elise martinez reports. >> reporter: piece by piece masonry contractor cliff douglas is preserving a small part of altadena history. >> i got it. >> reporter: douglas is with save the tiles, an organization working to rescue these antique tiles, some more than a century old. >> these are called batch elder tile, started in 1910 in pasadena. they're a local tile. so that's why they're in a lot of the homes up here. >> reporter: in altadena chimneys and fireplaces are some of the only things that survived the intense heat. >> the important part is just to try to give the owners a little something back. >> reporter: douglas and his crew are working against the clock as the army corps of engineers gets ready to clear out properties. he says there are dozens of homes with these renowned tiles inside. >> and we're trying to beat the bulldozers across town are moving this way. so we'd really like to get as many down as we can. it just would be a shame to see any of this tile go to the dump. >> they're unusual, very unusual. >> reporter: these tiles were part of valerie el ashi's 100-year-ol