Fay Austin speaks with an American Red Cross Volunteer.
By Dave Wagner, Red Cross Volunteer
Fay Austin watched the news before she went to bed, but with all the reports about the Palisades fire, she thinks she missed the warnings about the Eaton fire. Her house sits just below Eaton Canyon in the Altadena area.
At 3:00 a.m., she awoke to her next-door neighbor banging on her front door. “She said ‘get in the car and come with me now,’” recalls Austin. They could see the glow of the fire in the hills above as they quickly drove away.
“We drove around for about three hours until we saw a policeman. He told us about the Red Cross shelter.”
At the shelter, Austin shared with Red Cross volunteer Nancy Castles the photos that her neighbor took two days later. “My next-door neighbor got back in the neighborhood and took photos of our homes. Both destroyed.”
Austin is a resilient woman of 88 years who has lived an independent life. She drove cross country on her own from Indianapolis to Los Angeles in 1963. She found a job with Bank of America and worked her way up from keypunch operator to payroll liaison officer in a 25-year career. She bought her quarter-acre property and house in Altadena in 1977.
When she called her family and told them of her plight after the fire, they said “they wanted me to move back to Indianapolis with them. I told them it’s too cold back there. I have trouble walking on my own, and I don’t know what I’m going to do now. But I’m staying here in California.”
Austin isn’t bothered that she may have to stay with the Red Cross for a time. “You’re wonderful,” she said. “You make sure we have a cot and blankets. Now I have soap and toothpaste. And now it’s my turn for a shower.”
As Austin made her way to the showers, although slowly with her walker and assisted by a Red Cross volunteer, her strength was evident. With the help of her friends and her community, she may be able to rebuild and walk through her own front door once again.
Fay Austin shares her story about her house that sits just below Eaton Canyon in the Altadena area.
Fay Austin walks with a Volunteer.
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