Altadena resident returns to home destroyed by Eaton Fire
It’s a day News Channel 3 anchor Karen Devine said she won’t soon forget. Karen traveled to Altadena to meet up with a friend who lost her home in the Eaton Fire. A friend who made a last-minute decision that saved her life.
“I’ll be safer if I stay, I’ll be safer if I stay, I’ll be safer if I stay… and then I’m not sure what happened," said Kim Katner, reliving the horror of a day that will forever change her life. “I don’t know, I don’t remember, like nobody called, didn’t get an evacuation warning, never did, I didn’t get anything but something made me go from I’m safer here to I gotta go and I don’t know what.”
Heading to safety with two dogs, Kim snapped pics and took video of the looming fire. A blaze quickly tore through Eaton Canyon towards her neighborhood in Altadena.
Now, her home is ash and rubble. Nearly a month later, it was a tough day for Kim to return to what’s left of her home.
As a True Crime Television & Podcast Producer, Kim is used to telling other people’s stories, tragically, the spotlight is now on her.
"Somewhere between my range and my refrigerator, like in the cabinet above my refrigerator was my grandma’s silver, she had a lot of it, it was a heavy, heavy thing, I’m sure it all melted, is it in one big clump? I don’t know,” Kim said.
Looking at the property surrounded by massive mature trees now burnt to a crisp and what was the basement where the house basically collapsed into its tough to imagine what it looked like prior to the fire.
"My garage is straight ahead, that was my dad’s 1964 convertible Jaguar XKE, I got it when I was 10 I learned how to drive a stick in that car in San Francisco," Kim said.
There was a lot of loss in one day, but Kim did save some family photos and a cherished grandfather clock that was handed down through generations, she was showing it to me when something unexpectedly happened.
“It was the last thing I grabbed before I left… oh… my god… it’s the ghost of the clock… that’s so weird,” Kim said.
Shocking for Kim, the grandfather clock started ticking, she said she’s never seen it work before. Perhaps a good omen after so much devastation.
“Historically speaking the house is 100 years old, so if it’s survived a hundred years why is it going to go down on my watch?” Kim said.
Kim, now facing the tough decision of whether or not to rebuild. Something, at first, she couldn’t wrap her head around.
“It’s going to be a construction zone for the next decade, so like you lose your peace and quiet you’ve lost all the trees, you’ve lost a lot of nature, horribly lost a lot of nature,” Kim said.
But, now there is hope.
“Sitting here weeks later, I’m like, I can’t give up on this place,” Kim said.
Kim’s house was insured and now she’s just making sure she’s checked every box to get the help she needs and take the next steps. I expect Kim to face some challenges, that’s why myself and News Channel 3 is pledging to stay by her side, asking the tough questions when needed.
Working through roadblocks together, not just rebuilding homes but helping to rebuild lives.
