A former BC Lions football player lost his childhood home in the devastating Los Angeles wildfires.
David Benfield grew up in Altadena, one of several communities reduced to ashes by wildfires that have been burning for more than a week.
“It’s a lot of memories,” Benfield told Global News.
“It was my entire childhood.”
A day after the Eaton Fire tore through the neighborhood, Benefield said the family went in to take a look at what was left of the neighborhood, which had been leveled.
“There’s nothing you can say….I mean, it was just that you’re looking at a lot of memories. It’s just gone.”
He said the family lost a lifetime of memories, including photos and artwork of his sister, his father’s photo album from his military service and palm trees outside that had been home to wild parrots for generations.
His parents and sister, with whom he lived, now reside with him in Orange County, Benefield said.
Get breaking national news
For news affecting Canada and around the world, sign up to get breaking news alerts delivered to you right as they happen.
“I try to do what I can just to make them feel more comfortable because this is a difficult time for a lot of seniors,” he said.
Benefield said the neighborhood where his parents live now has only a few remaining chimneys and some fruit trees.
“You’ll see 100-year-old fruit trees that are still able to survive, and the pomegranate tree is still standing with the pomegranates. It’s the weirdest, weirdest, saddest thing in the world.”
Benefield said the situation was surreal and something he never thought could happen.
“There was nothing but smoke,” he said. “There’s still ash floating in the air. You can see ash everywhere.”
Benefield started A.J GoFundMe for his parents To try to help them rebuild their lives.
&Copy 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
