The last time Shaw Zhao spoke to his 84-year-old father, Zhi Feng Zhao, was around noon on January 7, he told CNN.

Shaw lives primarily in Portland, Oregon, but his father lived alone in their shared home in Altadena, California – an area devastated by the Eaton Fire.

Shaw, 54, was planning to fly to Altadena the next day for reasons unrelated to the fire, and his father called him on Jan. 7 to confirm his flight time and ask what he was doing wanted to eat the next day.

Around 8:30 p.m., a longtime Altadena neighbor notified Shaw of the fire. Shaw said he tried to contact his father all night and the next morning but was unable to.

He took his commercial flight and landed at Burbank Airport around 7 a.m

When his Lyft driver, Gilian “Ian” Villatoro, picked him up, Shaw explained the situation.

Ian tried to drive Shaw to his home in Altadena, but it was still cordoned off because of the fire, Ian said. Despite Ian trying many back roads for a few hours, he was unable to get in. They finally gave up and Ian dropped him off at the Pasadena Convention Center, where evacuees were being housed.

“I went through thousands of beds twice. I couldn’t find him,” Shaw said. “My heart sank. I know something terrible could have happened.”

They stayed in touch that night as the situation hit close to home for Ian, who unexpectedly lost his mother to a heart attack in October.

The next morning, Ian offered to drive Shaw back to Altadena in his SUV to see if they could find a way to look at his house. When they arrived, the neighborhood was still cordoned off, but Shaw, Ian, and Ian’s wife all decided to make the three-mile trek through the rubble to try to find the house using Google Maps.

When they finally found Shaw’s home of 20 years, it was destroyed. They saw a coyote in the yard – which Ian said was a bad omen.

Ian later discovered Shaw’s father’s remains, so Shaw didn’t have to see them up close.

“I was crying very dry and my friends (Gilian and his wife) were trying to hold me,” Shaw cried. “I am so grateful to Gilian and his wife, they helped me for a day and a half… you can see people’s generosity.”

Shaw described his Chinese-born father as a smart and talented person. Throughout his education and career, Shaw felt that he was following the life lessons his father taught him.