“Chocolate, the fire’s coming … I’ll call you back.”
Those were among the last words Anthony Mitchell V, 28, heard from his grandfather, who nicknamed him “Chocolate Red” because of his chocolate hue and how he turned “almost red” while crying as a baby.
Anthony Mitchell III’s last phone call to his grandson came around 2 p.m. Japan time Jan. 8 — 9 p.m. West Coast time Jan. 7 — as the Eaton fire closed in on the longtime Mitchell family home in Altadena.
Called Anthony Mitchell Sr. by family members, Mitchell III, 68, and his son, 35-year-old Justin Mitchell, are among at least 25 confirmed fatalities in the Eaton and Palisades fires that devastated Southern California this month.
“My grandfather, he was always sweet, caring,” Mitchell V, an Air Force servicemember stationed in Japan, said in a telephone interview. “He would always take care of everybody in the family. He was like the center. He brought everybody together.”
Mitchell Sr., who used a wheelchair after losing a leg to diabetes, and Justin Mitchell, who had cerebral palsy, died awaiting rescue, according to published reports.
Mitchell Sr. had four children — Justin, Jordan, Anthony IV and Hajime White of Arkansas.
White told The New York Times and Washington Post she spoke with her father by phone Jan. 8 as the flames headed toward their home, which bordered the Angeles National Forest.
According to the Times, the Mitchells’ address “is one of several that emergency dispatchers discussed as they deployed crews in the early hours of the fire. … They were among several people who had called saying they were trapped.”
Mitchell Sr. lived with Jordan, who took care of his father and Justin. Jordan was hospitalized with sepsis and not home when the fire started, according to published reports.
Mitchell Sr. would not have left Justin behind, Mitchell IV told the Times. “We were his legacy,” he was quoted as saying. “We were his diamonds.”
According to Mitchell V, his grandfather was born in 1956 in Pensacola, Florida.
The Times reported Mitchell Sr. “worked in sales at Radio Shack and then studied to become a respiratory therapist. But the work was sad. Many of his patients, including children and older people, died. He quit and went back to sales.”
Mitchell Sr. was known for his skills at the barbecue and was often recruited to cook for a crowd, the Times reported.
Mitchell V remembers holidays and summers spent with his siblings at his grandfather’s Terrace Street home, which had been in the family for generations.
“My grandfather was like, ‘I just got some bikes you guys can ride around. You guys can travel around the neighborhood’ and we would do that,” Mitchell V said.
“We made friends with kids in the local area and it was just nice. Just being there in the atmosphere of my grandfather’s house made me feel safe.”
Mitchell Sr.’s wife “would bake cookies for the neighborhood and she would always bake me my favorite cookies … and blueberry muffins,” Mitchell V added. “Once she passed … I know my grandpa, he was hurt and sad. That was the love of his life.”
Although she grew up in Arkansas, White told the Times her father always kept in touch.
“‘He would call me a lot of times, and he would ask me, ‘Baby, what do you want for Christmas?’ ” White recalled. “He would sometimes start in June and July.”
White told the Times her father “would ask around about what the latest trends were. Big boxes of presents would then show up on White’s doorstep, filled with the latest fashionable clothes and in-demand items, such as Air Jordan shoes, Reeboks and, once, a keyboard.”
Mitchell V, who has not been able to go home as much as he’d like because he is stationed in Japan, said he spoke “a lot” with his grandfather by phone.
“My grandfather, he would always tell me stories about himself growing up,” Mitchell V said. “He would tell me how he was always proud of his family.
“The thing that stuck with me the most — he’d always tell me when you walk out that door, you don’t represent just you, you represent your family. And it was really true. You really do represent your family when you walk out that door.”
The Post reported Mitchell Sr. had 11 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. White told the Post her father “had nicknames for everybody: Strawberry Shortcake, Marshmallow, Bug. He just went on and on.”
According to NPR, White said her father “would help Justin practice reading and speaking by looking over the newspaper together. ‘When he’d get the newspaper, Justin had a certain part in the paper that he had to read too,’ she said.”
Mitchell V said his uncle Justin, a paraplegic, was always smiling. “He would love being on a computer, playing games (and) reading,” he said.
According to the Times, Justin Mitchell was an avid reader, “particularly books ordered from Amazon. Whenever someone asked if he wanted a present, he answered simply, ‘Amazon.’ ”
According to NPR, Mitchell IV, who is Mitchell V’s father, talked with his father about 2025 plans that included a Fourth of July barbecue and a possible trip to Japan to visit Mitchell V.
“We were setting everything up to have a big ol’ family get together,” Mitchell IV was quoted as saying.
Mitchell V, who has a son named Anthony Mitchell VI, said he plans to visit his family “as much as I can,” He said he spoke with his uncle Jordan, who told him: “We shouldn’t let this tragedy stop us from being together.”
“I want to continue those traditions,” Mitchell V said. “I want to be able, when I do have my own grandkids, I want to continue the nicknames and stuff like that.”