An elderly Los Angeles woman said, “I’m fine, I’m calm” to a friend who tried to rescue her from her home shortly before she was killed in the Los Angeles fires.
Kimberly Winiecki, 77, tragically died in her Altadena home after it was engulfed in the Eaton Fire.
Her close friend Jeannette McMahon told CNN that she had just seen Winiecki the day before the Eaton fire broke out on January 7, with no idea of the chaos the fires would cause in the coming week.
“We were good friends,” she said. “Monday night we had dinner, well, what we didn’t know was going to be our farewell dinner.”
McMahon said that as the fires quickly spread to their homes, she tried to help Winiecki evacuate, but her friend wasn’t concerned enough to flee.
“The wind picked up on Tuesday and around 8 p.m. I could see the fire from my house, so I texted Kim and said, ‘Kim, I need to come pick you up,’” she recalled.
In their final texts, McMahon said her friend assured her she was calm about the situation.
After being unable to reach her friend the next day, Winiecki’s brother said officials informed him she was among the 24 people who have lost their lives so far in the devastating fires.
Kimberly Winiecki, 77, tragically died last week at her home in Altadena, California in the Eaton Fire after texting her best friend that she was ‘fine and calm’
Winiecki’s home was destroyed in the Eaton Fire, one of six major wildfires in the Los Angeles area that killed at least 24 people and burned more than 12,000 buildings in the past week.
A search and rescue officer seen searching through the rubble in Altadena, California after the Eaton Fire destroyed the city
Officials said after the death toll rose to 24 in recent days, they expect the actual toll to continue to rise as firefighters struggle to access scorched areas of Los Angeles.
Winiecki’s close friends said she was not among those who evacuated during the early days of the wildfires, which spread at unprecedented speed due to drought-like conditions and high winds.
McMahon remembered her friend as a “very intelligent woman” who was “so sensitive and expressive.”
“She was a writer and it was a pleasure to be with her. It was so nice to be around her,” she remembers.
She said they have met at least twice a week for the past 20 years and have enjoyed “a lot of parties” together.
“Dinners and gatherings and Kim was part of that.
“She didn’t like to be in pictures, but she always enjoyed taking pictures of our gatherings and table settings and sending them to her sister. I will miss her insight and wit.’
High winds that quickly spread the fires through the Los Angeles area prompted the National Weather Service to issue an unprecedented fourth “extremely hazardous situation” wind warning on Tuesday.
Winiecki’s friend Jeanneatte McMahon (right) said she was devastated by the loss of her close friend of 20 years, who she described as a “very intelligent woman” who was “so sensitive and expressive.”
Experts warn that drought-like conditions and high winds have created the perfect conditions for wildfires to break out and spread quickly
On Tuesday, officials issued an unprecedented fourth “extremely dangerous situation” fire warning as high winds will hit the fire-ravaged area of Los Angeles.
The NWS said wind gusts of more than 75 miles per hour were forecast, with the warnings taking effect at 4 a.m. Tuesday and lasting until noon Wednesday.
Much of the area around Malibu, Ventura and the Pacific Palisades is under the new warning, where at least 24 people have died and more than 12,000 buildings have been destroyed by multiple fires.
Meteorologists warn that unusual drought-like conditions have turned the city into a potential flashpoint as strong winds pick up.
The last significant rainfall in downtown Los Angeles occurred in May 2024, and only 0.16 inches of rain has fallen since Oct. 1 — compared to a historical average of 5.34 inches by then, the LA Times reports.
Climatologist Bill Patzert told the newspaper that “the past nine months have been among the driest in recorded history dating back to 1900. In my career, I have never seen the severe events in Santa Ana so overwhelming the normal winter rainy season.”
As officials search for a cause of the fires, speculation continues about several alleged arsonists accused of deliberately setting the fires.
After a homeless illegal immigrant was picked up and arrested at gunpoint last week, new footage from DailyMail.com captured the moment another alleged arsonist was stopped by locals.
New photos from the scene show investigators descended on the popular Temescal Ridge hiking spot as the potential source of the deadly Pacific Palisades fire
Large parts of Los Angeles have been lost to the fires. Experts predict it could cost more than $150 billion and take a decade to rebuild the city.
A video filmed by author Paul Haddad showed local residents confronting the man in a plaid shirt who lit a pile of dead leaves and twigs in a built-up area next to the LA River in the eastern part of the Los Feliz neighborhood.
They held his arms behind his back and pushed him to the ground as they waited for police to arrive on the scene near the Kenneth Fire, which has since been brought under control.
A witness later said the suspect was “very focused on moving the gas burner.” The suspect told FOX 11: ‘I can’t stop. I can’t stop. I’m not putting this down. I’m doing this.’
Renata Grinshpun also recalled how the community “really worked together as a group.” She told KTLA, “A few gentlemen surrounded him and put him on his knees. They got some zip ties and some rope and we were able to make a citizen’s arrest.”
As the investigation continues, the source of the largest of the fires, the Palisades Fire, may have been followed by New Year’s Eve fireworks on a popular hiking trail.
A portion of the Temescal Ridge trail near Via Las Palmas and Via La Costa in LA’s Palisades-Highland community was cordoned off with crime scene tape Monday evening.
The tape appeared to surround a burn scar, KTLA reported. Fireworks are illegal in LA, but Pacific Palisades teenagers are feared to have caused the first small fire by setting off fireworks on the route a week before the fire broke out on January 7.
Drought-like conditions and high winds mean that although the initial fire was extinguished, it may have smoldered for six days before reigniting, investigators now believe, according to sources at the San Francisco Chronicle.
“There has been no final determination at this time that arson occurred,” said LAPD Asst. Chief Dominic Choi told the outlet. “But we’re looking from every angle.”