ALTADENA, Calif. — Among the rubble and debris that had overtaken the space where an Altadena home once stood, firefighters were able to find a tiny symbol of family and love that meant the world to the Desantis family.
Firefighters discovered the wedding band that belongs to Victoria Desantis, whose home burned down in the Eaton Fire. Desantis, who lived in Altadena for the last 18 years, accidentally left her wedding ring and band behind during the evacuation order.
“I took off all of my rings because it was so dry,” Desantis said. “I just kept putting hand lotion on and my rings were starting to slide off and I thought, ‘I don’t need to look for that if the power goes off. I’ll just set it by the front door with my keys so I can grab it on the way out.’”
Sadly, during the chaos of evacuating as flames inched closer to her neighborhood, she did not grab her rings on the way out. Desantis said she asked firefighters if they could help her find her wedding rings.
“They’re just like hands and knees digging through the ash, and one of the guys says, ‘I found a ring, but it’s not gold,’ and I said, ‘Oh my God, that’s my wedding band,’” Desantis said. “I could not for the life of me believe that this little tiny thing was found amongst ashes and debris.”
The Altadena resident said her family is still searching for her mom’s wedding ring, which she says is still in the rubble.
She said that finding the wedding band was a symbol of her family.
“It’s our love,” Desantis said. “We lost everything. But we have each other.”
