Duquesne rallies around football player Adrian Ramirez after California wildfires destroy his family home

Adrian Ramirez likes nothing more than living in the Duquesne Towers and playing defensive end for the Dukes’ football team.

No wonder he was eager to get on an airplane last week and return to Duquesne’s campus and resume the life of a student-athlete.

But on the way home from dinner with his family in his hometown of Altadena, Calif., he noticed wildfires on the mountains next to a freeway.

The southern California fires have devastated and displaced thousands.
Unfortunately it has impacted some of our players here at Duquesne. Carlos and Adrian Ramirez are southern Cal natives and lost their home over the weekend. If you can, please donate to help their family… pic.twitter.com/7I6Rb2D083

— Derik Abbott (@CoachDAbbott3) January 10, 2025

“Seriously, we’re used to it,” Ramirez said. “We didn’t think it was really that serious until we got home 15 minutes later. We see the fire growing, and it’s growing more and more just because of the winds.”

No one at the time knew the seriousness of the fires, but Ramirez had a plane to catch: Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., to Pittsburgh to Duquesne.

But this was no ordinary trip back to school after spending the holiday with family.

“We head back on the freeway, and we see the fire is spreading faster than normal,” he said.

His flight was on time, but when he boarded the plane and sat down in a window seat, he finally became afraid.

“You could see the fire that was near my house, and you see it growing more and more,” he said.

And here he was stuck on an airplane, all alone, not knowing if his family was safe from the fires.

He decided to strike up a conversation with a woman in the next seat.

“I had to talk to someone. My heart sank when I saw that fire growing,” he said.

Ramirez never got the woman’s name, but, to this day, he’s grateful she was there in his time of crisis.

“She kept asking if I was OK,” he said. “She said everything is going to be OK.”

As it turned out, Ramirez’s family was safe, but the house burned to the ground, everything lost.

When Ramirez called home, his brother, Carlos, a Duquesne graduate who played defensive tackle this season, didn’t sound like himself. Adrian knew something was wrong.

Carlos said the family needed to evacuate, but the situation wasn’t serious.

“They didn’t want me to stress out even more,” he said.

But he could hear his father Carlos Sr. and mother Sylvia crying near the phone.

“When I found out my house burned down, I teared up,” he said. “They kept trying to calm me down, but I broke down. That is my home.”

The family, including sister Ariana, has moved in with maternal grandmother Maria Garibay, who lives an hour away in Fontana, Calif. This is not the first time the Ramirez family has endured a devastating fire. The home was destroyed by fire 13 years ago, but Carlos Sr., a construction worker, rebuilt it with the help of his sons.

“He worked on that house every single day for two years,” Adrian said.

And he plans to do the same now, again with his sons at his side.

“We plan to rebuild,” Adrian said. “When I head back on spring break, I’m going to help them rebuild it again.”

Meanwhile, Carlos Jr. has started a GoFundMe page that had raised more than $20,000 by Tuesday night.

Adrian is attending classes at Duquesne and preparing for the 2025 football season, with the support of Duquesne coach Jerry Schmitt and teammates.

“Coach Schmitt was the first person to reach out,” Adrian said. “He’s been nothing but a blessing to me and my family. Much love to my teammates. I couldn’t have done this without them. If I needed anything, I know they would be there for me. They’re my second family.

“Thank you to everyone. I really appreciate all the alumni who have donated and all the people in Pittsburgh who cared about us.”