On the night of Jan. 7, 2025, 16 Pasadena bus drivers did something they were never asked to do: drive toward the raging flames of the Eaton Fire to rescue some 500 people.
The drivers from Pasadena Transit, including Nicole Ambriz and Garrett Wright, were ending their shift when they realized patients and staff at four health care centers needed a way out.
As they realized the fire was rapidly spreading, the drivers hopped back on their vehicles and drove toward the fire.
“It’s just crazy. I can’t put in words everything that happened a year ago,” Ambriz said while recalling the moments of chaos and panic.
As first responders were stretched thin while trying to cover the large swatch of Altadena amid the inferno, they asked Pasadena Transit to send buses to help evacuate some 500 people from the health care facilities.
“A lot of them had the option to go home and be with their families, but a lot of the operators heeded the call,” said Juan Casillas, safety and training manager for Pasadena Transit.
Driving toward the nursing homes, the drivers said they were shocked to see typical residential neighborhoods engulfed in flames.
“One of the streets that we turned on, the bank was on fire to my right. To my left, a small shop was burning. Windows were being shattered,” Ambriz described.
Wright also said he witnessed the destructive impact of the Eaton Fire first-hand.
“I continue north. I see a couple of cars melted down. The chassis was all burnt up,” Wright recalled.
Once they arrived at the convalescent homes, hundreds of elderly people, many with disabilities, on stretchers, beds and walkers nearly broke their hearts, the drivers said.
“They were scared because they were evacuated. They didn’t know what was going on,” Casillas said.
After loading the patients safely onto the bus, Wright asked his elderly passengers to work with him.
“Make sure you guys hold on. Make sure the ladies are good, too, please, for me. I need help,” Wright said before driving the bus out of the fire zone, according to a video shot on the fateful day.
While some may call them heroes, all the drivers with whom NBC Los Angeles spoke had a humble response to their new title.
“Man, I feel like a regular guy, man,” Wright said.
Ambriz also said she didn’t drive toward the intense wildfire for the “hero” title.
“I did it out of the kindness of my heart. I would do it again in a heartbeat,” she said.
Want more insights? Join Working Title - our career elevating newsletter and get the future of work delivered weekly.
