Altadena residents defend homes from looters amid harsh conditions in Eaton Fire zone

Containment is growing on the Los Angeles County wildfires, but it may be a long time before residents in the burn areas will be allowed back home.

80,000 people remain under evacuation orders in the Palisades and Eaton Fire zones. For them to be able to return, crews will have to survey the 12,000 destroyed structures for any toxic materials like lead and asbestos.  

Despite those orders, authorities believe there are hundreds still living at their houses despite the risk.

Ruslan Abaev and his wife have been camping out inside their Altadena home since the Eaton Fire tore through last week.

“We’re on this emotional rollercoaster. We’re still staying, we can’t leave but it’s just up and down,” said Abaev.

CBS News Bay Area met him as he was making his way home after picking up some supplies at a nearby pop-up station within the zone.

The entire perimeter of the burn zone in Altadena is being heavily guarded by police and national guard.

Abaev said if he were to leave the zone, he wouldn’t be allowed back in. Even as we were following him back up to his house, he got pulled over by CHP.

“That was the first time the sheriff pulled over. I usually pull up to them, talk to them. So yeah, they were asking what I was doing here. ‘You know this area is closed? You’re not supposed to be driving around here.’ I told him our house survived. We’re still standing,” said Abaev.

Abaev said he and many people whose homes survived are staying put, not because they want to, but because they feel like they have no choice.

“Because they’re not letting people back in. The anxiety and stress, we would just be stressed at the hotel room watching the news. At least here we’re trying to do something,” said Abaev.

Gerry Brown is one of countless volunteers doing all they can to help those still living inside the burn zone in Altadena.

“Initially, we came to be able to take care of the emergency response people. You know, that’s highway patrol, police, sheriff, all the firefighters. But then quickly we found out that there were many shut-ins that never left,” said Brown.

He and his crew have been granted access by authorities to bring in food, water and a few other supplies to distribute to families in need.

“A lot of the guys, man, are coming in just so thankful and telling us they haven’t had a hot meal in four or five days,” said Brown.

Ana Martinez and her family are also among those still living in the burn zone. She said her home thankfully survived, but the days since the flames came through have almost been just as hard.

“The looters just…they’re nonstop. They keep on asking us, ‘Why don’t you just go?’ Because it seems like, last night we had one, they come onto the property, they come into the home,” said Martinez, describing how her family had to chase off a looter just the night before.

It’s been hard for them to do anything other than try to secure their home, so having others cook meals like this for them has been amazing.

“There’s no much thanks that one can say to let them know how much we appreciate it,” said Martinez.

She said it’s still difficult for her to process all that is happening, so she is grateful not only for the hot meal, but also for the company and sense of community these volunteers are bringing.

“It’s emotional, I’m very happy that our home survived but I’m also guilty that most of them didn’t. We have families who lost, our personal family, their homes are not here anymore. So I’m just grateful to God that we’re still here,” said Martinez.

Abaev said he has been dealing with interlopers too, having already seen one suspected looter drive up his road. He put out signs to try and discourage any more from coming.

“Living in California, I’ve seen previous disasters and how people take matters into their own hands, especially in the areas where people loot. So I wanted to put up some signs to try to deter,” said Abaev.

He said he and his wife are prepared to continue to camp out in their home as long as they need to, though he hopes officials will create a better system for letting homeowners in and out soon.

“It seems like they’re starting to open up areas that are close to us so we’re hoping by this weekend. So we’re kind of trying to gauge it based on that,” said Abaev.

Until then, they’re hunkering down and doing their best to remember what they still have, not all that they’ve lost.

“Just trying to remember that we still have to survive and continue on and that kind of gives us a little strength everyday,” said Abaev.

Brown said his goal was to just bring that small bit of comfort to these people who are going through so much. He plans to continue to offer support as long as he’s needed.

“I’d just like to let them know that we’re all praying for them. And people all over the country, and really all over the world, are praying for them; asking God to comfort them and to give them peace,” said Brown.