Elderly woman left behind in senior facility during Eaton Fire rescued by son

A man recalled the frightening moment he rushed to save his elderly mother before the Eaton Fire destroyed her senior living facility.

When the deadly fires ignited on Jan. 7, Dorothy Benesh, 96, was residing at The Terraces at Park Marino in Altadena.

Her son, Jim Benesh, lives nearby and said his worried mother called him after fire alarms went off in the facility. She was left alone in her room and was told someone would come back to retrieve her.

“She said, ‘Well, I’m supposed to stay here and they’re supposed to come back and get me,’” Jim recalled.

However, Jim said as time went by, it was clear no one was coming back for his mother.

His calls to the building’s main phone line went unanswered. As the wildfire continued growing, Jim grew increasingly concerned and knew he had to step in.

“I was just prompted that I needed to get over there and I did,” he said.

He quickly got into his car and began the dangerous drive over, maneuvering through heavy smoke that was obstructing his vision and the many roadblocks and fallen debris on the streets before arriving at the facility.

He made his way up to his mother’s room, with the only source of light emanating from the bright flames outside. Racing against the clock, Jim scrambled to his mother’s room and found her apartment door closed. When he opened the door, he was beyond relieved to find her inside.

“She was sitting on the couch with the fire outside,” Jim recalled. “I said, ‘Mom, we have to get out of here!’”

They made their way downstairs and safely exited the burning property. The building was eventually destroyed by the fire. 

Jim said when he asked facility workers why his mother was left behind, he was told, “They thought she was evacuated with everybody else.”

He said it was nearly three hours before the staff reached out to see whether his mother was with him. Jim believes stronger safety measures and protocols should be in place during emergencies at nursing homes and senior living facilities. 

“It was chaotic, I can understand that, but there should’ve been a way for them to check whether everyone was evacuated,” he said.

Following the incident, multiple investigations are now underway. The California Department of Social Services is investigating The Terraces at Park Marino case, along with the nearby Monte Cedro Senior Living facility, where two women were reportedly left behind and later rescued by sheriff’s deputies.

Adam Khalifa, president and chief executive of the Terraces at Park Marino, told The L.A. Times that although he doesn’t refute what happened to Dorothy Benesh, he said his staff followed the facility’s disaster plan.

He also told The Times that his staff members allegedly wanted to do a final sweep of the facility but were denied access by firefighters who claimed the building was successfully cleared.

Jim said he’s relieved his mother was rescued in time but still has many questions about how she could’ve been left behind during a deadly wildfire.

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