PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A woman born and raised in Mount Oliver says she's lost everything to the wildfire in Altadena, a suburb of Los Angeles.
From her daughter's school burning down to all her belongings going up in flames, Julie Lattner said the Eaton fire scorching Altadena is one people need to hear about.
"My whole life was Pittsburgh," said Lattner. But she left for California because she got a job in Los Angeles and made a home with her husband and child in Altadena.
"Just above Pasadena is just the most beautiful little mountain town," Lattner said through tears.
But when the Eaton fire spread, everything changed.
"We were not told to evacuate. For our part it happened so fast, that there were no warnings," she said.
She said the only reason she left when she did was because she went outside, went to the end of her driveway and saw that "the whole mountain was on fire."
The flames fueled a speedy evacuation.
"I've never grabbed things so fast in my life," she said.
Cellphone video showed her neighborhood in flames, and Lattner said lives were lost. She said she found out about one neighbor losing their life first.
"He was dead holding his hose. He was an elderly man that everybody knew and loved. So, we're just really grateful we have everything that can't be replaced," he said.
Then she found out more neighbors died too.
"I had seen him and his son out quite a bit in our library, in our neighborhood. He had called for an ambulance because he was an amputee and his son had cerebral palsy. And he couldn't safely evacuate him, and he probably could've got himself out, but he couldn't leave his son, and they both didn't make it. And I just can't imagine what that must be like," Lattner said.
She described their homes in Altadena as sitting ducks.
"We didn't stand a chance. All of the resources were in the Palisades, so there was no one there to help us, and we had no water. And everyone that tried to save it, I'm just watching the trickles come out of their hose," said Lattner.
She said she feels like there's negligence in LA County, but she feels no lack of attention from people in her hometown.
"My friends, my Pittsburghers are coming. It's mostly my Pittsburgh people and that is so beautiful. You know, people I went to kindergarten with, people I worked with at Page's -- Page's Dairy Mart, that was my first job," said Lattner.
Her friends, neighbors and people who are strangers have donated to help her and her family get back on their feet. It's her second family in Pittsburgh that's coming through with donations and support.
"Those are the people; you know the blue-collared people helping the other people," said Lattner.
The help is felt with gratitude, and it fuels her goal to build a home again, in another community she loves.
"To see everyone that lost everything still trying to help people and do what they can is really lovely and it's community and it's what we had there. That's why it's so heartbreaking to lose it," said Lattner.
Luckily Lattner said she was renting, but there are no rentals available and there's nowhere to go right now, and on top of that, there's price gouging. However, she intends to go back to Altadena and help neighbors by using her work skills and providing free custom cabinets.