Weeks before the biggest break of Rockton native Lucas Passmore’s career, he and his wife, Summer, have lost virtually everything they own in the wildfires that continue to ravage California.
Passmore, 45, is a writer who has written screenplays for “The Walking Dead,” and “Teen Wolf,” and wrote the Ambie-award nominated fiction podcast “Last Known Position.”
His big Hollywood break “Love Hurts,” starring Academy Award winners Ke Huy Quan (Short Round from Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom) and Ariana DeBose premieres Feb. 7 in theaters everywhere.
But what will be the highlight of the Hononegah High School graduate’s career so far, feels overshadowed by the tragic fires that have left thousands homeless.
“There was nothing firefighters could have done in that moment to stop it,” Passmore said during a phone interview. “We were experiencing tornado-level winds, 80 miles an hour that were throwing embers in all directions. It wasn’t just a directional wind blowing, east or west or north or south. It was throwing embers around like grenade shrapnel.”
Fire swept over a ridge without warning last week, destroying their house and devastating their neighborhood in Altadena Township, near Pasadena.
Passmore and his wife were relaxing on the couch when his wife’s sister called to ask if they were safe. Sure enough when Passmore looked outside, he could see fire coming toward them in the distance. They had just enough time to throw some clothes in bags, grab a few belongings and pack up their three dogs in their Honda CRV. As they began to drive to safety, swirling winds sent burning embers falling like rain all around them.
Known as the Eaton Fire — one of several wildfires burning in drought-plagued southern California buffeted by Santa Ana winds — it has already burned more than 14,000 acres and continues to threaten more than 28,000 structures.
When Passmore returned a couple days later despite warnings from police it was unsafe, a few cement-block walls were all that remained of their house. A small raven statue was the only thing that survived the fire.
“It was an inferno,” Passmore said. “Everything like the wrought iron framing and legs of of our furniture like the kitchen table melted and bent. Everything was just ash. There’s a picture I took of my own boots, which I had just got for Christmas, and they were brand new. The boots were covered in ash, and I realized that ash covering my boots was my living room.”
Since the fire, Passmore, his wife have been staying in the guest bedroom his sister and brother in law 60 miles away in Ventura.
“They have taken us in with without any hesitation or any questions,” Passmore said. “They gave us their extra bedroom and opened up their lives. Alexandra, my sister-in-law, she’s been cooking for us, providing us with everything we need. So we couldn’t be more fortunate. And there’s hundreds, if not thousands, of people who are not as fortunate as me to have a warm bed at night. People are staying on cots in the Pasadena Convention Center.”
A GoFundMe established to help the Passmores restart their lives had garnered $70,113 as of Wednesday afternoon from 491 donors.
The show of support has been overwhelming, Passmore said. He was moved when a woman who he never met from his sister’s prayer group in Atlanta, Georgia sent him a note saying she was praying for his family and along with a Chick-Fil-A gift card.
Passmore said he will be paying forward the kindness he has been shown through this ordeal the rest of his life.
“That is the absolute most beautiful thing,” Passmore said. “Through this tragedy, this bright, bright silver lining is being shown personally and experiencing personally the humanity, the grace and the compassion from friends, family and complete strangers.”
Jeff Kolkey writes about government, economic development and other issues for the Rockford Register Star. He can be reached at (815) 987-1374, via email at jkolkey@rrstar.com and on X @jeffkolkey.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Screenwriter from Rockton loses home to California wildfire