Son rescues elderly mother from assisted living facility during Eaton Fire
By Laurie Perez
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ALTADENA, California (KCAL, KCBS) — As the Eaton Fire grew, thousands in Altadena and Pasadena rushed to evacuate, including those at the Terraces at Park Marino, a senior living center.
Video from the early hours of the wildfire shows residents lined up and leaving, except for Dorothy Benesh who was still waiting to be rescued on the third floor.
“I had called over there and spoke with her a few times,” her son Jim Benesh said. “She said ‘The alarm is going off and they told me they’d come and get me…’ When I called her about 7:40 p.m. she said the alarm was not going off anymore and that’s when I realized that I had to do something and get over there.”
Jim said he wove his way from his Pasadena home through the fiery chaos and got to the facility as the flames and firefighters surrounded it. He raced through the deserted building to the third floor.
“All of the doors were open except for my mom’s,” he said. “When I got there, I opened the door … she responded ‘Yeah. I’m here.’ So, I got her from the couch and the fire was right outside her window.”
The care center eventually burned. Benesh said when she moved in staff told them in an emergency residents stay in their rooms until someone comes to get them. However, on the night of the Eaton Fire, no one came.
Weeks later, the shock of it all has not worn off. Jim has been moved to action, especially after hearing his mom was not the only one.
Firefighters also found a 100-year-old woman and one of her neighbors in Altadena’s Montecedro Retirement Home, hours after it had been evacuated.
“That’s my main concern that we can get procedures in place so that not only staff members at these facilities but also the emergency fire people that come in take the initiative to check every room as well,” Jim said.
The California Department of Social Services, which licenses assisted living facilities, confirmed on Wednesday it is investigating what happened to Jim’s mother. He wants state lawmakers to look at mandating evacuation protocol in coordination with fire departments, so no one is left behind.
“Never been an official apology and I don’t really feel that’s necessary, I want them to get their house in order and get procedures in place,” he said. “I have talked with people over there and you know explained that had I been out of town, we would be having a completely different conversation.”
KCAL News contacted Terraces at Park Marino but has not received a response.
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