Close to $800K raised for former sports phenom and shoe store owner who lost everything in fire

A California community has rallied around one of its local sports legends after he lost everything to the Los Angeles-area wildfires.

A GoFundMe campaign set up by his son has already raised more than $720,000 for Walt Butler, 83, whose Altadena house was consumed by flames Wednesday in the Eaton fire.

“I’m still trying to assess what really happened,” Butler told The Post.

“I’m not upset about it, because I am trying to process it, but I will recover. I have three daughters and a son,” former Stanford University football cornerback Treyjohn Butler, “and I helped them all their lives. Now, they’re really stepping it up big time to take care of the Big Guy.”

The former track and field great, nicknamed “The Jet,” excelled in football and track at Pasadena High School.

He still holds a California Interscholastic Federation record in the 120-yard high hurdles.

While at Pasadena City College, Walt ended up becoming the State Junior College Champion in the 120-yard hurdles.

This year, he will be inducted into the Pasadena Sports Hall of Fame.

He has also owned and operated Walter Butler Shoes in Pasadena since 1979.

“It’s an overwhelming experience,” Butler said.

“I am one of those dumb athletes who thinks he can do everything. If you get hit in the gut, you just suck it up. Well, I am sucking it up and standing tall. I will win the race.”

Butler told The Post he had a vision a week before the fire that something terrible was about to occur.

“I went outside Tuesday, and I looked up and the moon was red,” he said.

“I mean it was red red. It was just like a big ball of fire in the sky. I told my girlfriend, ‘The moon is red,’ because I told her a week before that something serious was going to happen soon. She dismissed it; I always have these visions.”

He could tell the fire was raging on the other side of the mountains near his home. In short order, the flames had “jumped over the mountain, like a shot put.”

The wind was so intense, he said, “it was shaking the house.”

So, Butler and his girlfriend, Marilyn Meyers, 70, “left everything behind, hopped in the car and left. We parked in a nearby lot and slept. I actually got a good night’s sleep.”

Butler was able to visit his property Wednesday evening.

“Everything was gone,” he said.

“Like gone, gone, gone. I had a new Corvette Stingray and some old classic cars that were beat up. The Corvette was gone. It didn’t exist, man. And I’m saying to myself, ‘Is this real? It can’t be, but I guess it is.’”

Butler, who opened Walt Butler Shoes in Pasadena in 1979, said he’s not blown away by the support he’s received.

A community he’s served his whole life, he said, is returning the favor.

“I know I will overcome [losing everything],” he said.

“By this time next month, I’m gonna have my Corvette back.”