Altadena taco vendor recalls narrow escape from Eaton Fire

LOS ANGELES - Omar De Anda will never forget that day in January when Altadena exploded in fire. 

He regularly parks his truck Tacos 210 on Ventura Blvd. and Fair Oaks Ave. The night the Eaton Fire started, he sent his crew home early and De Anda stayed nearby at his cousin's. 

"At 4 in the morning, I remember seeing the embers and the smoke just shooting through the window. And my cousin's like ‘we have to go’ and that's when we decided to get out," De Anda told FOX 11's Susan Hirasuna. 

As the fire spread, he realized he had to go back for his truck or risk losing his business. 

"The palm trees were on fire. The house over there was on fire, these houses were on fire. I barely saved my truck."

He saved his truck but couldn't save something else that to this day breaks his heart. 

"That's when I saw those poor little animals, the coyotes, the dogs. It was like a bunch of them, like more than 10, behind that fence. And when I saw them, they're literally like telling me, get me out of here."

He drove his truck away from the fire, but to go back he had to get past the road blocks. He and his cousin trudged through the cemetery, but as embers continued to rain down around them, the animals could not be saved. 

"When I went to touch that fence to see if I could knock it. It was so hot and my cousin was like, we have to go. Let's just go," De Anda explained. 

Before he left, something else grabbed his attention. 

"Everything was pitch black and as we're driving down there's this old lady just walking down completely out of it and I see her like go up and down and that's when I stop and I tell my cousin ‘look I think she needs help’ and that's when we grabbed her and we took her to the church down there. It was really intense that morning."

The backstory:

Omar was seven when his family immigrated to the U.S. from Guanajuato, Mexico. His mom had a popular cart selling tamales and, as a boy, Omar was right there helping. 

By the age of 18, he was successfully managing a catering company. Then, right before the pandemic, he launched his own business, Tacos 210.     

Local perspective:

After the Eaton Fire, De Anda considered selling his truck, but a simple act of kindness brought him worldwide attention. As Altadena was still smoldering, he gave away his burritos to help.

Video went viral of him helping first responders and that eventually led to a contract with World Central Kitchen. For nearly four months, he fed first responders and fire refugees. Then in May, he made a decision many questioned. He reopened Tacos 210, parking about a half block from where the taco truck nearly caught fire. 

"Everybody tells me, like, why don't you move the truck somewhere else? But you know what? This is my community. I grew up here. I have family here. Everybody has treated me so well. You know, I feel like I'm part of this community. Why leave?"