A town torched by LA fires rallies to revive its community: ‘Everybody wants to come back’
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Eaton fire tore through Altadena, burning buildings and killing many. Its residents are only now taking in the scale of devastation. A week after wildfires tore through the community of Altadena, the smell of destruction still hangs in the air. The acrid smoke seeped into the walls of homes that survived the Eaton fire, which burned 7,000 buildings and killed at least 15 people.
On Woodbury Road, where unblemished homes stand in between blackened lots of charred rubble, the devastation overwhelms the senses. The houses that haven’t completely collapsed offer glimpses of life before disaster arrived – pitchers and mugs in a cabinet, all a deep black, a bed still standing, a scorched bicycle and children’s toys.
In front of one flattened lot is a nearly untouched lemon tree, and nearby someone has set out cat food. In the distance, flame retardant streaks the hillside. Some of the burned properties have laminated papers with links to GoFundMe pages. Jose Medina has seen fire again and again in the 40 years he has lived off Woodbury Road. But the fire that unfolded around his community last week felt akin to a world war, he said. “It was the worst fire I have ever seen in my life,” he said in the yard of his still standing home, where his family is operating a donation center for their neighbors.
One week on, Medina and others here are only just beginning to reckon with the ways in which their lives and the entirety of Altadena have been forever changed. Large swaths of the community are cordoned off, leaving many still unable to access their properties. Law enforcement and national guards are stationed at the entrances of blocked streets.
