After the Palisades and Eaton fires destroyed homes and buried countless family heirlooms and personal mementos deep under ash and rubble, a Southern California man has been volunteering his time to dig up memories and family treasures for the wildfire survivors.
On his hands and knees, Jaspar Randall has been conducting his painstaking work, sifting through the rubble of other people’s lives.
“It’s not easy,” Randall told NBC Los Angeles as he dug and shoveled at an Altadena property. “Digging through the remains of someone’s life – 50 years of a home and memories. That centers you real quick. It’s very humbling.”
But his meticulous work has led to remarkable and priceless discoveries, including 4-carat diamond rings, gold necklaces as well as (with Southern California being in the center of the entertainment industry) Writer’s Guild Awards and People’s Choice Awards trophies.
“The one homeowner forgot they even had their grandmother’s 4-carat diamond ring until I pulled it out. I was like, is this real?” Randall recalled.
Randall, a composer and vocal contractor in film and TV, has volunteered his time to anyone who lost a home in the Palisades or Eaton Fires. He said the downturn of industry work was the reason he had time to look for wildfire survivors’ treasures.
“Anything I could do to try to bring some kind of light in their life,” he said.
Carmen Apodaca, who lost everything in the Eaton Fire, is one of the beneficiaries of Randall’s generosity. She would have spent 50 years at the Altadena House in 2025, but after the fire, he didn’t know where or how to start looking for things that are trapped under the rubble.
“When he offered, I thought it was another blessing my way,” Apocada said.
Almost right away, Randall unearthed treasures and precious gems, which may have come from a ring or earring, at Apodaca’s property.
While Randall did not always find valuables after spending hours digging, he said he’s reminded that it’s very really about finding things but maybe finding the kindness of a stranger.
“It’s not about whether I know them or not. It’s just the pure humanity of it,” he said.
Randall added that helping wildfire survivors find the strength to start again is worth the process.
“For them, it is healing. It is closure. It’s allowing them to process – far more than any one item,
Randall explained.
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