NORTH HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES (KABC) — A family who lost everything in the Eaton Fire was reunited with replicas of their late father’s treasured Los Angeles Fire Department memorabilia, all thanks to the Los Angeles Fireman’s Relief Association.
James Vitale and his wife lost their home in the blaze, along with all of the LAFD mementos belonging to his father, Joe Vitale, who served the department for nearly 20 years.
Joe Vitale worked as an auto fireman before becoming one of the department’s first fire jumpers after serving in World War II and the Korean War.
“The excitement was the saving of lives because he was on the ambulance, and then when Helitack came along, all of a sudden, here was an opportunity to use all his paratrooper training,” James said.
The presentation took place at Station 60 in North Hollywood, where Joe once served. In a moment that left the family emotional, firefighters presented James with a replica of his father’s helmet.
“For 40 years, it hung in my office, in my home, and I saw it and it reminded me of my dad, and the loss of that helmet was something that really affected me but more so the fire,” James said.
The association also recreated Joe’s badge, another deeply personal loss.
“It’s wonderful they were able to recreate his badge. He used to carry that around all the time,” said Michael Vitale, James’ brother.
“To see that badge… everything just came rushing back as you saw with the tears on my cheeks,” James added.
James said he looks forward to seeing the helmet on his wall again – a tribute to his father and the department he served.
“My heart is racing at the moment. It rarely does like this, but thank you so much for this,” he said.
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