California wildfire: Musician, caretaker shares message of resilience after losing home to Palisades Fire
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LOS ANGELES — A musician and caretaker in California is sharing a message of hope after losing his home to the Palisades Fire.

“I’m grateful for the blessings that I have,” Chad Comey told ABC News. “I might have lost my residence, but I haven’t lost my resilience. It’s really about the daily victories that we have in progress and mindset.”

LIVE BLOG: Latest updates on devastating California wildfires

Comey narrowly escaped the blaze with his parents.

“With the help of my neighbor Riley and my dad, we carried my mom down five flights of stairs into the subterranean garage,” he said. “And right as we drove out of the garage, a bush outside our building was on fire.”

The musician shared that both parents have disabilities and don’t have homeowners insurance.

“We don’t have homeowners insurance, we don’t have wildfire insurance, we don’t have anything,” he said. “My parents lived off their Social Security income. Their monthly Social Security checks went to paying for the homeowner’s association fees and, you know, daily subsistence.”

Despite the devastation, Comey told ABC News that he’s focused on moving forward and preserving his tight-knit community.

“I might have lost my musical equipment, but I’m still equipped to make music,” he said. “It’s how we think about these things that gives me hope for tomorrow.”

He went on to say, “I know that, you know, the Palisades will persevere. We’re [a] very tight knit community, all of us. We’re going to be getting through it together and navigating, you know, FEMA efforts. You know, how we rebuild the next phases of urban planning. All of that is an exciting discussion to be part of. And I’m feeling motivated to take those on with with my whole community, with our whole community.”

Take a look at the latest stories and videos on the devastating Southern California wildfires here.

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