Who Are the Victims of the Los Angeles Fires?

Three of the people who died in the fires raging around Los Angeles lived within a few blocks of each other, in a close-knit neighborhood in the eastern portion of the county.

The area abutted Angeles National Forest, and local residents said many people had lived there for generations, handing down homes they bought decades ago and that they had meticulously kept up.

At least five people in total died across Los Angeles County, according to officials. On Thursday, the county sheriff, Robert G. Luna, said that officials were investigating neighborhoods where hundreds of homes burned, “hopefully not discover too many fatalities. That’s our prayer.”

“But this is a crisis, and we don’t know what to expect,” he added.

Here is what we know about the victims:

Victor Shaw

Victor Shaw’s tiled-roof house sat on Monterosa Drive, a cul-de-sac near the edge of the forest.

After the evacuation call went out late Tuesday night, one of Mr. Shaw’s neighbors, Willie Jackson, 81, packed his car, grabbing whatever belongings he could from the home where he had lived since the 1970s and left. So did other neighbors.

But not Mr. Shaw, 66, who had lived on Monterosa Drive beginning in childhood. He remained behind, doing what his father before him had always done — maintaining the family home.

“The house had a whole lot of significance for him,” said Mr. Jackson, a retired county employee. “His parents had always had it.”

Mr. Jackson moved to Monterosa Drive in the 1970s. When he got there, Mr. Shaw’s parents, Frank and Freddye Shaw, were already in the neighborhood. “In those days, the homes were costing $50,000,” Mr. Jackson said. “Now they’re over a million, $2 million.”

Mr. Jackson said Mr. Shaw’s father had taken meticulous care of the family’s home.

“He always kept his house up,” Mr. Jackson, recalling how he and the elder Mr. Shaw bonded over home maintenance. “He and I focused on maintaining our house. He’d be out there sweeping and cleaning up. I’d be out there too.”

When Mr. Shaw’s parents died, they left the home in a trust to him and his sister, Shari Shaw.

Mr. Shaw, who Mr. Jackson said never married, drove a bloodmobile and later made contract deliveries. “He was hard working,” Mr. Jackson said. “He was a great neighbor, always, like his father, working, maintaining the yard.”

Shari Shaw evacuated and her brother stayed, saying he was determined to protect the house, according to news reports. She could not be reached on Thursday.

Rodney Nickerson

Rodney Nickerson, 82, also died, according to his family. He lived on a street that was just a short walk from Mr. Jackson’s home, although it is unclear if they knew one another.

Mr. Nickerson came from a multigenerational California family, his son, Eric Nickerson, said. His grandfather founded Golden State Mutual Life, an insurance company. A public housing project in the southern Los Angeles neighborhood of Watts, Nickerson Gardens, was named for the grandfather.

Mr. Nickerson himself had retired as an aerospace engineer for Lockheed Martin and was an active deacon at his church, Eric Nickerson said, adding that his father “was an Angelenean from day one.”

“Everybody in that Pasadena Altadena community has been there for years — we’re talking, everybody knew everybody else,” he said. “Everyone bought their houses for $30 and $35,000 in the early ’70s, and now they’re worth millions. But now, they’re all gone.”

Erliene Kelley

Erliene Kelley, who lived a few blocks away from Mr. Shaw and Mr. Nickerson, died in her home, according to her family.

She was a retired pharmacy technician at Rite Aid and longtime resident of the neighborhood, according to Rita and Terry Pyburn, a couple who lived on her block.

“She was so, so, so sweet,” said Mr. Pyburn. He often had brief chats with Ms. Kelley about gardening and local news, and often left small Christmas gifts for her and other neighbors in the tight-knit community.

“She was an angel,” Mr. Pyburn said. “That’s the perfect neighbor. When you see her, you have a smile.”

Mr. Pyburn added that “unfortunately, there was not good communication” about the threat to life. He and his wife had initially heard on his car radio that “everything east of Lake Street was evacuated, and over here on the west side we were fine.”

“So we were in the house and just stayed there, thinking we were okay,” Mr. Pyburn said. “Until we started smelling smoke.” He and his wife prepared to leave, and then the emergency alert arrived.

“It was panic. Everyone took off and no one thought to check on anybody,” Mr. Pyburn said, adding, “I think the notice came too late.”

The search for other victims

The chief of the Los Angeles County Fire Department, Anthony Marrone, said “human remains detection teams” would be going house to house, searching for others who might have died in the Eaton fire. Earlier in the day, Mr. Luna said they might employ dogs to help.

Officials said at least one person died in the Palisades fire, on the other side of the county.

On Thursday afternoon, Mr. Jackson was driving back to Altadena to see what remained of the home that he, like Victor Shaw and his parents before him, had nurtured through the decades. “It’s very disturbing to lose everything,” he said.

On Thursday, fire was still smoldering in the rubble of the Shaw home. Four burned cars were in the driveway, and a garden hose was pulled out into the front yard.

A filing cabinet and chimney still stood, and a water heater billowed smoke. Collapsed drywall and melted piles littered the property with debris, some in piles as high as six feet.

The cul-de-sac where the house once stood had burned completely, as had much of the neighborhood. Just one house stood intact down the street.

“The fire that came through this canyon wiped out the entire Altadena community that’s been standing for 50, 60 years,” said Mr. Jackson. A retired Los Angeles County employee, he is now staying in a hotel and wondering what the future holds.

Alain Delaquérière and Kitty Bennett contributed research. Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs contributed reporting.