Man helping fire survivors heal by sharing stories about their burned cars

Man documents burned cars from LA fires

A man in Altadena has spent the past year documenting the burned up cars from the LA fires. He's now on a mission to help his community heal.

ALTADENA, Calif. - The LA wildfires destroyed thousands of cars. Many were much more than just a means of transportation. 

Dave Stone has spent the past year documenting every burned car he's come across. 

What they're saying:

"I said 'what if I could also tell the stories of the owners' and bring something to the community to help people remember what happened up here?" said Stone. "I needed to round out those really heavy images of the cars with the owners and the story and their passion and love for that car behind it."

That's exactly what he's done on his Instagram page. 

"Not EV" referring to how the EPA marked gas-powered cars after the fire. 

"I took the tag that the EPA put on all the cars and I made it ours. I wanted to take ownership back of the fire," said Stone. 

He's found art in the scars the flames left behind.

He's also created a community through a weekly car club that meets once a week. It's called Altadena Cars and Coffee. 

Stone has also raised money to help replace some of the cars lost. 

"The next project is Hippo, whose car is behind me, he lost his 1972 Datsun 510. It's a 4-door automatic, it's going to be a tough one to find," said Stone.

This week's Altadena Cars and Coffee meetup will be a fundraiser for Hippo at 749 E. Altadena Drive, in the old Rite Aid parking lot, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.