92-year-old woman trying to flee Eaton Fire on foot rescued by Altadena pastor and his granddaughter

By Joy Benedict, Dean Fioresi

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    Altadena (KCAL , KCBS) — An Altadena pastor and his granddaughter are recounting the moments that they sprung into action when they saw a 92-year-old woman fleeing from her home in the midst of the Eaton Fire — on foot.

Carlos Quintero and his granddaughter Ariana didn’t evacuate the night the devastating blaze erupted, instead staying home and waiting to hear official word on whether they had to leave.

“Usually they come and knock on the door, or they’ll go in the streets and say evacuate,” Ariana said. “That’s what he was waiting for, one of those. And it never came.”

Robi Cauley was just three blocks away from them. She also decided not to leave the home she’d lived in for 60 years.

“I decided I wasn’t going anywhere, I was gonna stay here and fight,” she said.

Both families woke early the next morning to the same eerie silence. They did not hear sirens, they did not hear the usual sounds of life around them.

They did, however, see a troubling glow in the sky.

“We looked out through the window and we saw the fire was really, very close to where we were,” Carlos said.

They left their home, driving to Iglesia Harvest Rock Church in Pasadena, where Quintero is a pastor. At the same time, Cauley was making tea.

“I still kept sittin’, hoping this fire is not gonna hit my house, cause I’ve been here too long,” she said. “So I decided to stay.”

Despite being safe inside of the church, the Quinteros felt like they couldn’t stay put for too long. They left, heading back into the midst of the fire zone.

“He just kept going up, and up, and up and slower, and slower,” Ariana said. “Even one time he took his phone out to take a picture. I said, ‘Can you please drive? This is not the Rose Parade!'”

Around that same time, Cauley finally realized that it was time to leave.

“The house next door was on fire, my car was on fire,” she recalled. “That told me then I’d better get out of here. So I got my cane and started walking down the street.”

Despite being surrounded by fire on all sides, homes and cars burning just across the street, she kept walking.

“I just kept walking,” she said.

That’s when the Quinteros spotted her, holding just her cane and a phone book. Some cell phone footage showed the moments they helped her into the back of their car.

“If they hadn’t have stopped and saw me in the middle of the street, raising the cane, they never would have stopped,” Cauley said.

They helped her call her family and took her to a nearby shelter, and now, their stories are intertwined forever.

“I was committed to save my property and all that, but God had other plans for her and also for us,” Carlos said.

“That’s what you call trust in the man upstairs,” Cauley had to say in response.

Though both families lost their homes that night, they’re on the road to recovery in different fashions. Cauley now lives out of state with her daughter, while the Quinteros plan to stay put and rebuild.

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