Mother-and-daughter McHenry natives lose homes, all their belongings in Los Angeles fires: ‘Happy we are safe’

Riley Golz brought only the clothes she’d need for the night and her dog with her to a hotel after the power went out Tuesday in her Altadena, California, home.

On Wednesday, Golz found herself running to that home as flames engulfed houses all around her, racing to save the cat she’d left behind.

Golz and her mother, Jevonne Williams, live less than a mile from each other in Altadena, an unincorporated area just north of Pasadena – or, rather, they did live there, as the two McHenry natives on Wednesday both lost their homes and all of their possessions in one of the wildfires raging through the Los Angeles area.

“I am OK. I am just happy that we are safe,” Golz said Thursday from the hotel room she now shares with her mother. Her friends also are safe, but many have lost homes that have been in their families for generations. “It is all gone.”

Williams owned the Jevonne Riley Salon on McHenry’s Green Street before moving to California 11 years ago. Now she co-owns Sixteen Thirty Six, a salon in the Venice Beach area of Los Angeles. Golz also is a stylist at the salon.

Williams was at the salonTuesday, watching as smoke from the Palisades fire west of Los Angeles wafted overhead. She’d gotten alerts on her phone, but said none of them indicated her neighborhood near Pasadena was under an evacuation order. She closed up the shop at the end of the day and drove the 30 miles home.

“I love my family in Illinois but this is my home. I want to continue to help everybody rebuild our city.”

—  Riley Golz, who lost her home Wednesday in California's Eaton Fire

“Driving home was scary. The winds were up to 100 mph; trees were coming down,” Williams said. She saw that in the Eaton Canyon, the area that Altadena backs up to, a new fire had started.

Williams wasn’t in an evacuation area, but said could see orange in the sky and smell the smoke.

Because Golz already had left for a hotel and her house was farther away from the fire, Williams decided to pack a bag and go to her daughter’s house, whether or not it had power.

Williams said she laid down for a couple of hours, waking up to the smell of smoke. The sky was orange, but none of the neighbors were evacuating, and she still was not aware of any mandatory evacuations. But at 3:30 a.m. Wednesday, she decided to leave, heading the to the parking lot of her gym and waiting in her car until the gym opened. The cat, however, hid and Williams was unable to bring it with her.

When her daughter called later, she said she was going to get the cat.

“Her whole street was in flames. Her house was not on fire yet, but the rest of the street was burning to the ground,” Williams said.

Golz said that as she ran through the burning neighborhood, “there was so much black smoke, and ash got in my eyes. Luckily, I made it out with my cat, but not with a toothbrush or even underwear.”

Williams has not been able to go back to her house yet, but has also been told the entire area burned.

Back in Illinois, her uncle, Bill Andersen, set up a GoFundMe, Help Riley and Jevonne After Devastating Altadena Fire loss, to assist his niece and her mother in rebuilding their lives.

“We have a good relationship with Riley and she has a good relationship with her cousins,” Andersen said, adding, “it is just them out there” with most of their family in the McHenry County area.

Stories are hitting the news about celebrities losing their homes and mansions burning to the ground, but Golz and Williams are evidence that it is also average, working residents who are also losing everything in the fires, Andersen said. “It is not just $10 million homes. More people are suffering who are just ... average.” he said.

The funds will help them cover the cost of staying in a hotel and buy what they may need until they can find new housing, Andersen said.

The mother and daughter have a place to stay if they are ready to move home, though, Andersen said, but that isn’t what they want to do.

“I want to stay here. I want to help my community and rebuild Altadena. I love my family in Illinois but this is my home. I want to continue to help everybody rebuild our city,” Golz said.

Although the Eaton Fire has burned thousands of acres and an as-yet unknown number of homes, they are grateful.

“God is good,” Williams said, her voice choking up. “He spared so many lives. There are five people in our community who lost their lives. I keep my faith in God.”

• The Associated Press contributed to this story.