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Mountain View News Saturday, July 5, 2025


CHRISTOPHER Nyerges 

 [Nyerges is an educator and the author of over two dozen books including “Urban Survival 
Guide,” “Extreme Simplicity,” “Foraging Californai,” and other books. More information at www.
SchoolofSelf-Reliance.com. ]

PROFILE OF THE FIRE: MIGUEL GUTIERREZ AND FAMILY


Last week we featured 
baby Jack, one of 3 
adorable siblings. This 
week is his brother, 
CINCO, named for 
his rescue on Cinco 
de Mayo. Cinco is 
very sweet, loving, and 
curious. 

He is talented at hunting 
the toy mouse, sleeping belly up, and play-
wrestling with his sibs. We prefer that you adopt 
2 together or have another young kitten at home. 

These cuties are a hoot, and will cheer anyone 
up! This age is also fine to be introduced to a nice 
doggie. 

We take care of vaccines, spay & neuter, testing, microchips, 
and more! 

Please go to our website to submit your application to meet 
them, https://www.lifelineforpets.org/babies.html. Hurry 
and don’t miss out on their kitten cuteness! Born 4/1/25


For the last seven 
years, Miguel 
Gutierrez has 
lived with his wife and children on 
North Lincoln Avenue, just south 
of Altadena Drive. He’s lived in this 
area for about 25 years. He is an 
educator at Cal State Domingues 
Hills.

He enjoyed his life with his family 
living close to the mountains, raising 
bees in the backyard, and growing 
fruits and vegetables in his yard. 
All this changed on January 7.

JANUARY 7

For him, the wind-drama began at 
3 a.m. in the morning of January 7. 
He woke up to loud rumbling noises 
of the wind that was forecast and anticipated. “But 
it really got my attention,” said Gutierrez, “since I 
have all these plants and bees, and I wanted to make 
sure nothing got knocked over.”

“We’ve had forecasts before,” he adds, “but they were 
duds, we regarded those forecasts as calling wolf, but 
my wife told me this one was going to be a big deal, 
with 100 mile winds forecast.”

The day of the 7th was very stressful, and he was 
looking out the window all that day, thinking about 
the plants and trees. He didn’t send his children to 
school that day, because of the high wind. They lost 
electricity early in the day, though once on a while, 
the electricity came back.

“I was expecting just to ride out the storm,” he explains, 
but around 6 p.m., after he learned that Eaton 
Canyon was on fire, “we got tense, and nervous.” 
They had learned already that the Pallisades were on 
fire.

“There was an incredible harsh howling wind, with 
the windows hissing, and I thought my Fuerte avocado 
tree would snap,” he explained. However, he 
felt confident that there was no way a fire would 
move to his home on Lincoln.

An hour later, Gutierrez could see the glow of the fire 
near Eaton Canyon just by looking out his window, 
and he was emotional when he considered that the 
Eaton Canyon Nature Center was burning. 

Gutierrez and his wife began discussing the possibility 
of evacuating, but Gutierrez still felt confident 
that this would not apply to them. In the short times 
he had phone use, he tried to find out details about 
the situation but found no new news.

Gutierrez looked out his window about 3a.m., and 
noticed that the fire was now very close to his home, 
to the northeast. “I saw columns of smoke in the 
distance, which should be moving up but were going 
sideways because the wind was so intense. It took 
me a while to figure out that the city was already 
burning,” he explains. They evacuated their home 
about 3 a.m.

They brought some things for their children, and 
clothes. “We figured we’d only be gone for a day, and 
never did I consider as a possibility what actually 
happened,” he explains. “I didn’t want to expose the 
kids to the smoke, which was our main reason for 
leaving.”

As they drove down Lincoln Ave., there was no smell 
of smoke, and no smoke near their house. But by the 
time they got south to Woodbury and Lincoln, there 
was thick smoke that smelled bad and the wind was 
whipping things up, with smoke everywhere down 
by Muir High School. 

“We just kept driving to get away from the smoke, 
not really sure where we were going,” he explained. 
They finally drove to Costa Mesa, and then went to 
Laguna Beach, went to the beach and had breakfast,” 
explains an exasperated Gutierrez.

From the beach, Gutierrez called a friend who lived 
near him on Lioncoln, who said “done deal.” “What 
do you mean?” asked Gutierrez. The friend said that 
Altadena is a mess, raining fire and embers, with 
tons of places are on fire. Places all the way south to 
Super King were on fire.

“That was my first shock I had, realizing that the fire 
got all the way down to Woodbury Road. When he 
said it was raining fire, and he said he passed on Lincoln, 
I asked him if my house was still standing. He 
said he didn’t know, and I thought he was lying, but 
he said it was dark and couldn’t see. And then we got 
other texts and calls who saw and heard lots of houses 
on fire,” explained Gutierrez. “Shocking! A lot of 
houses on fire! Altadena was getting destroyed.”

Gutierrez told his wife that he was going to drive 
back to Altadena to check on the house. He dropped 
off the family at friends in Long Beach and drove to 
Altadena. “I felt I would never forgive myself If I 
didn’t at least come back and try to do something.” 
He envisioned that he’d go to the house, and assuming 
it was there, and he would hose his roof and the 
neighbors’ roofs.

He got to his house, and it was still there, even though 
there was smoke everywhere and open flames where 
other houses were burning. “I saw houses completely 
destroyed, some were all done burning, and 
I saw zero fire fighters, which added to the disturbing 
image. If I think of an urban fire, and a house 
on fire, that image needs to have fire fighters battling 
fire. But we had not two or three houses burning, 
but dozens, and it was almost serene, burning, and 
no firefighters within sight.”

At his house, Gutierrez found that there was no water 
available, which was another shock to him. And 
part of his backyard was on fire. “I just went on with 
checking the rest of house and maybe taking some 
things away with me,” he explains.

He adds grimly, “When I saw my house still standing, 
I didn’t feel relief, or joy, because I knew good 
chunk of Altadena gone. Relief was not the feeling.”

While he was in the house, he looked around for 
things to take. He did take some things, mostly personal 
mementos to him and wife, but he realized in 
that moment that “I don’t have much of value in this 
house. I have a lot of junk, only valuable to me. My 
family is what’s valuable,” he added.

“After I left, it painfully struck me what had happened. 
I saw several houses in open flames in my 
backyard, but that was nothing compared to what 
happened to whole city. I had no idea so much of the 
city gone. South by Super King market, there were 
wires downed everywhere, a lot of houses still on 
fire, and dozens and dozens of people standing on 
streets looking at places burning. Presumably they 
were looking at their places in ashes. Whole blocks 
had vanished.”

“The view of Altadena reminded me of Hiroshima, 
with ash, fire, smoke, demolished buildings, standing 
chimneys, charred trees. It looked like a cemetary, 
not symbolically but literally.”

Miguel and family stayed at an Arbnb in Norwalk 
for a month, and for various reasons, they decided 
to temporarily move to Omaha, Nebraska, where his 
parents live.

He’s been back to California for work, and to take 
care of things I could take care of at house and wind 
damage, but feels it will be some time before they 
return for good. 

Gutierrez said the future for him and his family is 
uncertain. No one knows what the new Altadena 
will look like. He’s concerned that the very diversity 
that attracted him to Altadena will be lost as lots are 
sold and new places are built.


Miguel Gutierrez shows a fuerte avocado in his backyard, pre-Fire.

Pet of the Week


Meet Shrub, a one-year-old French Bulldog 
at Pasadena Humane with a big personality 
and a stout, little body. He's goofy, 
affectionate and loves greeting everyone 
with his signature wiggly enthusiasm. 

He enjoys car rides, walks in the park, and 
sniffing everything in sight. He knows a few 
basic commands like “sit” and “stay,” loves 
treats, and is as playful as he is energetic.
Shrub would do best in a home with low foot 
traffic, no other pets, and older children. 

He’s a lively, loving pup who needs a little 
guidance, consistency, and someone who 
understands how to manage his excitement. 

If you're ready to give Shrub the structure, fun, and affection he craves, he’ll reward you 
with loyalty, laughter, and a whole lot of love. Come meet this strong, silly sweetheart 
and consider making Shrub your new bestie

The adoption fee for dogs is $150. All dog adoptions include spay or neuter, microchip, 
and age-appropriate vaccines. 

Walk-in adoptions are available every day from 10:00 – 5:00. View photos of adoptable 
pets at pasadenahumane.org. 

 

 New adopters will receive a complimentary health-and-wellness exam from VCA 
Animal Hospitals, as well as a goody bag filled with information about how to care for 
your pet. 

 

Pets may not be available for adoption and cannot be held for potential adopters by 

phone calls or email.


HOT TEMPERATURES CAN MAKE CONCRETE AND ASPHALT TOO 
HOT FOR YOUR DOG’S PAWS. 

Asphalt and concrete temperatures can usually be 20-40 degrees hotter 
than the ambient temperature. If the back of your hand can’t stand the heat 
on the concrete or asphalt for 7 seconds, it’s too hot for a walk.

When it's above 90 degrees outside, bring dogs and cats indoors.


Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com