Community leaders recognized for heroic rescues and sustained relief after Altadena disaster

The American Red Cross honored Pow Wow on Parade Foundation leaders Baltazar Fedalizo and Peter Roybal with the Certificate of Extraordinary Personal Action on September 17, spotlighting their courageous rescue of families during the January Eaton Fire. Two others, Kenneth Devine and Theodore Seavers, were also recognized for lifesaving action as the fire, among Altadena’s deadliest, took 19 lives and left hundreds displaced.

The ceremony, running from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., underscored the award’s legacy, created in 1928 to acknowledge untrained Good Samaritans who save lives during emergencies—even without Red Cross training.

“It isn’t the award or recognition, it is the ability to give when it counts, not when it’s convenient, people died that night according to the papers 19 and counting,” said Baltazar Fedalizo, co-founder of Pow Wow on Parade. Fedalizo, an Army/Navy veteran of Chiricahua Apache descent and 2017 Nobel Peace Prize nominee, awoke by habit at 2 a.m. and was summoned at 3 a.m. by Roybal to help evacuate neighborhoods. “Peter Roybal called me when he saw trouble coming at 3ish am, he said, I need your help bring your guys I need to move my family out from where they were at Calvere St., New York St. et al… meet me at Fair Oaks burger,” Fedalizo recounted. Working together, they navigated chaotic, smoke-filled streets, shuttling families to safety as official response faltered and cell service failed.

“Pete was transport and I was with my two guys pulling people out of the danger areas and placing them in his truck… I was in Panama during the take-over so I am used to running in chaotic environments,” Fedalizo explained. After rescue operations, they constructed an emergency shelter at Lincoln and Washington and used their experience to provide heat for displaced residents.

Eight months on, Pow Wow on Parade has pivoted from education to a critical relief role, now distributing 5,000 pounds of food weekly to fire survivors while providing referrals for housing, medical, and legal needs—remarkably, without receiving any Fire Aid funding. “Most of all we, PWOP, never received any Fire Aid money; it was the relationships, experience and kindness of others who made the difference that helped so many, brains not money,” Fedalizo said.

For more information, visit www.redcross.org.