There's a question that I always get asked as a physical media collector. It's one that you think a bit about and laugh after you answer. "If there's a fire, what are you grabbing from your collection?" I owned over 2000 pieces of physical media (Blu-rays, 4K UHD, VHS, DVD, vinyl, CDs, books, video games) at one point. I lived in Altadena for over 13 years, cultivating this love affair with movies and physical media. I love movies. I love the feeling of holding something that you love and looking over it in your hands, whether that’s a movie, book, or something else.
So when the Eaton Fire started, I knew I might have to answer that question. The day leading up to the fire was filled with wind. I've been through wind in Los Angeles before, living in the foothills, but this felt different. I was on high alert, making sure that at least in the back of my mind, I'd be ready to go at a moment's notice. I had a movie screening for my day job as a film critic in Santa Monica and saw the Palisades Fire exploding on the hillside. When I saw that the Eaton Fire had started around 6:30 PM, I knew it was time to go home.
READY and SET
To be completely honest, my physical media collection wasn't really on my mind. The wind was blowing away from us, but that could change at any moment. I lived with my parents, and I wanted to make sure they were at least mentally prepared for the fact that we might have to leave. We had a fire that was "relatively" close in 2020 that prepared for this moment. In 2020, we were running around trying to figure out where important boxes of pictures were. This time, we had big red stickers that we'd placed on all the important boxes that needed to go out. Instinctively, I just grabbed these boxes and loaded them onto a hand cart by the cars.
That 2020 "near-miss" might have been the difference. You never fully think "my house is going to burn down," but it was always at the back of my mind. What if it did happen? What would I be most upset about not saving? Thankfully, the "Ready, Set, Go" system built for this situation helped us be ready. We got placed on "Set" around 7:00 PM, accelerating the process for getting important things packed away.
GO…j/k
There was a knock at the door. I was sure that it would be the fire department telling us to leave.
No, it wasn't.
It was my two best friends' (they’re twins) dad asking if we needed help. With the roaring monster of the Eaton Fire looming over us, there at least was some good left in the windy world in the form of a friend.
But then came the "Go" part of "Ready, Set, Go." Our phones alerted us that it was time to head out. The final preparations weren't made, and it took us a bit longer to get things to the car.
Then something strange happened. That "Go" turned back into "Set" again. The red maps of Firewatch turned back into a yellow hue.
I walked to the backyard of my house, where there was a room that housed my physical media collection. I had time to think a bit about what I can live without, but what would I take, in case the worst happened. The world of physical media is full of larger-than-life packaging, box sets that have newly commissioned art, and booklets full of essays and production trivia. It's a lot.
So what did I grab? I had to do what any collector dreads and limit myself. What pieces of physical media have made me the happiest over the years? Funny enough, a couple of weeks before this, I did a YouTube video about almost this exact topic. That made it a bit easier, so I grabbed these titles:
- Road House 4K from Vinegar Syndrome
- Halloween series box-set from Scream Factory
- The Warriors special edition box set from Imprint
- Friday the 13th collector's box-set from Scream Factory
- the Ghostbusters Ultimate Collection 4K box-set
- The Thing Blu-ray special edition from Arrow Video
Between those, a special edition box set of Iron Maiden's latest album, Senjutsu, and part of my Iron Maiden t-shirt collection (I wore Iron Maiden shirts for 65 days in a row without repeating one), that was really all I could fit.
GO (for real)
Queue up the loud alert noise on every phone in the neighborhood, and it was time for "Go" again.
My parents took the important pictures and documents in their car, and one of our three chihuahuas. I packed up my stuff in my car, and the other two dogs in their carriers. Where were we going to go? Remember my friend's dad who showed up to help us? He offered his house, complete with a guest house, a place that I had spent plenty of time at as a teenager. It was a safe space both mentally and physically.
The wind was howling as I drove down Lake Avenue, holding onto a chihuahua carrier with one hand and holding the wheel with the other. Lookie-loos had their phones out at the intersection of Lake Avenue and Altadena Drive, blocking traffic. Once we got to my friend’s house, it felt like a horror movie. The monster hadn't been defeated, but we were safe, right?
SET and GO again
With the wind howling louder than I have ever heard it, the power at our evacuation location went out. We were safe, there was no fire, but the power was out. I had a candle to keep me company in a big, dark house. I wanted to sleep, but I couldn't keep my eyes off my phone, waiting for that one post about "Wapello Street on fire" or something similar.
Sometime around 2 AM, every phone in the new neighborhood sounded at once. Our old friend "Set" was back. A border expanded from Altadena to the further foothill areas, and sure enough, “Go” was not far behind. We evacuated for the second time in one night. This time, we went to my sister’s house, which was over 2 hours away.
The 210 freeway out of Pasadena was covered in fog! Well, no, it wasn't actually fog. It was smoke from the fire billowing down the mountain. I have had some tense drives in my life, but this was the most tense I've ever been behind the wheel. While driving past Pasadena and the surrounding areas, I looked back in the rearview mirror every so often, trying to get a glimpse of the fire on the mountainside. The whole thing is a blur in my mind. I remember driving in the dark, but when we got to our second "safe space" of the night, the sun was already rising.
The Morning After
The morning of January 8th was one that I will never forget. I fell asleep on the couch, and my parents woke me up gently with the news. Everything was gone. From the Lake Avenue side of Wapello on down the street, even past our own home, everything was gone.
We decided to head back to the house and see what we could see. The drive back to Altadena was shocking. Trees and power lines were down, houses were completely gone. The famous Altadena Golf Course was on fire, and the drive up was harrowing. The small number of fire crews that were in the area were working to protect structures. Finally, we got to our street, and our lovely home in what I liked to call "The Green Place" from the Mad Max movies was gone.
My neighbor's house across the street was still engulfed in flames. I cannot imagine how hot it must have been with all the houses burning. The one thing I noticed was that the street and the native plants around were completely fine. This wasn't because the fire roared down the hill; this was because embers floated on the wind and into attics and other areas of the homes.
Sparkletts bottles left a couple of days before in the driveway were melted and fused together. The only things left standing were the triumphant tree in our front yard, surviving a windstorm AND embers, and the chimney of our house. Other parts of Altadena were still on fire - a gas station, the Aldi grocery store, the Altadena Hardware Store, and even a couple of schools - all still burning.
I had thought throughout the night that I could have stayed behind. Maybe if I stayed, armed with a garden hose, I could keep the flames at bay and keep my family home safe.
Nope. That would have been the most foolhardy thing I could have done. Getting out was the right idea.
Recovery
So, here we are a couple of months after, and while our home is no longer there, my family and I are safe. The question remains about rebuilding, and we'll have to get to that point when we get there. My physical media collection went from about 2000 titles to 6 overnight.
Out of the fires and flames comes another internal fire to rebuild better than before. For me, the thrill of physical media collecting is watching the movies, but it's also finding things in the wild, or the feeling you get when a new title comes in the mail.
It would be easy to say this has all been easy, but it hasn't. No one in my immediate family passed away. Everyone is safe, but the grief of losing a safe space, a place where you grew up, and the things you don't realize give you some happiness is something I'll be wrestling with for the rest of my life.
I'll still collect physical media going forward. My YouTube channel which was once just aimed at making videos about cool items, is now mainly focused on that journey going forward.
So if someone ever asks me, "What are the six things that you'll grab from your collection if there's a fire?" I finally have an answer.
Disclaimer: The content shared in our blog is for informational purposes only and should not be considered legal, medical, or financial advice. Please consult with a qualified professional for guidance specific to your situation.
