The Pacific Palisades family whose valuable keepsakes were saved by firefighters as flames ripped through the community last January reflected on the year that’s passed since the blaze.

The Biren family lost all but some photo albums and a cherished grandfather clock that were saved by firefighters during the Palisades Fire. The brush fire destroyed the family’s home but thanks to the fire crews who pulled keepsakes from their burning house, they still have those sentimental items.

Firefighters battling the wildfire in Pacific Palisades removed photo albums and keepsakes from a burning home. Karma Dickerson reports for the NBC4 News at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025.

“I thought it was just unbelievably incredible that the firefighters were thoughtful enough to take the few things that they could get, which were in the living room, in the dining room, and a little bit in a den,” said Matt Biren.

On Jan. 7, 2025, firefighters were seen pulling out the treasured items from the Biren family’s home on Lachman Lane.

“Just trying to save some photos,” one of the firefighters said at the time. The crew that acted on the kind gesture in the face of disaster came from Fire Station 37 in Westwood.

“We weren’t the generation, the digital generation where most of our photos were on iPhones or in the Cloud,” Adam Biren, Matt’s son, said. “And knowing that our photos were being saved was something to at least have some hope.”

Matt Biren and his wife rushed out of their home amid evacuation orders three hours before the firefighters’ selfless act. He said he was listening to NBC4’s reports when he realized their family’s home was to subject of focus.

“I heard you on the radio while I was driving, saying, there’s a fireman taking a grandfather clock out of the house and I just instinctively, and I knew,” Matt told NBC4’s Karma Dickerson, who captured the firefighters’ touching moment on video.

Embers reached some of the saved keepsakes, singeing some photographs and damaging the grandfather clock. The family has since relocated to Calabasas and restored the clock, which will include a sweet tribute to the brave individuals who saved it.

“We’re going to put a picture of the firemen carrying out right next to it,” Matt said.