Altadena Stitches Itself Back Together After Eaton Fire

Pasadena and its neighbor to the north, Altadena, are slowly beginning the long and grueling process of rebuilding after the Eaton Fire. destroyed At least 4,600 structures and 14,000 acres of land. This is an unprecedented disaster, unlike any other in Southern California history.

After documenting the devastation of wildfires in several parts of the historic city last week, I quickly set to work focusing on early recovery efforts. First, we visited St. Andrew's Catholic Church in downtown Pasadena. There, dozens of volunteers were working enthusiastically. Sorting through piles of donations from people in the community includes school supplies and toys for children who have lost everything, as well as lost personal items such as clothing, feminine products and non-perishable food. Principal Jay Kim gave me a tour of the recovery center and said the outpouring of support from the Pasadena area has been overwhelming, with some donations coming from outside the state.

Many other churches in the Pasadena area made similar donations, including St. Philip's Church and Assumption Church. Across the city, especially along the boundaries of evacuation zones, several churches, including some as far south as Orange County, set up booths offering free food and water to evacuees, firefighters and rescue workers. . Workers and contractors were working around the clock to restore the city to some degree of reasonable survival.

Evacuees who were unable to find shelter were being housed at the Pasadena Civic Center, and although FEMA and the Red Cross were not allowing media into the building, the atmosphere outside was mostly peaceful. Right across the street, people were offering free pizza and free massages to those who left behind. A donation center similar to a swap meet has been set up at the Santa Anita Racetrack east of the city, where an army of volunteers from across Southern California donates free food, clothing, toys, women's products, and more. Mobile phones were even provided.

It is currently unclear when the city will be able to return to a basic sense of normalcy as it moves into a cleaning period. More than a week has passed since the Eaton Fire destroyed much of Altadena and parts of Pasadena, and people are still not allowed to return to their homes (or what's left of them) within evacuation zones. There are widespread concerns that looters will take advantage of abandoned homes, but the security situation I have documented, including fully armed National Guard troops at various checkpoints, demands meal tickets. It would be difficult for common thieves to enter the shelter. zone.

For those lucky enough to have their homes and businesses survive, the next few months will be some of the most difficult of their lives as they deal with environmental hazards from cleanup efforts and smoke damage to their properties. Leo Bulgarini, owner of Altadena's beloved Bulgarini Gelato, tells me that after a fire devastated his community, it will require extensive renovations before he can reopen. During my visit, he was actively getting rid of thousands of dollars worth of Italian food and gelato that had suffered smoke damage and had been left to rot for several days due to a power outage and no refrigeration. I'll admit that tears began to well up in my eyes when I took the photo of him on a ventilator behind a motionless gelato counter. I was looking forward to enjoying his famous pistachio gelato with a slice of his signature pizza.