Palisades Family’s Side-by-Side Homes Destroyed by L.A. Fires: 'It's Devastating' (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Andrea Heindel’s family.Photo:Courtesy of Andrea Heindel

Courtesy of Andrea Heindel

“It’s such a special place,” says Heindel, 50.

Both homes were destroyed in the wildfires. All that remains is the chimney of the fireplace her father, a master mason, built.

“It’s devastating,” Heindel, 50, tells PEOPLE. “Devastating.”

Andrea Heindel and family.Courtesy of Andrea Heindel

Heindel’s parents, Michael Horusicky Sr., 79, and Jana Horusicky, 80, were Czech refugees who escaped the 1968 Soviet invasion of the former Czechoslovakia. Their first home was in a trailer park in Paradise Cove. Michael started a construction business in 1970, earning a reputation in the community.

“Everybody knows who my dad is,” Heindel says.

Her mother , Jana, worked as a lab technician at the VA Hospital in Westwood.

Andrea Heindel’s parents, Michael and Jana Horusicky.Courtesy of Andrea Heindel

“That’s my whole childhood – as well as my kids' – now gone,” Heindel tells PEOPLE.

Andrea Heindel’s family photos.Courtesy of Andrea Heindel

On Tuesday, Jan. 7, Heindel was in Hawaii for work as a national sales representative for the Bali-based clothing companyKhushwhen she saw news of the wildfires. Immediately, she called her parents and urged them to evacuate their Palisades home.

“I was like, “Get out of the house,” and they were being reluctant,” she says. “We’ve seen so many fires.”

Determined, Heindel stayed on the phone, begging her parents to take their two dogs, get in the car and leave.

“But they didn’t take their medications like I told them to,” she says.  “I think everybody thought that they were just going to be back that afternoon or the next day.”

Andrea Heindel’s home lost in L.A. fires.Courtesy of Andrea Heindel

She stayed on the phone until her parents reached the Santa Monica Pier.

“I was like, ‘Okay, they’re good. They’re safe,” she says.

Heindel’s parents then checked into a hotel in Marina Del Ray.

Her son Jakob’s friends visited the remains of their homes and sent pictures and videos to Heindel.

“They sent the most devastating but beautiful picture of my parents' house and mine devastated," she says. “All you see is the chimney and the fireplace. And that fireplace was the last fireplace my dad ever did as a mason. And he was determined to do it for us before his open-heart surgery. And then you see a giant sun behind it.”

While she is grateful her parents evacuated, they left behind important documents and even their medication.

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“My parents were lucky. We were happy that they left when they did. If they had left five minutes later, they would’ve been in that pile-up of cars,” she says. “We have nothing, so we’re hoping to go back to the debris and maybe find something.”

Heindel has lost everything she owns, including her engagement ring, which she had left at home.

Andrea Heindel’s family.Courtesy of Andrea Heindel

AGoFundMehas been set up to help the family.

“They’ve already been through Covid, so now we’re going to have to figure out where they go to school. What are they going to do? They’ve already said they don’t want to go back online,” she says. “We’re trying to figure that out.”

source: people.com