Advertisement 1

'Our neighbourhood is gone': Destruction in L.A. reaches family home of former B.C. Lion Daved Benefield

'You used to be able to hop a wall as a kid and knew exactly where you were. It's just completely decimated.' — Daved Benefield

Article content

Last week, Daved Benefield was bunking at his parents’ home, sharing his childhood bedroom with son Ty, and telling him how he’d always have some of the best sleep of his life there. At least until the infamously raucous wild parrots that lived in the Altadena neighbourhood start their squawking in the palm trees outside the window at five in the morning.

Article content
Article content
Article content

Even that was soothing in its own way. Home is home. It’s comfort and memories.

Article content
Advertisement 1
Story continues below
Article content
Article content

And now, the home of the former B.C. Lions legend (he also spent time with Ottawa, Winnipeg and Saskatchewan in the CFL and San Francisco in the NFL) is only a memory, burnt to ashes by the Eaton Canyon fire that has so far consumed 56 square kilometres of Southern California.

Article content
Article content
Article content

The fire was one of several that simultaneously popped up in the Los Angeles area, charring huge swaths of land, claiming the lives of at 25 people — a number expected to rise much higher — and displacing thousands of families. Benefield’s elderly parents, Dave and Betty, are among those who have lost everything.

Article content
Article content

The 1926 home, full of charm from its wrought iron gate to 4.5-metre high window that graced its front, has been reduced to a sea of black and white ash. A brick chimney stands alone in the blanket of destruction, like a tombstone dedicated to a family’s history.

Article content
Article content

“Our neighbourhood is gone. All these old homes that were built 100 years ago, they’re all gone,” Benefield said. “You used to be able to hop a wall as a kid and knew exactly where you were. And now you can just look clear across; the space is nothing but chimneys. It’s just completely decimated.”

Article content
Advertisement 2
Story continues below
Article content

Article content
A chimney rises from the ashes of the Benefield family home.
A chimney rises from the ashes of the Benefield family home. Photo by Daved Benefield /PNG
Article content
Article content

His parents, now in their 80s, did have insurance. But like the increasing thousands of others who have lost their homes, they’ll have to endure the massive backlog as claims bottleneck in the industry.

Article content
Article content
Stories You May Like
  1. Ty Benefield leads the Boise State football team onto the field against North Dakota last season.
    Son of a B.C. Lions' icon already growing his own legend
  2. ‘People look at you and they make assumptions,’ says Daved Benefield. ‘And they don’t want to see anything else.’
    Daved Benefield’s life the definition of prejudice
  3. Advertisement embed-more-topic
    Story continues below
Article content

The price-gouging has already started from capitalistic landlords who are spiking rents far beyond the legal limit of 10 per cent, plunging the region into a new housing crisis, all while looters ransack evacuated properties that are still standing.

Article content
Article content

The Benefields are staying with Daved in Orange County, and now turn to the challenges of a daily life upended, like finding a Veterans Affair clinic for David.

Article content
Article content

“For my dad especially, (the problems), that’s just kind of magnified,” said Benefield. “It’s so difficult to deal with, but it should be a piece of cake. There’s so much, so many moving pieces.

Article content
Article content

“Now you just understand,” he added, in a discussion of how it compared to the 2003 Kelowna wildfires that devastated the Okanagan when he was still in the CFL.

Advertisement 1
Advertisement 2
Advertisement
Article content
Article content

“You understand about the people there, and how their lives have changed. Even though it’s not the same scope as L.A., it’s still a community. It’s moving parts, it’s people, it’s lives changing. Whether it’s 100,000 people or 5,000 people, you’ve got to go through to deal with people losing their homes and having to restart. The amount of stuff people have lost in the fire … and the memories, the treasures people have lost.”

Article content
Article content

Altadena was a community that began to thrive as the practice of redlining pushed black families out of Los Angeles proper into other communities in the 1960s, creating a city ‘birthed by the civil rights era.’ What had been a haven of expensive vacation homes began to diversify, attracting Japanese and Jewish families in the wake of the Second World War. There were actors, athletes and stars.

Article content
Article content

Hogan’s Heroes actor Ivan Dixon lived up the block. Stacey Augmon, the ‘Plastic Man,’ who starred in the NBA in the late 90s, hailed from Altadena. Will Ferrell also had a home there.

Article content
Advertisement 3
Story continues below
Article content
Article content

But there are so many residents whose wealth was built into the homes they’d owned for decades, not in cash or bank accounts, and now those houses are gone.

Article content
Article content

“Altadena is like Mayberry,” said Benefield. “We have a little street where all these old buildings were from, like, the beginning of time.”

Article content
Article content

On Wednesday, Jan. 8, the day after staying over at his parents house, he got a call from his sister Davida saying they were going to evacuate. He was in disbelief. They’d seen the fire the night before, but it was a 15-minute drive away in Eaton Canyon. He fielded the call at 3:30 a.m.; by the time he got there 90 minutes later, the city was ablaze.

Article content
Article content

It was both omnipresent and bafflingly choosy. As he drove through behind the police and fire trucks, he’d pass through a neighbourhood completely in flames, and others that hadn’t been touched yet. The famed Christmas Tree Lane, with streets lined with tinder in the form massive cedar trees, hadn’t gone up, yet there was a car in raging flames in front of them. The trees, site of an annual Christmas event for decades, survived.

Article content
Advertisement 4
Story continues below
Article content
Article content

“I’m just like, ‘they’re just being overly safe.’ There’s no way the fire can go from the mountains where it normally goes, all the way over to all these houses into Altadena. And sure enough, it did,” Benefield said, recalling the evacuation.

Article content
Article content

“By the time I arrived, my whole neighbourhood was already decimated. The whole neighbourhood, from the corner all the way to the next corner … all the houses were completely engulfed in flames and had collapsed. The fire was just raging.

Article content
Article content

“Momentarily — and this is the neighbourhood that I grew up in — I couldn’t figure out where I was. I didn’t know where I was, because every house is on fire, on both sides of the street.

Article content
Article content

“You’re still in a state of amazement and disbelief how fire can jump from one place to another, wind or no wind. It’s just amazing and shocking all at the same time. It just really makes no sense.”

Article content

Article content
The benefields pose in the family home.
Davida Benefield, Ty Benefield and matriarch Betty Benefield in the family home, just days before it was lost to fire.
Article content
Article content

Once the fire had passed, Benefield and Ty sneaked past the authorities to see the house. They were overwhelmed at the destruction where both had spent so many formative years.

Advertisement 2
Advertisement 3
Story continues below
Article content
Article content

Dave and Betty haven’t been back.

Article content
Article content

Benefield had planned, now that Ty is fully settled at Boise State — the Broncos just finished the CFP playoffs — and daughter Addy is at the University of Washington playing volleyball, to return to Vancouver. But those plans are now on hold.

Article content
Article content

His parents will share his small home in Redondo Beach until they can be rehoused.

Article content
Article content

And with the state of the insurance industry, that timeline is indefinite.

Article content
Article content

Those wanting to help out can donate to the family’s Gofundme page.

Article content
Article content

jadams@postmedia.com

Article content
Article content

jjadams.bsky.social

Article content
Article content

Article content

Article content

Article content
Article content

Article content

Article content
Advertisement 3
Comments
You must be logged in to join the discussion or read more comments.
Join the Conversation

Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.

universo-virtual.com
buytrendz.net
thisforall.net
benchpressgains.com
qthzb.com
mindhunter9.com
dwjqp1.com
secure-signup.net
ahaayy.com
soxtry.com
tressesindia.com
puresybian.com
krpano-chs.com
cre8workshop.com
hdkino.org
peixun021.com
qz786.com
utahperformingartscenter.org
maw-pr.com
zaaksen.com
ypxsptbfd7.com
worldqrmconference.com
shangyuwh.com
eejssdfsdfdfjsd.com
playminecraftfreeonline.com
trekvietnamtour.com
your-business-articles.com
essaywritingservice10.com
hindusamaaj.com
joggingvideo.com
wandercoups.com
onlinenewsofindia.com
worldgraphic-team.com
bnsrz.com
wormblaster.net
tongchengchuyange0004.com
internetknowing.com
breachurch.com
peachesnginburlesque.com
dataarchitectoo.com
clientfunnelformula.com
30pps.com
cherylroll.com
ks2252.com
webmanicura.com
osostore.com
softsmob.com
sofietsshotel.com
facetorch.com
nylawyerreview.com
apapromotions.com
shareparelli.com
goeaglepointe.com
thegreenmanpubphuket.com
karotorossian.com
publicsensor.com
taiwandefence.com
epcsur.com
odskc.com
inzziln.info
leaiiln.info
cq-oa.com
dqtianshun.com
southstills.com
tvtv98.com
thewellington-hotel.com
bccaipiao.com
colectoresindustrialesgs.com
shenanddcg.com
capriartfilmfestival.com
replicabreitlingsale.com
thaiamarinnewtoncorner.com
gkmcww.com
mbnkbj.com
andrewbrennandesign.com
cod54.com
luobinzhang.com
bartoysdirect.com
taquerialoscompadresdc.com
aaoodln.info
amcckln.info
drvrnln.info
dwabmln.info
fcsjoln.info
hlonxln.info
kcmeiln.info
kplrrln.info
fatcatoons.com
91guoys.com
signupforfreehosting.com
faithfirst.net
zjyc28.com
tongchengjinyeyouyue0004.com
nhuan6.com
oldgardensflowers.com
lightupthefloor.com
bahamamamas-stjohns.com
ly2818.com
905onthebay.com
fonemenu.com
notanothermovie.com
ukrainehighclassescort.com
meincmagazine.com
av-5858.com
yallerdawg.com
donkeythemovie.com
corporatehospitalitygroup.com
boboyy88.com
miteinander-lernen.com
dannayconsulting.com
officialtomsshoesoutletstore.com
forsale-amoxil-amoxicillin.net
generictadalafil-canada.net
guitarlessonseastlondon.com
lesliesrestaurants.com
mattyno9.com
nri-homeloans.com
rtgvisas-qatar.com
salbutamolventolinonline.net
sportsinjuries.info
topsedu.xyz
xmxm7.com
x332.xyz
sportstrainingblog.com
autopartspares.com
readguy.net
soniasegreto.com
bobbygdavis.com
wedsna.com
rgkntk.com
bkkmarketplace.com
zxqcwx.com
breakupprogram.com
boxcardc.com
unblockyoutubeindonesia.com
fabulousbookmark.com
beat-the.com
guatemala-sailfishing-vacations-charters.com
magie-marketing.com
kingstonliteracy.com
guitaraffinity.com
eurelookinggoodapparel.com
howtolosecheekfat.net
marioncma.org
oliviadavismusic.com
shantelcampbellrealestate.com
shopleborn13.com
topindiafree.com
v-visitors.net
qazwsxedcokmijn.com
parabis.net
terriesandelin.com
luxuryhomme.com
studyexpanse.com
ronoom.com
djjky.com
053hh.com
originbluei.com
baucishotel.com
33kkn.com
intrinsiqresearch.com
mariaescort-kiev.com
mymaguk.com
sponsored4u.com
crimsonclass.com
bataillenavale.com
searchtile.com
ze-stribrnych-struh.com
zenithalhype.com
modalpkv.com
bouisset-lafforgue.com
useupload.com
37r.net
autoankauf-muenster.com
bantinbongda.net
bilgius.com
brabustermagazine.com
indigrow.org
miicrosofts.net
mysmiletravel.com
selinasims.com
spellcubesapp.com
usa-faction.com
snn01.com
hope-kelley.com
bancodeprofissionais.com
zjccp99.com
liturgycreator.com
weedsmj.com
majorelenco.com
colcollect.com
androidnews-jp.com
hypoallergenicdogsnames.com
dailyupdatez.com
foodphotographyreviews.com
cricutcom-setup.com
chprowebdesign.com
katyrealty-kanepa.com
tasramar.com
bilgipinari.org
four-am.com
indiarepublicday.com
inquick-enbooks.com
iracmpi.com
kakaschoenen.com
lsm99flash.com
nana1255.com
ngen-niagara.com
technwzs.com
virtualonlinecasino1345.com
wallpapertop.net
nova-click.com
abeautifulcrazylife.com
diggmobile.com
denochemexicana.com
eventhalfkg.com
medcon-taiwan.com
life-himawari.com
myriamshomes.com
nightmarevue.com
allstarsru.com
bestofthebuckeyestate.com
bestofthefirststate.com
bestwireless7.com
declarationintermittent.com
findhereall.com
jingyou888.com
lsm99deal.com
lsm99galaxy.com
moozatech.com
nuagh.com
patliyo.com
philomenamagikz.net
rckouba.net
saturnunipessoallda.com
tallahasseefrolics.com
thematurehardcore.net
totalenvironment-inthatquietearth.com
velislavakaymakanova.com
vermontenergetic.com
sizam-design.com
kakakpintar.com
begorgeouslady.com
1800birks4u.com
2wheelstogo.com
6strip4you.com
bigdata-world.net
emailandco.net
gacapal.com
jharpost.com
krishnaastro.com
lsm99credit.com
mascalzonicampani.com
sitemapxml.org
thecityslums.net
topagh.com
flairnetwebdesign.com
bangkaeair.com
beneventocoupon.com
noternet.org
oqtive.com
smilebrightrx.com
decollage-etiquette.com
1millionbestdownloads.com
7658.info
bidbass.com
devlopworldtech.com
digitalmarketingrajkot.com
fluginfo.net
naqlafshk.com
passion-decouverte.com
playsirius.com
spacceleratorintl.com
stikyballs.com
top10way.com
yokidsyogurt.com
zszyhl.com
16firthcrescent.com
abogadolaboralistamd.com
apk2wap.com
aromacremeria.com
banparacard.com
bosmanraws.com
businessproviderblog.com
caltonosa.com
calvaryrevivalchurch.org
chastenedsoulwithabrokenheart.com
cheminotsgardcevennes.com
cooksspot.com
cqxzpt.com
deesywig.com
deltacartoonmaps.com
despixelsetdeshommes.com
duocoracaobrasileiro.com
fareshopbd.com
goodpainspills.com
kobisitecdn.com
makaigoods.com
mgs1454.com
piccadillyresidences.com
radiolaondafresca.com
rubendorf.com
searchengineimprov.com
sellmyhrvahome.com
shugahouseessentials.com
sonihullquad.com
subtractkilos.com
valeriekelmansky.com
vipasdigitalmarketing.com
voolivrerj.com
zeelonggroup.com
1015southrockhill.com
10x10b.com
111-online-casinos.com
191cb.com
3665arpentunitd.com
aitesonics.com
bag-shokunin.com
brightotech.com
communication-digitale-services.com
covoakland.org
dariaprimapack.com
freefortniteaccountss.com
gatebizglobal.com
global1entertainmentnews.com
greatytene.com
hiroshiwakita.com
iktodaypk.com
jahatsakong.com
meadowbrookgolfgroup.com
newsbharati.net
platinumstudiosdesign.com
slotxogamesplay.com
strikestaruk.com
trucosdefortnite.com
ufabetrune.com
weddedtowhitmore.com
12940brycecanyonunitb.com
1311dietrichoaks.com
2monarchtraceunit303.com
601legendhill.com
850elaine.com
adieusolasomade.com
andora-ke.com
bestslotxogames.com
cannagomcallen.com
endlesslyhot.com
iestpjva.com
ouqprint.com
pwmaplefest.com
qtylmr.com
rb88betting.com
buscadogues.com
1007macfm.com
born-wild.com
growthinvests.com
promocode-casino.com
proyectogalgoargentina.com
wbthompson-art.com
whitemountainwheels.com
7thavehvl.com
developmethis.com
funkydogbowties.com
travelodgegrandjunction.com
gao-town.com
globalmarketsuite.com
blogshippo.com
hdbka.com
proboards67.com
outletonline-michaelkors.com
kalkis-research.com
thuthuatit.net
buckcash.com
hollistercanada.com
docterror.com
asadart.com
vmayke.org
erwincomputers.com
dirimart.org
okkii.com
loteriasdecehegin.com
mountanalog.com
healingtaobritain.com
ttxmonitor.com
bamthemes.com
nwordpress.com
11bolabonanza.com
avgo.top