From left, Corinne, 18, Mia, 13, Jeff, Elianna, 16, and Jodi Moreno in front of their of home in Pasadena. Photo / N. Kirkpatrick, The Washington Post
Nearly a year ago, a wildfire swallowed the quiet town of Altadena in the foothills of Los Angeles, killing 19 people, destroying thousands of homes and forever reshaping a beloved community.
Twelve months later, recovery has been many things: plodding and painful, hard and hopeful, confusing and chaotic. But most of all, it has been uneven.
Roughly half of those 5632 homeowners who lost their homes have already applied for a rebuilding permit or sold their properties, according to publicly available data.
Many others have made moves towards returning that don’t show up in those databases – hunting for architects, hiring builders, poring over plans.
And still more remain in limbo, unsure what they will do, awaiting insurance payouts and crunching numbers.
Much of Altadena looks like West Las Flores Drive, a street on the town’s hardest-hit west side, where the Washington Post has been embedded on one block since January, documenting the disaster’s aftermath on the residents of its 27 homes.
Here, two properties have sold. Two more are under construction. A freshly framed four-bedroom has risen beside still-empty lots. Promise and persistent uncertainty hover over the charred debris and new green growth.
By day, the din of construction echoes down the block. Nail guns throb, workers yell, trucks beep. By night, the street is still, lit by just one lamppost. The only sounds are the far-off freeway and the cries of coyotes roaming the neighbourhood unchallenged.
Many of the block’s residents hope to move back. Some have already said goodbye.
Here are the stories of nine families, told in their own words.
Ed Aitken: The first to move back to the block when he parked his newly purchased RV atop his burned lot. He is one of almost 70 Altadenans to apply for a permit to live on their properties in a mobile home.
“In order to get power on the property, I have to get what they call a ‘temporary housing permit’. That permit, from what I understand, will cost US$423. It apparently allows me to live on my own property.
“Everything is handled by email. I’m not highly computer savvy, but a lot of the processes are handled that way now, and I’m not keeping up with it too well.
“I did talk to that guy down there at the One Stop Centre – it was my 11th or 12th stop. They misnamed it. There’s no such thing as ‘one stop’ with the county of Los Angeles.
“Living in the motor home is just like camping. That’s what I’m doing. I’m pretty handy. The generator requires [fuel], and I go through at least two, three, four cans per week, depending on how much TV I want to watch. You got to make the best of it.
“Thankfully I haven’t seen any bears on my property, but there are coyotes. And I’ve seen deer. The other day I saw two bucks that were interlocking horns and going at it across the street.
“Everything is not normal here. I’m watching what is going on with the neighbouring properties to kind of get a feeling for what I want to do on my own property. I don’t want to commit to building something if I don’t understand what they’ll allow to be built next to me.
“How long would I be willing to wait? I really haven’t thought that part through. I’m keeping all my options open.
“I still have a piece of land. But I have nothing else. The thing is, I’m just happy I’m alive. I didn’t bite the bullet on this one. I’m still here. I’ve been saying it from the beginning: I’m a survivor, not a victim. Otherwise you’re giving up. And I’m not ready to give up.”
Maggie Moran: One of the first on the block to apply for a rebuilding permit. By December 2, over 2300 property owners had applied for rebuilding permits in Altadena. At least two single-family homes have completed construction.
“I knew right away that I wanted to be a rebuilder.
“I was at my house for 40 years. I had a lot of hopes and memories in that home. And if we rebuild in the same place, I feel some of that will come through. We have to make new memories, but we can reimagine those old memories as well.
“Our groundbreaking date is January 15. I’m glad it’s next year, not this year. I didn’t want to tangle it with this year because I didn’t have a good feeling about this year. It just sounds better to me. It gives me new hope.
“It makes me nervous and excited at the same time. Everything will be new.
“My recovery has been pretty good, considering everything. I’m definitely underinsured, but I am blessed that I have a decent adjustor who has been working with me. I’ve been able to ask questions and get information.
“I’m living with my daughter, my son-in-law, and my grandchildren, in their home. That’s where I’ll be until I move into my new house. We’re figuring out everything together.
“In the beginning, I didn’t know if I could do it, or how I would do it. But I think I am where I should be right now.
“Some things do still kind of sting. Before Christmas this year, I forgot I had to buy wrapping paper. I used to have so much wrapping paper. Then I realised: No, you lost all that.
“But January will start something new. I’m looking forward to all the decisions that will be made and hopefully things will be a little brighter. I’m hoping that next Christmas, I’ll be home.”
Jodi Moreno: Desperate to remain close to Altadena after losing their home, Jodi and her husband, Jeff, struggled for more than seven months to find a nearby rental. More than half of the homeowners who moved after the fire remained within 16km of their neighbourhood.
“At the very end of July, we finally found a home to rent. We were living with friends and then with another family for almost six months. Finding our own space was huge.
“As a mum, it was really important that we were able to find a place before my oldest went off to college so that she knew that she would have a place to come back to.
“We wanted to stay in the Pasadena area. We have two younger kids still in the school system and we wanted them to feel like they can hold on to some of their world.
“I think we all sort of had a certain level of exhale. It feels like our place for now.
“I remember right after the fires I was telling our friend, ‘I don’t even understand why people are asking us if we’re going to rebuild’. My house and my city and my community burned down. Returning felt just heartbreaking.
“I did not think I would have this much hope. You drive around and you see building. People have moved in and businesses have reopened.
“We’re building a house. I want to believe it could be home. But it’s still not in my grasp yet when there still are so many things to overcome.
“I had been feeling really heavy toward the holidays. I was dreading an empty tree.
“We were an ornament family. We get a new one every year. Our kids had their own. We had ornaments from my parents who have passed. We have ornaments for every place we’ve visited – we’re those people.
“This year, I have a tree and there’s ornaments on this tree. Our colleagues, our families and our friends all surprised us with ornaments.
“It’s still hard remembering those little ornaments, but I’m choosing to lean into the sweetness of it, because that’s what I have. Some really sweet, tender moments in ways that people have loved us.”
Roni Valdes: Ready to move on but unsure when they will sell their burned lot, the Valdes family is still in limbo. Six in 10 Altadena homeowners whose houses were destroyed or severely damaged have neither sold nor applied for a rebuilding permit.
“We have not listed the property yet. We still have it, but eventually that is the plan. We’re waiting for the right time, the right guidance. I’m still in limbo.
“Everybody wants to go back. A lot of our personal life is in Pasadena, Altadena, so we find ourselves having to commute back there for doctor’s appointments, school pick-ups, dental appointments – everything is still out that way. If I could find something, maybe in the Pasadena area, I’m open to that. I just know that I’m personally not going back on West Las Flores Drive.
“It doesn’t feel like it’s been a year, because you’re still in the midst of it. Happiness, sadness, frustration, anger. You get all the emotions. It comes in waves and it just hits when it hits.
“My son, Dylan, he’s in his fourth year of college. This Christmas season is getting to him, and I think it’s just reminding him of home. He grew up in that home, so he misses that home a lot. If it was up to him, we would definitely be going back and rebuilding everything.
“Fortunately, we have been blessed to have a rental that suits our family. And I am glad that we have a place that we are getting settled and will be settled one day, hopefully. So just learning and getting used to our new routine. We’re just living in the now. We’re going to do our best to make this home.
“We’re still that home that the family comes to, even if it’s not a holiday. It could be a Monday night or a Wednesday night or Friday night. It really helps with the emotions. Just dealing with the reality and the grief.
“I am still getting used to the new reality and just trying to find that sense of home.
“Whatever that might be, wherever it might be and however that feeling is, I want to feel that again.”
Jethro and Brittany Rothe-Kushel: The first on their block to sell. In the 11 months since the fire, at least 330 properties severely damaged or destroyed by the Eaton Fire have been sold. Over half purchased by corporations.
Brittany: “I think two things can be true at once, you can love and grieve the place you’ve lost, and you can move on without being a traitor.
“You can also stay and fight the good fight, but I’m exhausted.”
Jethro: “After we lost our home, I used it as an opportunity to practise my self-development work. What if this is just the beginning? What if, instead of victims, this is actually a really hard event that we can overcome? I started going into action mode.
“We looked at rental properties. They were getting 200 applications within hours of opening. We would go there and we would see everyone that we knew and tons of other people. I knew that it was going to take three to five years to rebuild. And for my daughter, that’s an eternity in the life of a 9-year-old.
“We found this house that came on the market in San Marino. It was within a week of the fires or so. That day we offered a half-million above asking, and we removed almost all the contingencies. We went into escrow that day.
“I love Las Flores, and it was our first home that we ever owned together. It’s not replaceable and neither are the people. And so there’s a part of me that feels a little bit guilty to leave people behind and leave a community in such rubble.
“We moved in around April. I believe we made the best decisions we could for our little family, and I’m glad we did it.”
Brittany: “I don’t feel guilty for leaving any more. At this point, every family is going to make the best decision that works for them. In the beginning, it was a strong tribalism: Altadena forever, if you sell you’re a traitor. But I think people’s reality has set in.
“For a lot of people, whether it’s financial or whether it is mental health, it doesn’t make sense to move back.
“It took a while to make this house feel like home but we did. Recently, I prepared a 30-person friends giving, and our daughter had a ninth birthday party with 10 of her friends. Hosting made it feel more like home again.
“The grieving stage and sadness stage is long for me, so I didn’t expect to feel like I’m thriving toward the end of 2025, but I feel like we are.”
Daron Anderson: He has bounced from a friend’s garage to another friend’s couch. Lately he has stayed in a string of different hotels. Anderson resembles the 34% of Altadena residents who said they expect to have to move within the next year, according to a survey by a nonprofit in October. Seventeen per cent said they expect to move in the next few months.
“I try to keep up a happy face, but I’ve told people I’m just not dealing right now.
“I broke down the other day. I just started to crack. I wanted to hear the sound of my stairs and the creak in the top step. Or the feeling of the carpet downstairs. Or the quirky way the backdoor closed. Those memories, it’s all there.
“It’s like this haunting dream you never wake up from.
“This has been the strangest loop: I’m okay, I’m not okay. You never know which way it’ll go. Starting in October, I was on a friend’s couch for three days. Then an Airbnb. It was probably the worst night’s sleep I’ve ever had. I stayed one night. The following week I spent about US$1000 bouncing between hotels on Colorado Boulevard: Travelodge, Hotel Le Reve, Rodeway Inn.
“I was getting to a point where I was like, I can’t keep doing this. I spent another night on my friend’s couch, and then an organisation called Friends In Deed called me.
“I was referred to them somehow, and they said they would get me a room, cover the cost and then help me get into an apartment. I was like, I’ll go with it, and I’ve been here ever since. That’s actually been positive.
“But the holidays came down like a ton of bricks.
“Altadena, I go up there and it triggers me. The other day I got as far as Mariposa Street and Lake Avenue, and I was like, I’ve got to get the hell out of here.
“This is not what I expected. I thought we would be – not necessarily back home, but I didn’t think we’d be sitting at ground zero still."
Todd Betts: One of many in Altadena who intend to rebuild but find themselves in a long line. Almost half of property owners in Altadena have not applied for a rebuilding permit. While many could be hindered by uncertainty or resources, others wait their turn while architects and builders finish homes of other fire survivors.
“Nine people in my family lost their homes. We all wanted to use the same builder. We’re still in the line-up.
“The first one the builder’s doing is my auntie’s house, and they’re getting close to finishing. My mother’s other sister is next after her. Then ours. We’re still looking at two and a half years out.
“It’s been a lot of paperwork just to get to this point.
“The amount of resources being offered sounded great, but it really didn’t come to fruition. They said: ‘You can get this, that and the other. We’ll make it easy, we’ll streamline.’ But it really hasn’t been much easier.
“With the insurance, it’s been crazy. We’ve had to submit the personal property inventory several times, and they really lowballed us. The insurance companies don’t want to pay everybody out and make them whole.
“They said they’d make it as easy as possible. But not so much.
“This was a massive loss. It was more than just a place to live. It was an actual community.
“I miss the neighbours we had up there, because I knew everybody. I could walk up and down the street and have a conversation with five different neighbours.
“About a week after the fire, I tried to get in touch with everybody just to check on them. I started a thread with all the neighbours, and I’ve been able to keep in touch with people and make sure everybody’s all right.
“It’s kind of bittersweet. It’s bitter that everything was lost. But the sweet part is that we are going to be able to rebuild and move back into the house and into the neighbourhood. I hope the neighbourhood doesn’t change much, but that’s just a fingers-crossed situation. Who knows?”
Jennie Bridges: Her home survived. The Eaton Fire levelled nearly 6000 homes and damaged many others. Almost 600 homes like Bridges’ were affected or sustained minor damage from the blaze. After 10 months of living in a hotel, she and her son, Chris, moved back in.
“I’m just so glad to be home. I’m just so glad to be home. I’m so glad I’m home. I keep repeating this because I’m grateful.
“I’ve been here since October 19. Chris and I were the last ones left in the hotel that were displaced by the fire. Once I moved in, I said, ‘Slow down, just chill out.’ I’m still mindful that I have things to do, but I don’t have to do it today. I’m enjoying just sitting in my home.
“One of the pastors from church came a few weeks ago and blessed my homecoming. It was an experience. It was really emotional. He blessed every doorway and opened every closet in every room. He had some frankincense and said a prayer.
“I have a room in the back that my girlfriend Bunny calls ‘the shoe closet’. I must have a hundred pairs of shoes and when he opened the closet door, he said: ‘Oh, my. Well, bless her shoes.’
“I’m drowning in debt because insurance paid the depreciated value of what they covered, but not the replacement costs. I don’t have to have furniture in every room, but I want it. I’m digging a hole and I have to pay all these bills.
“Chris lost his job, but that doesn’t affect me directly because he still pays his bills out of disability. All the household stuff is all on me, but I know that I can’t call on him now.
“I have to re-evaluate my values as far as what I can do without. I’m surviving, but I know this can’t go on. I’m so grateful to be at home, but it keeps me up at night. I don’t sleep like I did prior to January 7.
“It’s really quiet at night. Before you would hear an occasional car or a garage door, but other than the packs of coyotes I don’t hear anything.
“You can hear them howling, you can hear them screaming, and you could hear the yelp of whatever critter they’re killing. It’s scary.
“I’m really looking forward to having neighbours. There’s a lot of building. Houses seem to be going up really fast. The construction doesn’t bother me at all. The workers next door see me taking out the trash and they’ll come and help. It’s just good to have people around.
“I may croak before the whole street is rebuilt, but we’re making good progress.”
Leigh McDaniel and Seamus Bozeman: McDaniel and her son are among the 20% of residents in Altadena who did not own their home.
Leigh: “Sometimes it feels like, because we’re renters, that our loss isn’t as much. But that makes no sense. We all lost so much.
“I actually hugged my house and told her that I loved it when we left, because I was afraid I wouldn’t see it again. I didn’t think about the hard drives, I didn’t think about the photographs. I didn’t think about any of it at that moment. Which I regret so deeply.
“I was feeling some grief and loss, but it wasn’t until the kids were back in school in late September that I just really went into some deep grieving.
“I don’t have much family left, and their dad had died, and to then lose the house and our community and our neighbourhood. I just felt like an orphan.”
Seamus: “Last [autumn] I left school because of everything that was going on with my dad. Then the fire happened and I had nothing to really tether me. It was a bit better when I started school again.
“I miss biking. I was a big cyclist, and I lost five bikes in the fire. I haven’t really found it again. It’s just so hard to rekindle things.
“I loved everything about it up there, the hiking trails and the community. But I wonder how we remain a part of it. It’s a little harder to fit in. We lost all our things, but we’re not going through the same struggles of rebuilding.”
Leigh: “I’ve never loved living in any place quite as much as Altadena.
“There was a holiday gathering for Las Flores neighbours. It was nice seeing folks and learning the names of some of our neighbours that we just used to wave at.
“It’s great there are all these shared resources and support taking shape around rebuilding. We’re not in the process of rebuilding. There’s a little bit of heartbreak around not knowing how to be a part of that.
“I feel as renters there’s nothing to return to or nothing to fight for. Yes, for Altadena as a community, but it’s not the same as having that place to go back to or that place to try and rebuild.
“I don’t know how we’re going to stay in Altadena. I’m worried that we’ll get priced out. We want to be back on Las Flores with all our neighbours. Somehow I hope that happens.”
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