Overview: The Altadena community gathered to mark the first anniversary of the Eaton Fire, which destroyed homes and caused the loss of 19 lives. Residents expressed frustration at the lack of response from the Los Angeles County Fire Department and called for an investigation into the incident. They also shared personal stories of loss and grief, and called for transparency and reform from county and state officials. The community is demanding an investigation from Attorney General Rob Bonta and State Assemblyperson John Harabedian to find out why the fire department couldn’t get water to burning homes.
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“We learned that night that no one was coming to save us,” said Marisol Espino, a lifelong Altadena resident who lost her family home in the Eaton Fire. “We saw it in the lack of warnings and the evacuation orders that arrived nine hours too late, and the loss of 19 of our neighbors’ lives, so we saved each other.”
Espino’s sentiment was one of poignance, strength and grief – one shared by many of the community members by her side at the Honoring Altadena event hosted at Fair Oaks Burger in Altadena on January 7.
After approximately one thousand people gathered last week for the First Anniversary Commemoration of the Eaton Fire in the Grocery Outlet parking lot in Altadena, many headed to the next gathering of the evening at Fair Oaks Burger. The local restaurant served as a staple in the community last year, serving free meals after the fire. A year later, the community shared stories of collective grief, strength and frustrations, while also calling for transparency and reform.
“There is one person who is legally responsible to investigate…Attorney General [Rob] Bonta owes this community an investigation,” said Gina Clayton-Johnson, a longtime resident of Altadena. “After Maui burned, after the Lahaina fire, guess how many days it took for that Attorney General to investigate that fire? Four. Four days. [We’re] how many days out and we still don’t have an investigation? 365.”
Clayton-Johnson was one of the many community residents who lost their home in the Eaton Fire and spoke during an open mic portion of the night. Each resident had a message to share, centered in personal experience and a call for accountability among county and state officials.
The night revealed that one of the community’s greatest frustrations was the lack of response from the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
“This is an agency with $2 billion in funding… a robust agency that claims they had 3,000 firefighters in Altadena, and yet none of us saw any of them. Somehow, they were invisible,” said Marialyce Pedersen, a resident who also lost the home in which she lived with her son. The school where she taught as a substitute teacher also burned down.
Pedersen expressed frustration as to how the Los Angeles County Fire Department could not figure out how to get water out of hydrants to burning homes. She encouraged the community to look forward to solutions; ones they can shape independently.
“We need to do the job ourselves,” Pederson said. “So join me, please, in forming our Altadena citizen fire brigade and demanding an investigation from Attorney General Rob Bonta and State Assemblymember John Harabedian to find out why our $2 billion fire department doesn’t know how to put out fires.”
In June 2025, Harabedian, chair of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee, initiated an audit by the California State Auditor, which will identify the scope of the fire’s damage, analyze emergency responses, and examine fire preparedness. The audit report has an estimated release date of winter 2026.
Resident Miguel Vidal also shared how he felt abandoned by the fire department, losing pets who were considered part of his family too.
“The worst thing is that today you have a house, and tomorrow you’re homeless and you don’t know where to go,” he said, fighting tears.
Clayton-Johnson is part of Altadena for Accountability, a coalition calling for an investigation by AG Bonta and transparency from L.A. County. She shared that the Eaton Fire was a natural disaster that was the most expensive in U.S. history – even greater than Hurricane Katrina.
Clayton-Johnson recalled how each night when her children would walk to bed they would pass by the artwork from her Great Great Grandmother, who lived and died on a sharecropping farm.
“I know they’re not counting that art on the wall, my Grandma Cassie’s art,” Clatyton-Johnson said. “When a historically Black community burns down – those are the precious things we lose.”
