On January 8, 2025, gale-force winds and bone-dry weather created a welcome host for two of the worst natural disasters to ever hit the Los Angeles area.
While the Palisades fire burned in the Santa Monica mountains, the Eaton Canyon Fire ripped through the feet of the San Gabriel Hills and desecrated the neighborhood of Altadena. A predictable tragedy due to climate change and continuous cuts to emergency services budgets, the blaze destroyed thousands of homes, claimed lives, and threw an entire community into disarray. Exacerbated by institutional and governmental neglect, the recovery process has been hard and long for Altadena residents.
The Eaton Canyon Fire is another iteration of natural disaster responses falling along racial lines. The Pacific Palisades, an affluent, predominantly white neighborhood nestled between Santa Monica and Malibu, received outpourings of celebrity support, and the bulk of firefighting resources followed. Given that Altadena, an unincorporated city within LA County, did not have its own fire or emergency services department, it was dependent on the support of neighboring cities.
Much of that never came. The emergency shelter in Pasadena created by the Red Cross became superspreaders for disease. Mistreatment of fire survivors ran rampant as Red Cross staff refused to distribute brand new supplies donated by neighbors and opted instead to give out old, dirty items. Newly donated supplies were kept in the basement, locked away from those who needed them. Red Cross volunteers put evacuees up in one or two week hotel stints as a temporary fix, then refused to let people back into the shelter when their stay had concluded. This left many Altadena residents stranded without refuge.
In scenes reminiscent of Hurricane Katrina 20 years ago, Altadena photographer Mykle Parker captured the scale of the fire’s destruction and something else unexpected: the burning passion of community members, neighbors, mutual aid organizations, and small businesses as they banded together for Altadena. The story of the Eaton Canyon Fire underscores that as natural disasters worsen with climate change, Black and Brown working-class people will bear the brunt of the consequences. It is a cautionary tale that reminds us that environmental justice is a racial justice issue, and that community care triumphs as a healing force in ways that institutions and governments cannot reach.
