A pitmaster and dedicated father died alongside his son waiting for help in LA fire

Juliana Kim | January 13, 2025

A week before the California wildfires, Anthony Mitchell Sr. told his son Anthony Mitchell Jr. that what he treasured most in life was not money or possessions, but his family.

Those words have stayed with Anthony Jr. ever since he found out his father and younger brother Justin died in the Eaton fire last week. The blaze, which remains active, has become the deadliest fire in the outbreak. As of Monday, it had claimed at least 16 lives.

“He believed in family and I think that’s one of the reasons it cost him his life, because he wasn’t going to leave my younger brother,” Anthony Jr. told NPR.

On the morning of Jan. 8, Anthony Sr. called his son and other children to let them know he was waiting for assistance to evacuate himself and Justin. Anthony Sr. was an amputee while his son Justin had cerebral palsy. They both used wheelchairs, according Anthony Jr.

But after a few hours passed, Anthony Jr. said he received a call from another family member that his father and younger brother did not evacuate. Family members are still seeking more information about the events surrounding Anthony Sr. and Justin’s deaths.

The LA County Fire Department did not immediately respond to NPR’s request for additional information about the incident.

Anthony Jr. said he knows why his father stayed.

“Even though he had a missing leg, he did have a prosthetic. He could have got himself in the wheelchair and he could have rolled himself out the fire zone, but he wasn’t going to leave my brother,” he said. “There was no way my father was going to leave him. He wouldn’t leave any of his kids.”

Anthony Sr., who worked in sales, lived in the Altadena area for over two decades. He was a skilled pitmaster, able to smoke anything from fish to ribs. He loved cooking for others and hosting big gatherings at his home for his loved ones.

This resolve for his family was always apparent. Anthony Jr. said that even after his parents got divorced, his father went out of his way to be involved in his life. “ If he found out I was having problems at school, my dad would show up, meet the principal,” he said.

Hajime White, Anthony Sr.’s daughter, echoed that her father was a devoted parent. “He’d always tell me, ‘I’ll do anything for you,'” she told NPR. “He said, ‘You tell me to jump, I’m going to say, how high?'”

White also recalled that her father would help Justin practice reading and speaking by looking over the newspaper together.

“ When he’d get the newspaper, Justin had a certain part in the paper that he had to read too,” she said.

Recently, Anthony Jr. recalled talking with his father about all the exciting plans for the new year, including a potential trip to Japan to visit Anthony Jr.’s son and a barbecue for the Fourth of July.

“We were setting everything up to have a big ol’ family get together,” he said.

NPR’s Kira Wakeam contributed reporting.