Kevin Devine was last seen outside his Boston Street Apartments complex in Altadena on January 7, hours after the Mortal Eaton fire was lit. The weeks went by without saying their destination.
The county's forensic doctor confirmed that Devine, 54, died in that fire. His remains were discovered on April 2 In the 900 block of Boston Street, one block east of Lake Avenue.
He is the 18th person known for having died in Eaton's fire, and the only victim who perishes East of Lake Avenue. Devine was identified on the forensic doctor's website on April 22.
A substitute actor and teacher, Devine, spoke on the night of January 7 to his worried mother in Michigan, who called after seeing fire reports in Los Angeles.
“I said: 'Kevin, you have to leave,” said Margaret Devine to Times in January. “He said: 'I'm fine, mom.'”
The owner of Devine saw him in his car outside the apartment complex around 9 pm, approximately three hours after the fire exploded on a hillside on Eaton Canyon Wash. It was his last informed sighting.
While emergency teams combed the carbonized streets of Altadena in the following days, Devine was not anywhere. There were no signs of his car. His family called hospitals and evacuation shelters. They He started talking about him last time.
On April 2, a special operations team from the Forensic Doctor's office responded to a report of possible human remains found in the block where it was last seen. The office has since confirmed that It belonged to Devinewho died of burns and smoke inhalation.
It is known that thirty people died in the fires of Palisades and Eaton, which together destroyed more than 16,000 homes in Los Angeles County in early January. All have been publicly identified, but one, a person whose remains were found in the Lomas Avenue in Pacific Palisades.
Reporter Noah Goldberg contributed to this report.
