Church bell saved from Altadena rubble and ash after Eaton Fire

The church bell from St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Altadena is all that is left of the church after the Eaton Fire completely wiped it out.  

"St. Mark's will rebuild ... The Dean Howe Bell will ring again."  was the message the church sent out in a video that documented the recovery of the bell.

For the last 50 years the Dean Howe Bell has chimed at the start of services. It last rang on Sunday, Jan. 5. -- the Eaton Fire broke out on Jan. 7. 

The entire church and its school campus burned to the ground. After the fire, parishioners combed through the ash and rubble to see if there was anything to salvage.  

Parishioner Bob Schaper found the bell in the wreckage of the Community Hall. He cleared it from debris, and pulled it out. "I think it's in really good shape, it looks to have – the patina's all there, there's no dings ..." 

It took a few days to clear the rubble and devise a way to carry it out, because it's heavy, parishioner Tom Horner explained.  "Slowly and surely, he (Bob) would uncover things, and at the end of the day when he left, he would cover it back up so no one could see it. And every day he would come back and do a little more work to get it." 

Schaper said he spent a few hours each day working on recovering the bell. Video documenting the effort show four men hauling the bell off. It got a cleaning and some chimes out, before heading into storage while the church rebuilds.  

The Altadena Dean Howe Bell was cast in 1967 to honor a Saint Mark's parishioner who died at age 15 after a long battle with cancer. 

The church community will continue to meet on Sundays at St. Barnabas in Eagle Rock.