On January 7, just hours after the fatal Eaton fire broke out, Kevin Devine was last spotted outside his Altadena apartment building on Boston Street. His fate was unknown for weeks.
Devine, 54, perished in that fire, according to confirmation from the county medical examiner’s office. One block east of Lake Avenue, in the 900 block of Boston Street, his remains were found on April 2.
He is the sole victim to die east of Lake Avenue and the 18th person confirmed to have perished in the Eaton fire. On April 22, Devine was listed on the Medical Examiner’s website.
On the evening of January 7, Devine, an actor and substitute teacher, talked to his anxious mother in Michigan, who had called after learning of fires in Los Angeles.
In January, Margaret Devine told The Times, “I told you to get out, Kevin.” I’m fine, Mom, he said.
California
Numerous 911 call logs show that police knew the Eaton fire was expanding in west Altadena well before the evacuation order was issued.
About three hours after the fire on the slope above Eaton Canyon Wash started, at around nine o’clock at night, Devine’s landlord spotted him in his car outside the apartment complex. It was the last time he was seen.
In the days that followed, Devine was nowhere to be seen as rescuers searched Altadena’s burned streets. His car was nowhere to be seen. His family made calls to evacuation shelters and hospitals. They started using the past tense while discussing him.
A report of potential human remains discovered on the street where he was last seen prompted a response from the medical examiner’s office special operations team on April 2. Since then, the office has verified that they were Devine’s, who passed away from burns and smoke inhalation.
In early January, the Palisades and Eaton fires combined to damage almost 16,000 residences in Los Angeles County, with 30 confirmed deaths. With the exception of one, whose bones were discovered near Las Lomas Avenue in Pacific Palisades, all have been made public.
This report was contributed to by reporter Noah Goldberg.
