Jeff Ridgway, a 67-year-old janitor, refused to evacuate his Pacific Palisades apartment complex during the devastating wildfires. He bravely defended his building with garden hoses and buckets of water, becoming a symbol of resilience amidst the destruction. Despite the devastation surrounding him, he remains determined to help his building and its tenants recover from this tragedy.
Jeff Ridgway walks his dog Abby amidst the charred remains of Pacific Palisades, seemingly untouched by the devastation around him. Unlike tens of thousands who fled the wildfires, this 67-year-old janitor refused to evacuate. For a week, he has been holed up in his home, defending it with garden hoses and buckets of water.
'It was just a war,' Ridgway told AFP, gesturing towards a blackened eucalyptus tree he managed to save from the flames, just before the apartment building where he lives and works. 'But I was just stubborn. I was like: 'I'm not going to be defeated by you. I'm sorry, this is just not gonna happen.'' After nearly 35 years living in the complex, Ridgway was determined to protect its 18 apartments from the raging inferno. 'I just felt like I had a certain responsibility, both to my home and my stuff, but to their stuff,' he said, referring to the building's tenants.Pacific Palisades and neighboring Altadena are sealed off by police and military roadblocks, even to residents trying to return. Ridgway remains camped out in his apartment, surrounded by the desolation outside his windows. The building's tenants, who evacuated, have been sending him supplies – bottled water, food, even fresh socks and chicken jerky for Abby. 'She's very happy with her food now. And if she's happy, then I'm pretty happy,' he said, smiling at his spaniel.'I need to get a shower,' admitted Ridgway, his tweed top and jeans covered in soot. 'I've started calling her 'Smudge,' because she's gotten so dirty.' This is not Ridgway's first time facing challenging conditions. He fondly recalls several camping trips to Yosemite National Park. For him, these hills overlooking the Pacific Ocean are more than just a haven for celebrities like Anthony Hopkins, a former 'honorary mayor' of the community. It's also home to the Getty Villa, an ancient Roman-style mansion housing a vast collection of classical antiquities, and the iconic studio of famed designers Charles and Ray Eames. A short distance from Ridgway's apartment, a mall with ornate facades dating back to 1924 now stands as a ruin. 'Ours is probably one of the older buildings in town now,' sighed Ridgway, looking out at the destruction from his 1950s residence.Last year, Pacific Palisades hosted a massive festival drawing tens of thousands of people, with parachutists descending onto Sunset Boulevard. Ridgway is confident his neighborhood will rise from the ashes, becoming a paradise once more, for the same reasons he fell in love with it in the first place. 'Each of these lots without a house is still a one or two million dollar lot. It's definitely going to come back,' he said. 'At the end of the day, we still have the mountains right there, we have the ocean right there, and mostly we have a blue sky and good air quality. That's what will bring people back.
CALIFORNIA WILDFIRE PACIFIC PALISADES JANITOR EVACUATION RESILIENCE APARTMENT COMPLEX DESTRUCTION RECOVERY
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