Altadena Residents Know Their Community Is Worth Rebuilding. Can They Protect Its Legacy?

Three months after the Eaton fire started, leaving scorched ruins across much of the Southern California region, many locals are voicing concerns about rebuilding.

LOS ANGELES — Marcus Betts and his family lived in Altadena for generations, so the 52-year-old was no stranger to the blazes that plague the Golden State. But as the Eaton fire broke out on the evening of Jan. 7, it was whipped up by staggeringly powerful Santa Ana winds.

A friend of Betts’ mother first texted them that the fire was just a few miles away.

“I went upstairs to my mom’s room and looked out her east-facing window, and I could see a red glow. And that’s when I knew that this is different,” said Betts, who works as an analyst in the baking industry.

That began a scramble to check on friends and elderly relatives, warning them they might need to evacuate, and helping some pack bags. By around 9:30 p.m., they still hadn’t gotten an evacuation order from the city. But Betts and his household — which includes his wife, his two teenage daughters, his brother and his mother, decided to pack up some of their belongings anyway. When the power went out, they officially made their exit.

After giving a family friend a ride to safety, Betts, along with some other friends and relatives who lived in the area, gathered at an uncle’s house near the Rose Bowl in Pasadena for refuge. He estimated that about 16 people and five dogs were there.