ALTADENA, Calif.—Steps away from their burned-out homes due to the Eaton Fire, activists, lawyers, and artists declared: “Altadena Is Not For Sale!” during a March 29 demonstration.
The Eaton Fire started on Jan. 7 in the San Gabriel Mountains’ Eaton Canyon and burned for 24 days. Driven by 90 mph Santa Ana winds, it barreled through foothill communities, nearly completely leveling Altadena.
The fire claimed 17 lives, destroyed approximately 9,400 structures, including 6,000 homes, and burned more than 14,000 acres. The city of Altadena is about 14 miles from downtown Los Angeles and is located in Los Angeles County.
“We’re here to bring the community together so we can talk about the fact that our land, our property, our community, our culture is not for sale.
Altadena is not for sale,” stated Heavenly Hughes, co-founder and executive director of My Tribe Rise, a non-profit organization that creates programs that work to meet the needs of working-class, elderly, and disabled Black residents in Altadena and Pasadena.
Residents are concerned about several issues, including being priced out of the ability to rebuild their homes and the potential of luxury land developers swooping in to acquire land.
The community demands:
- That a land trust be established to prevent theft via sales to for-profit and non-profit developers;
- Zoning regulations to protect Altadena’s character and prevent over-development and large-scale projects;
- Support and facilitation of efforts to restore the lost historic styles;
- Negotiation and facilitation of group deals with architects and contractors;
- A moratorium on buying multiple properties in the same area, at the same time, by the same person, people, corporations or LLCs of shared ownership;
- That locals are given the same deals as developers; and,
- That residents are educated on their rights.
“We are not allowing injustice to take place when it comes to these vultures trying to come and take our land for pennies on the dollar. So, this is all about community being informed, and we’re learning how to unite our voices when it comes to how we’re being approached by different real estate agents, different commercial developers,” said Ms. Hughes.
According to Ms. Hughes, “Altadena Is Not For Sale” means residents desire to buy and sell property amongst one another and will fill in the gaps with subsidies designed to help them get to the next point to rebuild.
Another concern has been for advanced age, seniors, and other community members who may not be able to wait a 3 to 5-year time period to rebuild their homes, she explained.
According to LA County’s recovery.lacounty.gov website, the deadline for residents to opt in or opt out of the Army Corps of Engineers debris removal program was extended to April 15.
According to the Los Angeles Times, “Los Angeles County Public Works has received a little more than 5,000 forms opting in for cleanup in Altadena and roughly 200 forms opting out.
But the agency is still assessing how many property owners have not responded.” Phase 1 was hazardous material removal and Phase 2 was debris removal.
During the March 29 demonstration, Ms. Hughes expressed gratitude to partners, which included Food for Health and Fair Oaks Burgers, for uniting to address the community’s unmet food and housing needs.
She also thanked the performers (Bredman & HashMo, Sunwhoalove, Cople Terry, Jay K, okay Coleman! and Maya Jupiter) who were impacted by the fire and also lost their homes yet took time to serve the community with their talents and gifts.
Najah Benson’s Ever After disaster relief company was among the agencies at the March 29 demonstration to assist fire victims with the disaster and recovery. Ms. Benson highlighted issues with insurance companies failing to cover homes fully or providing limited hotel stays.
She invited participants to future workshops and a town hall meeting for displaced and non-displaced homeowners. One workshop will focus on all things dealing with rebuilding and another workshop will be on how to clean up and fire-proof homes.
“I have a lot of aunts and uncles that lost property in Altadena. They are doing well. They will rebuild again, of course. We are not leaving. We are here to stay, and that’s pretty much it. We survived the fire,” Ms. Benson told the Final Call.
“These programs have been a Godsend. I really appreciate it. It’s kind of like a little bit of joy in such an awful, awful event, so a little goes a long way,” said Irene Kirkland.
She was excited to receive “a little bit of everything,” she told The Final Call. “I got rice, tortillas, eggs, milk, fruit, vegetables, which is all the things that we need,” she said.
She looks forward to seeing Altadena rebuild better and one-day own property to restore Black ownership. “My house was spared, thank God, but everything around me is completely gone,” said Ms. Kirkland. That includes a family member’s home around the corner and her neighbors.
“It’s really been devastating,” she said. “As happy as you are that your house was spared, you’re equally as sad because everything else around you is gone, your childhood memories, your childhood neighborhood, church members, friends, family, houses are gone. So, it’s kind of like bittersweet,” she added.
On Feb. 8, My Tribe Rise, along with other organizations from Altadena, including Rhythms of The Village, Lift International Church, United We Stand Up, Vibe With Vizzle, Dena United, SURJ (Showing Up for Racial Justice) Altadena, Compassionate Arts, L.A. Grad, the NAACP Altadena, Neighborhood Survants, held a rally and resource fair to connect residents with assistance and to raise their voices to protect Altadena’s culture, including the West Side and Black and Indigenous communities.
Jimmie Lee Douglas and her daughter, Cassandra Ann, told The Final Call they have lived in Altadena for nearly five decades. Jan. 7 was a normal day until they experienced a blackout. They went out for errands and felt the wind and saw fires.
They went home and lit candles through the night. Early the next morning they witnessed a fire in their neighbor’s yard about 30 feet away, said Cassandra Douglas. Their family of seven adults, two children, and their pets evacuated in less than 15 minutes. “We all got out,” she stated.
“I’m sad. I’m just numb. I don’t like to talk about it too much, because I just start crying,” said Jimmie Lee Douglas.
“Although this desolation has come in and taken away our homes here in Altadena, life is still here. The community is still here. The culture is still here, and we ask for the right to passage, return back to our community,” stated Ms. Hughes.