Altadena’s diverse history at risk as LA fires continue to burn

(LOS ANGELES, Calif.) — The destruction caused by the Eaton Fire in Los Angeles County, which has destroyed more than 14,117 acres across the region in the last week, is threatening Altadena’s rich and diverse history that captures the plight, success and perseverance of the local communities of color.

The Tongva Taraxat Paxaavxa Conservancy, a nonprofit founded by Indigenous groups who have called the now-greater Los Angeles basin their home for thousands of years, was given back some of its land at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains in Altadena in 2022. However, the Eaton Fire has left part of the recently acquired land significantly damaged.

The organization credits traditional ecological knowledge for having “nurtured the land” and aided in its protection, with plans to continue recovering the land with native plants and practices.

“Our immediate focus is on assessing the full extent of the damage, supporting our neighbors, and collaborating with local partners to ensure community recovery,” said the organization in a statement. “We will provide ongoing updates as we work toward healing and rebuilding the Conservancy and surrounding areas.”

Los Angeles County is battling wildfires across 45 square miles of the densely populated county, leaving thousands of structures damages, thousands of residents displaced and at least. 25 people dead.

The destruction has also impacted decades of progress for other communities of color in the region who settled in Altadena, which is now 41% white, 27% Hispanic, 18% Black and 17% multiracial.

In the 1960s, a combination of urban renewal, white flight and the political movements of the time caused rapid demographic shifts in the Altadena region, according to Altadena Heritage.

The end of widespread discriminatory redlining practices made Altadena a place where Black, Hispanic and Indigenous residents looking for a home could find a bargain.

The town became home to several iconic Black figures, including Sidney Poitier, the first Black actor to win an Oscar, prominent author Octavia Butler, artist Charles White, abolitionist Ellen Garrison Jackson Clark and others.

Veronica Jones, president of the Altadena Historical Society, says Altadena offered “more opportunities away from what the city [of Pasadena] offered children of color at that time.”

Many of those who lost homes in the fire are from families that have been in Altadena for generations.

One of those residents is Kim Jones. For Jones, Altadena has been her family’s home for four generations; she says her family moved to Altadena due to racism and segregation in the South in the ’60s.

Jones says speaking about the heartbreak of losing everything is her attempt to be “the family historian” now that the material memories are gone.

She said her grandmother, who had a home on Lincoln Avenue, was one of the first Black families in the neighborhood.

Kendall Jones, Kim’s son, lost memories of his father, who passed away two years ago, in the blaze.

“Part of me is devastated that all that is gone and the memories of him, but at the same time, I’m also hopeful that my family can rebuild and move past this because no matter what, we’re still alive and no one got hurt, and that’s the most important thing,” he told ABC News.

Kim Jones said her 52 years of memories were in the house – “I have pictures from my childhood. Kendall has pictures. My mother had a tiny cabinet and dishes that were her grandmother’s. Jewelry. I had photos from my grandmother, who had lived with them before she passed.”

Earnestine Brown-Turner also lost her home in the blaze. She had evacuated to her daughter’s Los Angeles home, which is in an evacuation warning zone. When Brown-Turner was packing to evacuate, she took little with her and expected to return with her home intact.

When she and her family came back, everything was gone: “We kind of still had the hope as we were driving up the neighborhood, but there was no neighborhood left,” said Imani Brown-Turner.

The Brown-Turner family had memories from enslaved family members, including quilts and photos. Those are all gone.

As residents process the grief of losing everything they had, concerns about the future hang heavy over their heads. The region had already been experiencing signs of gentrification ahead of the destructive blaze.

Veronica Jones noted that the homes in Altadena now sell for hefty price tags, as Altadena becomes a desired area for new residents at the base of the beautiful San Gabriel mountains.

“The area is starting to be revitalized again,” said Kim Jones. “We want to come back. We want to come back and rebuild.”

As families prepare to rebuild their homes from scratch, she fears some residents will be preyed upon for quick sales of their land: “But there’s no quick sale. There’s no quick sale because California is expensive to live in. I want my family home to be a family home for the next generation and the generation after that.”