What this volunteer has found in charred wreckage of LA fires
CNN
When fire victims return to find nothing but charred wreckage, many assume their irreplaceable belongings perished. Jeff Levy sees a chance to surprise them.
When fire victims return home and find nothing but charred wreckage, many assume their irreplaceable belongings also perished. But Jeff Levy sees a chance to find their treasured keepsakes during their greatest time of need. Armed with metal detectors, a shovel, sifting screens and a 60-pound magnet, Levy has helped recover belongings for wildfire victims for more than 30 years – bringing tears of joy and shrieks of elation to despondent victims who have lost most everything else. “I want to do this just to help,” Levy said, taking a break from his search through “muddy ash” in the Pacific Palisades. “But I don’t want to take any money.” An antique toy dealer by trade, Levy has put his affinity for metal detecting to good use. Since the recent Southern California wildfires ravaged Los Angeles-area communities, Levy has saved an elderly man’s retirement stash; retrieved a couple’s diamond engagement ring; and salvaged a symbolic gold heirloom just in time for the Lunar New Year. Hours after the deadly Eaton Fire broke out, Mark Pastor’s cat woke him up at 2:30 a.m. He looked out the window to see a “firestorm” racing toward his house.
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