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<\/p>\nOne year after two of the most destructive wildfires in California\u2019s history erupted just hours apart, survivors commemorated the day in Altadena and Pacific Palisades with a mixture of anger and somber remembrance.<\/p>\n
At the American Legion veterans post in the Palisades, hundreds gathered at a military-style white-glove ceremony to pay respects to the 12 families who lost loved ones in the Palisades fire. <\/p>\n
Just down the street, an even larger crowd shouted the rally cry \u201cThey let us burn,\u201d to demand comprehensive disaster planning, relief for families working to rebuild and accountability for government missteps that they say enabled the disaster and have slowed the recovery.<\/p>\n
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In Altadena, survivors congregated at the Eaton Fire Collaborative\u2019s community center with a clear message: They are not backing down in the fight to return home. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis year has been the hardest year of our lives,\u201d said Joy Chen, executive director of the Eaton Fire Survivor Network. \u201cUnimaginable grief. The 31 people who died that day, and the hundreds who have died prematurely since. Homes lost. Jobs lost. Incomes lost. A sense of safety and identity stripped away.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elsewhere in Altadena, thousands gathered at the Grocery Outlet on Lake Avenue, the crowd spilling out into the street. Neighbors hugged, some cried, and many wore shirts and hats emblazoned with \u201cAltadena\u201d or the area\u2019s 91001 ZIP Code. Some sported shirts demanding more thorough investigations into the failures from the fire\u2019s response.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe are turning the page,\u201d said Victoria Knapp, former chair of the Altadena Town Council. \u201cAltadena is not defined by what burned or what was lost. It is defined by who stayed, who showed up.<\/p>\n
\u201cAltadena forever!\u201d she said, igniting a chorus of cheers from the jam-packed crowd.<\/p>\n
In the evening, Atladenans planned to gather at a beloved family-owned burger joint that miraculously still stands amid a sea of empty lots. The restaurant, Fair Oaks Burger, reopened an outdoor kitchen for residents and recovery workers just weeks after the fire and has become a lifeline for the neighborhood.<\/p>\n
Jessica Rogers, who lost her home in the Palisades fire<\/a> and has since become the executive director of the Palisades Long-Term Recovery Group, which organized the remembrance ceremony, said that people were still processing what happened over the last year.<\/p>\n \u201cThe five different stages of grief \u2014 you can feel them. Sometimes people can feel them almost all at the same time,\u201d she said. \u201cThere is no right or wrong way to process grief. Everybody processes it in their own way, at their own speed and their own time. And some need to do it at home, behind closed doors; others need to do it very vocally, out in public.\u201d<\/p>\n Pacific Palisades resident Julia Citron, right, cries with her mother, Lainie, in Palisades Village on Wednesday. The Citrons lost their home in the fire. \u201cIt was the only house our children knew,\u201d said Lainie Citron.<\/p>\n (Genaro Molina \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n Though very different communities, the Palisades and Altadena share similar frustrations \u2014 with insurance companies, government agencies and disaster scammers. But on Wednesday, they directed their wrath on contrasting targets. In Altadena, activists are focused on real estate speculators and Southern California Edison, suspected of triggering the Eaton fire. In the Palisades, anger continues to mount against Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, the city\u2019s Fire Department and state agencies.<\/p>\n Inside the Palisades Legion Post, the 11-year-old daughter of Jim Cragg, the Post\u2019s former commander, handed white roses to the families of fire victims. One of these was a family member of Rory Sykes, who perished in the blaze, who told Cragg: \u201cHe would have loved this.\u201d Both held back tears.<\/p>\n Share via Close extra sharing options <\/p>\n The families then led hundreds of Palisadians waiting outside \u2014 many wearing \u201cThey Let Us Burn\u201d T-shirts \u2014 in a procession down to a small community park, where the legion had placed 13 memorials: One for each victim, and one for the many uncounted lives lost in the fire\u2019s wake.<\/p>\n In a moment of silence, Palisadians called out the names of loved ones who had died in the aftermath. Many sobbed.<\/p>\n Researchers estimate the January fires resulted in upward of 400 excess deaths<\/a> in L.A. County beyond the official death toll.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople burned alive in their homes. There was nobody going to get them,\u201d Kathleen Boltiansky said through tears as she watched the ceremony.<\/p>\n 1 <\/p>\n 2 <\/p>\n 1. Steve Salinas shields from intense heat as he hoses down a neighbors rooftop on Sinaloa Ave. as the Eaton Fire continues to grow, January 8, 2025. (Robert Gauthier\/Los Angeles Times) 2. The view from the same rooftop, one year later. (Robert Gauthier\/Los Angeles Times) <\/p>\n Boltiansky, who lost her house in the fire, planned to attend the \u201cThey Let Us Burn\u201d rally after the service. \u201cPublic safety should be item No. 1 \u2014 if they cannot provide public safety, what are they doing?\u201d<\/p>\n Just across the street, Billy Joel\u2019s \u201cWe Didn\u2019t Start the Fire\u201d played over a loudspeaker as protesters gathered in front of the burned husk of the historic 1924 Business Block Building.<\/p>\n Rally organizer Jeremy Padawer, who lost his home in the Palisades fire, took the stage. \u201cThe days of gaslighting should be over,\u201d he called out.<\/p>\n Padawer asked the audience to raise their hands if their home burned or remains contaminated.<\/p>\n Hundreds of hands shot up.<\/p>\n Josh Lederer, clutching a \u201cThey Let Us Burn\u201d banner, described how he, his wife and 2-year-old daughter moved five times since the fire and are still unable to return to their home amid fights with their insurance company. He\u2019s glad his child is too young to really understand what\u2019s going on.<\/p>\n \u201cYou feel, when there\u2019s an emergency, your city\u2019s going to be there to protect you, and we had nobody,\u201d said Lederer, 42. \u201cAnd since then, we\u2019ve had nobody helping us. All we get is lip service from Karen Bass and Newsom that it\u2019s somebody else\u2019s fault or we\u2019re trying to profit off this. We\u2019re not trying to profit off anything. We want our lives back.\u201d<\/p>\n Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonald speaks with Mayor Karen Bass after a private ceremony where they remembered the fire victims with faith leaders, LAPD officers and city officials as flags were lowered outside City Hall.<\/p>\n (Allen J. Schaben \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n When ABC 7 Eyewitness News asked Bass<\/a> if she thought the \u201cThey Let Us Burn\u201d rally is how residents should commemorate the one-year anniversary, she dismissed the event.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think so,\u201d she said. \u201cBut again, I think there are people who are profiting off this, and that is what I find very despicable.\u201d<\/p>\n Padawer said he had invited Bass and Gov. Gavin Newsom to the rally to listen to survivors and accept accountability, but neither joined.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for Newsom\u2019s office said the governor would meet directly with survivors in Los Angeles this week. Bass started the day at a private vigil at the Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine in Pacific Palisades, then presided over a flag-lowering ceremony at City Hall to honor the victims.<\/p>\n Jessica Rogers with the Palisades Long Term Recovery Group, third from left, hugs Marina Shterenberg, who lost a loved one in the Palisades fire, during a community ceremony in partnership with the Palisades American Legion Post 283, marking the one-year anniversary of the fire on Wednesday. The ceremony honored those who lost their lives in the fire, including Mark Shterenberg.<\/p>\n (Christina House \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n Several elected officials attended the American Legion ceremony \u2014 including state Sen. Ben Allen and county Supervisor Lindsey Horvath \u2014 but only one attended the rally too: City Councilmember Traci Park. She stepped on stage at the rally in a far less somber tone than at the memorial. <\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s end this culture of half-assed solutions,\u201d she said \u2014 also noting that there were \u201csome folks\u201d who \u201cdidn\u2019t want me to come here today.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat happened on Jan. 7 was catastrophic failure and to pretend otherwise is just insulting,\u201d she told the crowd. \u201cYou did not imagine what happened, and you are right to be angry.\u201d<\/p>\n In Altadena, a coalition of lawmakers, survivors and advocates at the Collaboratory community center set the tone for the second year of recovery.<\/p>\n Recently, a survey<\/a> from the nonprofit Department of Angels found that more than 7 out of 10 Altadena residents remain displaced from their homes. Nearly half have exhausted their savings, and over 40% have taken on personal debt to survive, said Miguel Santana, co-founder of the nonprofit. <\/p>\n Among them are people like Ada Hernandez, who owned a 1950s home on Mountain View Street with her husband, Miguel, where they lived with their 5-year-old son, Mason, 2-year-old Sadie and 14-year-old dog Bentley. They moved into their home in 2018, on the same day she lost her firstborn son. But in the fire, she said, she lost every physical memory of him, including his neonatal intensive care unit pillow and handprint.<\/p>\n Share via Close extra sharing options <\/p>\n Now, the pain has compounded as her family has been forced to move three times over the last year. They have spent the last two months in an Airbnb with help from the Salvation Army, she said, but that runs out next Wednesday. <\/p>\n \u201cWe feel forgotten,\u201d Hernandez, 37, said. \u201cWe feel like we\u2019re at a standstill.\u201d<\/p>\n Bass and Newsom have touted L.A.\u2019s recovery<\/a> as one of the fastest<\/a> in modern California history. Bass, in particular, points to her work in cutting red tape at the Department of Building and Safety, which is reviewing and signing off on the rebuilding plans. But to many survivors, recovery still feels painfully slow.<\/p>\n Avaristo Serrano helps build a home on Highview Street, one year after the Eaton fire.<\/p>\n (Robert Gauthier \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n As of December, L.A. County had issued rebuilding permits for about 16% of homes destroyed in Altadena, and the city of L.A. issued permits for just under 14% for the Palisades, The Times found<\/a>. Many whose homes survived the fire but were contaminated by smoke and ash are still fighting with their insurance companies to remediate their homes. Many homes in Altadena remain contaminated even after remediation<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mark Mariscal, a longtime Altadena resident, said he faced months of delays by his insurance company but, with help from the Eaton Fire Survivors Network, finally got a check in the mail. He became emotional as he remembered the lives lost and everything that transpired since Jan. 7.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just a battle, a good one because we\u2019re pretty sure we\u2019re never moving again,\u201d he said. \u201cAfter we build this house the way we want it, we\u2019re not moving again. Unless I\u2019m sent up to my higher power.\u201d<\/p>\n For many survivors, finding a sense of peace in their healing journeys one year into recovery has proved difficult without closure. Investigations and reports into the failures that led to and exacerbated the disasters have left residents with more questions than answers.<\/p>\n In October, federal investigators announced the Palisades fire appeared to explode from a small brush<\/a> fire still smoldering from a week prior. Ongoing litigation has suggested that Los Angeles Fire Department leaders limited their firefighting techniques<\/a> to protect sensitive plants at the request of California State Parks, and investigations by The Times found that leaders ordered firefighters to leave the site<\/a> even though it was still smoldering and subsequently covered up<\/a> their mistakes.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, emergency officials failed to issue evacuation orders for west Altadena, a historically Black enclave, until five hours after the fire began to engulf homes<\/a> in the neighborhood. An investigation by The Times<\/a> found that even as the fire progressed far into the west side of town, the majority of Los Angeles County Fire Department resources remained elsewhere.<\/p>\n \u201cSo many different layers of mistakes had to be made for this to occur,\u201d Padawer told The Times. He said the rally was intended to highlight both the \u201cgaslighting\u201d and \u201csolutions that can help our neighbors come home.\u201d <\/p>\n The Palisades Long Term Recovery Group, in partnership with the Palisades American Legion Post 283, hosts a community ceremony with white glove presentation of flags for the families of those lost, marking the one-year anniversary of the Palisades fire on Wednesday.<\/p>\n (Christina House \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n Sue Kohl, president of the Pacific Palisades Community Council, said she had mixed feelings early Wednesday as reporters gathered for a news conference on the barren front lawn of what will be her new home on Iliff Street in the decimated Alphabet Streets neighborhood.<\/p>\n Construction on her two-story home \u2014 surrounded by empty lots \u2014 is well underway. But she has no memories here, she said. It\u2019s not the place where she lived for 32 years and raised five children and three stepchildren.<\/p>\n The anniversary, she said, is \u201clike emotional ping pong. You want to be positive. But at the same time \u2014 I mean, look around. At least now you see a lot of construction.\u201d<\/p>\n Many survivors say a hope for the future is the one thing that motivates them. In five years, or maybe ten, Rogers looks forward to all the little things that make the Palisades the Palisades.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d like to see children running down the streets happily. I\u2019d like to hear them, see them on their bikes, watch the teenagers hang out at CVS, in the parks. I\u2019d like to see all Angelenos from all parts of Los Angeles back up in our hiking trails,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cThat would bring me a lot of joy, to see our schools thriving again, and I\u2019d love to complain about the 3 p.m. traffic \u2014 the kids\u2019 pickup time from schools in the village,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s what I\u2019d like to see come back in our community as soon as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One year after two of the most destructive wildfires in California\u2019s history erupted just hours apart, survivors commemorated…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":124701,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[5759,1409,217,42531,1431,1073,4915,33343,348,4132,48,52,51,47,50,49,8320,592,64983,4495,20787],"class_list":{"0":"post-124700","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-altadena","9":"tag-city","10":"tag-day","11":"tag-deadly-fire","12":"tag-family","13":"tag-home","14":"tag-hundred","15":"tag-insurance-company","16":"tag-investigation","17":"tag-karen-bass","18":"tag-la","19":"tag-la-headlines","20":"tag-la-news","21":"tag-los-angeles","22":"tag-los-angeles-headlines","23":"tag-los-angeles-news","24":"tag-palisades","25":"tag-people","26":"tag-rally-cry","27":"tag-recovery","28":"tag-survivor"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124700"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124700\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/124701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Pacific](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1767846730_893_.jpeg\")
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