrinking). Beckett and I cultivated wonderful friendships with fellow dogs and humans.

We had a good life there.

Pumpkin carving with our neighbors - everyone pictured also lost their homes in the fire

The Eaton Fire

On Tuesday night, January 7th, we left our home ahead of the mandatory evacuation notice with just an overnight bag - casually figuring we would be back on Wednesday once the scare had passed. It did not pass and we never got back. The Eaton Fire was catastrophic. Shockingly, our loss is total. Our house is gone. Our park is gone. Our community is decimated. I can’t even begin to name or quantify what I’ve lost - although I will need to meticulously itemize it all for insurance.

My Home After the Fire

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Nt2p5NT04oE?feature=share

Now

I am leaning into what I do have. I have Beckett - my constant companion and great love. I have a resilient and determined community banding together with support from all over. And I have my own resolve to make Altadena home again.

Those of you that know me, know how hard and rare it is for me to ask for any help - I am a psychotherapist… I help others. But right now, this situation is unprecedented and uncharted. I have set up this GoFundMe to humbly ask for your help. The money received will go towards both helping me directly and helping me support those in my direct community.

I am personally starting from scratch - I literally had nothing but an overnight bag last week. I have lived with total loss before and I will rebuild with resilience, strength, and hopefully a new hoodie. I just wish I didn't have to... I loved my old hoodie.

I will update this periodically as Beckett and I recover. Note - I already got a pretty comfy hoodie from a donation center in Eagle Rock a couple days ago (thank you Jon and Terryn). I got some fancy new clothes by Rowan (thanks, Noah!). And we got this dog bed from Patricia and Adam (Beckett thanks you!)

From the heart,

Doug and Beckett