‘The Ark’ Writer John-Paul Nickel and ‘Gotham Knights’ Costume Designer Jennifer Nickel Detail ‘Embers the Size of Credit Cards’ and the Cost of Rebuilding their Altadena Home

variety.com:

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor It was after midnight on Wednesday when “The Ark” writer and producer John-Paul Nickel and his wife Jennifer Nickel, a costume designer on “Gotham Knights,” were on the Target Rooftop in La Canada, Flintridge watching as the Eaton fire spread. “It was like something out of Mount Doom in ‘Lord of the Rings,’” John-Paul Nickel says.

John-Paul Nickel and Jennifer Nickel were wondering if the wave of fire was going to hit their home. They had evacuated before any evacuation orders had been issued. “We were getting flying embers the size of credit cards coming at our house,” Jennifer Nickel recalls when asked what prompted them to leave.

As she grabbed things from her house, like many who have lost their homes and have been displaced, she says, “We, never in our lives, would have thought that the house was going to burn down because no fire had ever reached where our house in written history.” She continues, “I was grabbing things in order to be displaced for maybe a week.” That meant grabbing work items from a styling job worth thousands of dollars over precious family heirlooms.

Amid it all, John-Paul Nickel was on the road to recovery after having knee surgery in November. His physical therapist had warned him a few weeks prior, “This is the time when you’re going to get cocky, and this is where you are more likely to injure yourself.” He had been told to sit and watch the apps.