LA wildfire tragedy as amputee dad dies as he 'refused to leave' disabled son waiting for ambulance
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A dad has died in the Los Angeles wildfires after refusing to leave his disabled son's side while he waited for an ambulance. Anthony Mitchell, 67, perished in the devastating fire along with his son aged in his 20s when it spread to Altadena, California on Wednesday. The retired salesman was an amputee and used a wheelchair to get around, while his son, Justin, had cerebral palsy.
As the blaze approached their home, Anthony had called his daughter Hajime White, who lives in Arkansas, to tell her the two of them would be evacuating their home. After telling her they would be evacuating, he told her he had to go as the fire had made it to their property. She never heard from them again.
She told the Washington Post: "He said, ‘Baby, I’m just letting you know the fire’s broken out, and we’re going to have to evacuate. Then he said, ‘I’ve gotta go — the fire’s in the yard." But they did not make it to safety in time, and Hajime was told a few hours later that the two of them had died - describing the moment she found out as "like a ton of bricks just fell on me".
"He was not going to leave his son behind, no matter what", she added. It comes after investigators said they are considering an array of possible origins for the huge fires that have killed at least 10 people and destroyed thousands of homes and businesses in the Los Angeles area. The multiple individual fires have burned more than 10,000 homes and other structures since they began on Tuesday around a densely populated, 25-mile area north of downtown Los Angeles. No cause has been identified for the largest of the fires.
