Community Rallies Around Pasadena Bookstore Owner After He Loses His Home in L.A. Fires (Exclusive)

The Book Alley owner tells PEOPLE about what it's meant to receive support from people near and far after losing his home in the Eaton Fire

GoFundMe Tom Rogers smiles inside Book Alley

GoFundMe

Tom Rogers smiles inside Book Alley
  • Tom Rogers has been the owner of Book Alley in Pasadena for about 20 years

  • The bookstore served as a safe place for Rogers and his neighbors to congregate when the Eaton Fire forced them all to evacuate their homes

  • The Rogers family is overwhelmed by the support for the bookstore as they figure out the road forward after losing their home

A small business owner in Pasadena is feeling big love from his community after being one of countless people impacted by the wildfires in Los Angeles.

Tom Rogers, owner of Pasadena's Book Alley, is looking at starting over after losing his Altadena home in the fires.

Of his community, Rogers tells PEOPLE, "It's a funky little community. Most of the shops up there are mom-and-pop. It's a diverse neighborhood and families who have lived there going back generations, that sort of thing. It was a lovely, special place."

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Rogers first became aware of the fires by chance, after one of his two sons who was home from college for the holidays spotted flames in a nearby hillside.

"My son just happened to look out the front window in the front door and saw flames on the hillside, not far from us, and called my attention to it. And of course, we had that big wind storm, so we knew a fire would be pretty bad," he says.

"I just ran outside and my next-door neighbor came out the same time and said, 'Are we evacuating?' And I said, 'I think we better be prepared.' We all kind of pack stuff and I think everyone was gone within 20 minutes."

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Related: Nurse Who Raced to Flee the L.A. Fires Thought Her Home Was Spared, Then She Saw What Was Left (Exclusive)

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In the rush to leave, things became chaotic. Traffic was "bumper to bumper," but Rogers was still thinking about his neighbors in this time of crisis.

"I made sure to check on my neighbor, who has live-in care around the clock, to make sure they knew and get them out and on their way. The rest of the neighbors were taking care of themselves. Everyone just got into their car," he recalls.

"We actually agreed to meet here at my bookstore, and a couple of our neighbors did the same. So we sheltered here for a while until we all found proper accommodations in hotels for the night."

David McNew/Getty Aerial view of Altadena, where many homes were destroyed by the Eaton Fire

David McNew/Getty

Aerial view of Altadena, where many homes were destroyed by the Eaton Fire

Since the fires, Rogers and his family have relied on extended family as they review their options.

"We stayed a couple of nights in a hotel and then my wife has a sister up in Thousand Oaks, about an hour north. We stayed a few days with them. Our boys stayed down with them a few more days. My wife and I have been in a motel," he explains.

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It wasn't until days into the Eaton Fire that he was able to get updates on his home, which is in an area that's been closed off by the National Guard.

"I did see ... some pictures that officials took of the properties. My house is completely level. Not even the chimney appears to be standing, but the garage behind the house is fine and the things I planted are still right next to it," he shares.

"Some of the houses on our street appear to have survived. It's just one of those weird things."

Justin Sullivan/Getty Street view of home and cars that have been destroyed in the Eaton Fire

Justin Sullivan/Getty

Street view of home and cars that have been destroyed in the Eaton Fire

After hearing about the Rogers home, the community he has served for the last two decades decided to give back to him.

"I'm not the most savvy person with online social media. I don't do any posting. My employees do [so] on behalf of the store, so I did know we had an Instagram. A couple of my employees set up a GoFundMe for me, which was embarrassing but they basically told me I didn't have a choice," he explains.

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"That has been tremendous, beyond my wildest dreams what's happening there. I also got interviewed by a local radio station, which got posted online. They tell me a couple of people have shared the GoFundMe, like Kacey Musgraves and Bella Hadid."

As the GoFundMe continues to pick up traction, the Rogers family is focused on serving their communities and figuring out the next steps.

"We're all going to an Airbnb ... to stay for a couple of weeks. We'll be reunited with the family dog. My wife is a school teacher in Glendale, so she's back to work and I've been here at the store," Rogers shares.

"The wonderful thing about this is I didn't realize how important this bookstore was to people. The outpouring of support, it's just been wonderful. People started ordering books from us through our website. We used to get half a dozen orders a week through that website," he continues.

"Yesterday, we got almost 80 orders and some people ordering 10, 15 books and attaching messages. One person in Hawaii ordered an $18 book and said, 'Hope this helps in some small way. Aloha from Hawaii.' "

Rogers says he's put his heart into running Book Alley and to see that poured back into him and his family has been "very touching."

"I've been running the store, owning it for 20 years. I work seven days a week, sometimes for long stretches without pay to keep it going. My wife is equally touched. She's broken down into tears a couple of times. I kind of had my head down, didn't realize that it meant something to people. So that's very nice to know. All this has been for something, for the community."

Rogers also hopes that Book Alley may help some folks replace some of what they've lost.

"I feel sorry for everyone involved. I've been a collector, so I had almost 60 years worth of collecting LPs and as a book guy, I had some really lovely books in my home that are gone, including one that belonged to James Thurber with two photographs that came out of his personal family album," he shares.

"So I'm sorry I lost Mr. Thurber's pictures and whatnot, but I know a lot of other people have lost even more than we did. Of course, there's been a lot of loss of life up there too. I feel kind of lucky. In some ways, it's a way of starting fresh," he shares.

That fresh start is still uncertain as Rogers navigates the insurance process, which he credits his wife with digging into.

"Fortunately, my wife is a very organized person where I'm not. She's all over this. My understanding is we're in the Airbnb for the next couple of weeks and then she's thinking from the insurance that we'll be able to rent a house for a little while."

As for long-term, "We haven't made a decision about whether or not we're going to rebuild, which I do very much want to do. We don't know how far insurance will stretch in making that possible. And we're also a little shell-shocked about living in a place that can burn like this. But we're learning about modular homes and who knows, maybe there is some way we can stay. I certainly would like to be able to be part of rebuilding Altadena. It's kind of like being a pioneer in a way, I guess."

Rogers wants those who have heard his story and contributed in any way to know how grateful he is for their support.

"I just want to keep it going as long as I can, I think bookstores are important for every community," he says. "Once upon a time, Pasadena had 20 bookstores, and now you can count them on one hand, And I think with the exception of Romans, which has been in business 125 years, we're the second longest-standing bookstore here in town. I'd like to see my store get to 125, or hope that it does."

Read the original article on People