California Department of Fish and Wildlife
Tens of thousands of people were forced to evacuate their homes due to the devastating wildfires that swept through Southern California in January. That includes one man who returned to a house that thankfully emerged largely unscathed only to encounter an unexpected guest: the 525-pound bear lurking underneath it.
As you likely know by now, a terrifying scene unfolded in the area north of Los Angeles at the start of 2025 due to the string of wildfires that broke out in the region before consuming close to 40,000 acres and destroying more than 15,000 buildings that ended up in the path of the blazes fueled by the Santa Ana wins.
That includes the Eaton Fire that is still being contained by the emergency personnel who’ve spent weeks attempting to fully extinguish it, which primarily impacted the Altadena area; 17 people lost their lives, while nearly 4,500 homes were destroyed.
One man who evacuated his house in Altadena needed some help getting his power back online after he got the green light to return. However, he was informed there was going to be a slight delay after the workers who headed into the crawlspace under his home came across an intruder in the form of the massive bear that had set up shop there.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife chronicled the ensuing saga that led to the agency dispatching eight employees to the property to figure out a game plan.
They determined there was no feasible way to get the bear out from under the house if they opted to tranquilize it while it was still holed up. That led to a trap being set up at the exit, which the animal made its way into before being relocated to Angeles National Forest.
As the post notes, the crawlspace was subsequently boarded up in the hopes of preventing a similar incident from unfolding in the future, and the agency encouraged residents who could fall victim to the same problem to take proper preventative measures.