Andrea Pasinetti was in San Francisco for work and his wife, Sixuan, was overseas when the Palisades Fire broke out on Tuesday, devastating neighborhood after neighborhood — including their own. Their dogsitter was stuck in the roads leading to their block, leaving the Pasinettis’ three dogs waiting at home as the flames began ravaging their street, Lachman Lane.
Bundled with anxiety and not knowing the fate of his beloved pets, Pasinetti said he jumped on a flight to Los Angeles, hoping to make it home in time to get Alma, Archie and Hugo out of danger.
“The flight into [Los Angeles] was definitely very, very hard because we just didn’t have any information,” he told CBS News from a hotel room.
Pasinetti’s friend picked him up with a car full of fire retardant materials and blankets, in case he would need them when rescuing the pets, and they sped over to the Palisades. But when they were about eight minutes out, Pasinetti said they struggled to find a way in with “cops at most intersections.”
“It’s this feeling of helplessness and devastation and also just the unknown,” he described. “Wanting to maintain hope, but also kind of bracing for the worst.”
While on the phone with his wife, Pasinetti said he determined there were two options they could move forward with — either he finds a way to the house, or someone else needs to. That’s when Sixuan saw CBS News’ Jonathan Vigliotti reporting from Palisades Charter High School, which was a short distance from their residence.
“We started wracking our brains to see if we knew anyone who might be able to get in touch with Jonathan, and we were tweeting at him and eventually we found a friend and sort of colleague of his, who was able to get a message through,” Pasinetti said.
That colleague was CBS News producer Christian Duran, and the two-man team decided to help, heading over to the house that was “on its last legs,” according to Pasinetti — despite the risk involved.
“We knew it was a tall order to extract all three dogs from the house,” he said. “Obviously, Jonathan didn’t have a key to the house, so I told him to break whatever window he could and he managed to get into the house.”
Alma, Archie and Hugo are rescue dogs, and as a result, “pre-wired with a lot of anxiety,” Pasinetti explained. The three of them were likely in separate areas of the house — with Alma right at the entrance and Hugo likely under a bed, he said, potentially making the rescue even more difficult.
“They managed to wrangle [Alma] somehow and I think they threw a blanket over her and kind of got her covered, then they proceeded to the second pup, Archie,” he said. “I imagine they had to lift the bed in the primary bedroom and extract Hugo.”
“The circumstance probably couldn’t have been any more dramatic. The house was surrounded by flames,” Pasinetti continued. “I think it burned down a few hours after he was able to get the pups.”
Pasinetti said he was almost in disbelief when he found out all three had been rescued from the house safely.
“I have never felt that mixture of joy and relief and exhaustion and despair and gratitude towards someone,” he said. “The generosity and kindness and risk that they put themselves through to get the dogs was really — I think it’s the best that humanity has to offer.”
The Pasinettis still have a long road ahead — picking up the pieces of a lost home, something they haven’t even had an opportunity to comprehend yet, he said. The Palisades Fire has destroyed nearly 23,000 acres and continues to burn with little containment.
Pasinetti added that the experience has reminded them about what’s important in life.
“I think we go through life accruing so much stuff and curating our belongings, but at the end of the day, it’s all stuff — and while it’s sad to lose, I think the possibility and prospect of losing something much more important, just put it into perspective,” he shared.
Pasinetti also emphasized he was grateful for the efforts that first responders and firefighters had been tirelessly putting in to save lives and homes. One firefighter even offered to take him to his home that night amidst the chaos, he said.
“I think all the plaudits and all the commentary on the firefighters and the first responders really, really is very much deserved and they put themselves in harm’s way to try to save what they could,” he said. “They were sort of in the line of fire, literally, for many hours and days often without water.”
