For an entire year, Darlene Hamilton's days began before dawn with a ritual born of love and loss. The 66-year-old would wake at 4:30am and, in the morning darkness of her rental home in Altadena, scour websites of local humane societies and lost animal groups. Her mission was singular: to find her two beloved cats, Merlyn and Kiki, who vanished when a ferocious wildfire consumed her home.
A Community and a Home Consumed by Flames
The disaster struck on a windy evening in January 2025. A life-threatening windstorm, forecast by the National Weather Service, fuelled multiple blazes across southern California. The Eaton fire in the nearby San Gabriel Mountains sent flames racing towards Altadena, a town of 43,000 where Hamilton had lived with her NASA-employed husband since 2012.
Despite believing their home in the middle of town was safe, the fire moved with terrifying speed. Hamilton recalled hearing a loud crackle, then seeing a golden light as her neighbour's bamboo stand ignited. In the ensuing chaos, she managed to get Merlyn, a 17lb Maine Coon, into a carrier, but he broke free as she searched for the shy Calico, Kiki. With smoke filling the house and strangers helping her evacuate, she was forced to flee, leaving the doors open as a final hope for her pets' escape.
The couple returned the next day to find their green Altadena home completely gone. The dragon fruit plants, a lifetime's collection of Christmas ornaments, and countless personal treasures were ash. Most painfully, there was no sign of Merlyn or Kiki.
The Unrelenting Year-Long Search
Hamilton made a silent promise to her feline companions: she would search for them for a year and a day. She immediately hung posters around the devastated area and called every rescue centre she could find, learning that some animals had been transported far from the fire zone. She installed cameras, set out food and water, and enlisted friends across the state to check local shelters.
"I was out there every single day," Hamilton said. The community rallied, with drivers even taking flyers to distribute further afield. She was sustained by stories from others who had been reunited with pets months after a disaster. Even a potential lead sent her driving into the valley to check on a cat that might have been Merlyn.
Volunteer groups later helped the couple sift through the rubble of their home. In highly destructive fires, animal remains are often recoverable, but they found no trace of Merlyn or Kiki.
Life One Year On: A Promise Fulfilled, Hope Endures
A year later, Hamilton and her husband have returned to Altadena, living in a rental in an untouched neighbourhood. The pain has softened, but reminders are everywhere—from avoiding pet food aisles to seeing pets on Zoom calls.
As the private deadline of her promise passed, Hamilton prepared to step back from the intensive search. "I promised my babies," she stated. "I imagine I'll still always kind of look." During the holidays, they hung posters along the famed Christmas Tree Lane, where thousands might see the faces of the missing cats.
Hamilton now clings to the hope that someone might have taken them in. "At this point even if somebody said, 'well, he's a beloved family member now,' I'd rather know he's alive," she said. While she wishes they could see her new, temporary home and the surviving roses on her old property, her thoughts often turn to their possible trauma. "There's a lot of times I come to my new house and I think, 'oh, they would have liked it so much.' I wish they could have been here."
