On Thursday, he stepped over charred debris where his kitchen once stood in Altadena, a tight-knit neighbourhood of north-eastern Los Angeles.
About three blocks away, on Devirian Place, where his girlfriend lived, some neighbours tried to fend off the roaring flames that would consume their homes with garden hoses.
As those on Las Flores Drive evacuated, Daron's neighbours a few blocks away tried to fight the flames.
We really tried," Hipolito said.
Outside his girlfriend's home - which Larry and Hipolito tried to save - he takes videos and chats with their families before calling Sachi to describe the state of her home.

Los Angeles fires: How one street in LA went up in flames