David Esquivel saw the enormous raging flames of the historic Eaton -fire approaching at the end of his street and knew that the time had come to flee his comfortable house in Altadena.
At least 17 people were killed and thousands of houses and businesses were burned on the floor that turned the lives of countless families upside down.
While the destroyed community of California 14 miles north of the center of Los Angeles everywhere around him was destroyed in the midst of end world scenes, Esquivel jumped on his skateboard desperately looking for safety.
“I fled on my skateboard with all my luggage,” Esquivel, 36, told DailyMail.com. “I went downhill when I hit a crack and – boom – I wiped out at 20 miles per hour.”
Despite painful injuries, the caterer and musician were under the diaspora of shocked survivors of the fire who had started their way to the Red Cross -Nood shelter in nearby Pasadena.
The divorced father of one thought that his situation could not have been worse. Unfortunately, he was mistaken.
While he was waiting for a bus just a stone's throw from the shelter, he was attacked by two men who attacked him malignant and stole his backpack with his birth certificate, social security card and mobile phone.
Esquivel was in a wheelchair and knee brace – after he had been treated for his skateboard injuries – when the criminals approached and struck wildly.
“I was attacked at the bus stop,” he added. So I'm unlucky. '
David Esquivel was forced to flee his house while the furious forest fires approached his house in Altadena. The father of four thought his situation could not get worse, but he was mistaken
“One of them said,” Hey, give me your backpack. “I said no, this is my backpack,” Esquivel recalled.
“Then he kicked me in the head. I fell and he took the backpack. I came up again, I tried to get it back and he kicked me back in the head and I fell again. '
The attack took place on the corner of Los Robles Avenue and Walnut Street in Pasadena, a stone's throw from the rescue shelter.
“He was a young child, about 23,” Esquivel added. 'Long, like about six feet – 185 pounds, long legs. He knew how to kick. I could see that he was a hunter because he was aiming for my head. '
Esquivel reported the brutal incident to the police. “I doubt they can catch them,” he said.
He slept on a bed, together with the other destroyed victims who had destroyed their houses.
“I live in a hiding place with 400 people and it's crazy,” he said.
“It's hectic. There are women, children, dogs and cats. I just try to survive. '
He said he had caught Norovirus after he had moved to the shelter. “I was my pants and vomiting for three days.”
There was also misery for Esquivel who added: “When I evacuated the looters, the house invaded and stole everything, including my guitar.”
Now the shelter is about to make way for the 56th NAACP image prices that will be broadcast live on 22 February from Civic Auditorium in the Pasadena Convention Center.
The site is also prepared for America's Got Talent Auditions, originally planned for January 12, but now from 10 March.
Authorities said that 17 people are known to have died in last month's Eaton Fire.
Esquivel remembered that they racing to escape the deadly flames when they shot the block next to where he rented a room in a house and then tumbled from his skateboard.
“I hurt my right knee, right shoulder and my left hand,” he told DailyMail.com.
Esquivel was attacked at a bus stop close to the shelter for victims of natural fires in Pasadena. They have stolen his birth certificate, card for social security and telephone
Esquivel reported the brutal incident to the police. “I doubt they can catch them,” he told DailyMail.com. He has stayed in the shelter last month
Esquivel added that looters focused on his house and his portable grill of $ 3,000 stable
At least 17 people were killed and thousands of houses and companies were burned to land in the fire that turned the lives of countless families upside down
“I evacuated. I didn't know where to go. They just told us that we had to leave. I lost my skateboard and my guitar. '
He said looters stolen his $ 3,000 portable grill from his house. “They took all my equipment,” he added. “They must have had a cart and load it into a truck.”
The Red Cross, which led the hiding place in the Pasadena Convention Center, gave him a new mobile phone.
The organization told him that the shelter will soon move to an alternative location in Altadena, but that it has found him an apartment in Rancho Cucamonga, 35 miles west of Pasadena.
“They said we will move in a week, but they will continue to tell us different things so that I don't know what to believe,” Esquivel said.
His son, Rio, 10, is currently staying in Pasadena with his ex-wife. The school of the young person in Altadena – Odyssey Charter School – was destroyed by the Eaton Fire and so he now attends lessons in nearby La Cañada.
Employees with Gofundme helped him to set up a website, “but I don't have any donations yet,” he told DailyMail.com.
Despite the tension of the harsh challenges in recent weeks, he was still able to express hope for the future and said, “I do better.”
