In a region where geography and recreational pursuits can expand far out of sight and away into real rugged and sometimes dangerous wilderness terrain, an all-volunteer, nonprofit group of area residents has served as a priceless safety net for almost 75 years.

The Altadena Mountain Rescue Team, which partners with the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department, continues its mission to not only locate and rescue lost hikers, but to help serve various emergency calls in the region as the needs arise.

And on Jan. 7, the need arose in an epic way: The Eaton fire.

“Our bread-and-butter is to do search and rescue, save lives in the wilderness, and to do education on wilderness safety,” explained David Chien, team leader. But with the fire, he said, “Our role was basically everything. I think when the fire first started we were doing evacuations, we were blocking roads, we were receiving calls to go help elderly people.”

With the 911 emergency system overwhelmed, AMRT members took every call they could to lend a hand.

“We were doing everything,” Chien said. “We were detaining suspected looters as part of the sheriff’s department function. We evacuated the station … Some people stopped and put out fires of homes. I mean, just everything.”

Because the 32 rescuers in the squad are all local residents, their work was tempered by worries about their own homes and loved ones.

“You’re doing your job but at the same time you’re wondering if your house is still there, so that plays into the back of your mind,” Chien said.

Three team members that lost their homes.

Nick Dechant, who has worked with the AMRT for three years, grew up in Altadena.

“It was incredibly powerful to see everything ablaze that night,” he said. “It was such a gift to feel that I was part of the solution rather than a victim of circumstance. It was one of those things where I looked back at my life and was proud of the decisions I’d made so that I could be there and help out.”

“911 was getting a lot of calls and we were able to help with a lot of that,” he said. “Obviously the system was overwhelmed. No system’s made for something that big. To be able to help out and fill those gaps was really a great thing.”

Dechant, a nurse by trade, is also an outdoor enthusiast.

“Working with this team … kind of puts those two things together,” he said. “I love bringing medicine to people who are away from home.”

Joining the team starts with a sincere love of the outdoors, coupled with a readiness to commit many hours to training.

“L.A. County has a strict guideline of skills that you need to learn to become a full member,” said Alexia Joens, who joined 22 years ago.

Members must be at least 20-1/2 years old, have a high school diploma or equivalency, and be ready to participate in a six-month EMT training program. Candidates must also enter the Sheriff’s academy and be trained as reserves, after which AMRT members will continue ongoing training for 240 hours per year.

“I get to learn a lot of amazing skills, meet a lot of amazing people, so it’s been really rewarding,” Joens said, explaining that a sedentary office job she holds during the day makes activities with the AMRT an excellent counter.

“It’s been great,” she said. “I get to give back to the community. I have been able to find kids and return them to their loved ones. I’ve been able to locate folks who have unfortunately passed away and bring them back to their loved ones to at least have closure.”

“It’s hard to put into words what the last 22 years, let alone the last two months, have been for us,” Joens said. “Being on this team, especially last month, it’s amazing to see how everybody comes together and works to help the community.”

Founded in 1951, the AMRT is constantly on call. Housed at the sheriff department’s Altadena station, on average it conducts around 100 search and rescue operations each year, even participating in others around the country and in Mexico.

Chuck Rozner has been a member of the team for 48 years, first learning skills in Boy Scouts and later expanding on his interests in backpacking, mountaineering and rock climbing.

“You’re doing something that you like as a hobby and you’re translating that into helping people,” he said, noting how the technology has changed over the years but the mission has not.

“It’s great when you’re out there and you’re yelling and you hear someone yell back, and you can help them and they’re in tough situations and you can make it easier for them,” he said. “Unfortunately, sometimes we don’t find people, which is really hard.”

Rozner shared about the heartbreak of a 23-year-old hiker named Jacob Manders, who died in November, 2024, in the mountains. “We started in the middle of the night,” Rozner said. “We searched the area and we found him early in the morning, deceased.”

Rozner was in close contact with his family in New Jersey, who despite the tragedy, remain appreciative that the AMRT was at least able to put closure on the situation by finding Manders.

Masha Zann joined the AMRT eight months ago, wanting to give something back to her adopted community.

“I moved to Altadena about four years ago,” she said. “It’s been a pretty special place and I wanted to be more involved, I guess, and help people.”

The week of the fire, she said, was surreal and all blends together.

“Just, like, seeing the devastation and how everything happened so quickly was pretty crazy to see, and Altadena being home and seeing the amount of loss, I think that’s what stands out,” Zann said. “Even just driving through it now, it’s very hard to see.”

At the same time, she said, she was impressed by how supportive of one another people were in the days following the fire.

“Everyone was trying to be there for each other, even though everyone was experiencing some degree of loss,” she said. “I think that was pretty incredible to see. It really reinforced why I love Altadena and being a part of this community.”

Chien said the AMRT is also looking for people who care deeply about their community and want to give their all to its aid.

“We recruit for that type of person, who wants to be there for those types of events,” he said.

“These guys put it all on the line for strangers.”

Jarret Liotta is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and photographer.