Crescenta Valley High grad helps out a fellow Falcon who lost her home in the Sand fire

Amy Hoag Jahnke lost nearly everything when a fire burned down her home more than a decade ago near Glendora.

She’s found that the loss is unforgettable, even as the years have passed.

“You never forget that loss. You really don’t,” she said. “There’s certain things you can never get back, never replace.”

When a mutual friend, Natalia LoCicero, recently shared online that Crescenta Valley High School graduate Briana Hingston, whom Hoag Jahnke did not personally know, lost her home in the Sand fire, Hoag Jahnke leapt into action.

Hoag Jahnke and Hingston graduated several years apart from Crescenta Valley High — Hoag Jahnke in 1992, and Hingston in 1999, but the two share mutual friends.

Hoag Jahnke shared LoCicero’s post on a La Crescenta Facebook page and wrote, “They literally have nothing. So let’s rally together and help a Falcon out.”

Later, on the phone Thursday, Hoag Jahnke said, “It was a perfect opportunity for me to pay it forward. I know the hardest thing is asking for help. You’re almost embarrassed asking for help.”

When Hingston fled her home with her boyfriend, Hoag Jahnke said, “They literally ran from the flames,” with nothing more than the clothes they were wearing, his wallet, her purse and their laptops.

“They drove through flames on the way out,” Hoag Jahnke said.

The home was one of nearly 20 destroyed by the Sand fire.

Hoag Jahnke suggested local residents donate gift cards to restaurants, gas stations or stores, including Target and Walmart, recalling that when she lost her own belongings, friends supported her by donating gift cards.

She found comfort in purchasing the toothpaste brand she regularly used, or items such as pillows and underwear.

“Everything’s that’s yours is gone,” she said. “You desperately want something that’s your own again.”

Since Monday, many local residents have dropped by Hoag Jahnke’s house with gift cards, furniture, clothing or cash, and she planned to deliver the items to Hingston on Friday afternoon.

She will continue to collect any donations.

“I’m just so proud of our community,” Hoag Jahnke said. “People don’t know me, and people don’t know her, and they have just jumped in to help.”