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

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

Around 8:30 p.m., a long-time Altadena neighbor informed Shaw about the fire. Shaw said he tried to get in touch with his father all night and the following morning but couldn’t.

He took his scheduled flight and landed at the Burbank airport at 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 Altadena home, but it was still blocked off because of the fire, Ian said. Though Ian tried many backroads for a few hours, they couldn’t get in. They ultimately gave up and Ian dropped him off at the Pasadena Convention Center, where evacuees were staying.

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

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

The next morning, Ian offered to drive Shaw in his SUV back up to Altadena to see if they could find a way to look at his home. The neighborhood was still blocked off when they arrived, but Shaw, Ian and Ian’s wife all decided to make the 3-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 – what Ian described as a bad omen.

Ian later discovered Shaw’s father’s remains, sparing Shaw from having to see them up close.

“I cried very dry and my friends (Gilian and his wife) tried to hold me,” cried Shaw. “I feel so grateful for Gilian and his wife, they spent a day and a half helping me … you can see the generosity of people.”

Shaw described his father, who was born in China, as a smart and talented person. Throughout Shaw’s entire education and career, he felt like he followed life lessons that his father taught him.