Black Family History In Altadena Has Been Destroyed By The Eaton Canyon Fires

On the evening of January 7, Black residents in Altadena were displaced by the unfathomable strength of a fiery windstorm deriving from Eaton Canyon. In Los Angeles’s mountainside community, more than 100,000 Altadena locals were ordered to evacuate for safety, including multi-generational Black family households who witnessed and experienced the decimation and wreckage of their long standing homes. Most southern Californians are accustomed to wildfire alerts, even those that caused the ominously orange, hazy apocalyptic skies caused by the result of two major fires in Eaton Canyon and Pacific Palisades. However, the 100 mph winds upended a community that housed Black livelihoods, family, and preserved opportunities for many Black business owners. 

This wasn’t always the case in Altadena — before the 1960s, Altadena was red-lined and over 90 percent of the suburban residences were white. Strong protests during the LA Civil Rights era, urban development plans going into motion, and freeway expansion caused the population to become more diverse. By 1970, the landmark city of Altadena became a post-Civil Rights Movement success story of a historic community for Black homeowners yet integration arose in conflict. With increasing economic opportunity, more Black workers seeking financial gains integrated themselves into Altadena — making the community promising. As early as the 1930s, Black residents would purchase and invest in homes, laying the foundation for future generations of Black livelihoods to thrive. 

When the ferocious Eaton Canyon fires struck, many natives wondered whether the evacuation warnings were as serious because the county didn’t alert many warnings for the potentially life-threatening nature of these sprouting fires. Several Black elders died protecting their homes, guarding them with bravery and a water hose in-hand while others lost their lives trying to secure their disabled family members who were immobile  and couldn’t leave the area safely in time. The matriarch of her family, Tonita Fernandez had to abandon all that she knew at her home in Altadena due to recovering from a recent heart surgery. With the spread of rock-sized embers and not much time to think about gathering essentials, hundreds of multi-generational Black families became displaced after its destruction, leaving them unhoused. Some neighbors like the Williams family, Jenkins family, and Martin family, lived blocks away from their cousins, elders, and siblings and were quite grateful of the tight network they could maintain with their relatives. Others like the Callum family were very proud of starting a fresh chapter in Altadena with their young son and daughter, however, the Eaton fires consumed all of their home’s foundation and now, they are left vulnerable.

From the mid-1930s to the late 1960s, the racial red-lining of Altadena prevented many Black residents from being able to take out a home loan. So, for those Black natives who were able to fight for a plot of land and home since the 1940s, like the Lewis family, who laid deep roots, are facing a devastating event that hit too close to home. Grandma Lewis, Johnnie-Mamie Armstrong convinced her relatives to come to the “promise land” that was known as Altadena — her Pastor son, Jonathan A. Lewis sought refuge there and led the 1926 Black church of the Altadena Fountain of Life Church of the Nazarene which was completely destroyed. 

“My father’s church and our family highlights the rich history and legacy of Black folks across Altadena,” grandson, Jonathan A. Lewis states. “Hopefully, seen as an act of inspiration to keep going, my father fully intends to rebuild and stay in Altadena.” Many community members from local cities nearby in Los Angeles have taken it upon themselves to give back, donate, and attempt to physically repair and console those who have lost everything. Currently, Pasadena nonprofits are requesting monetary donations that will support families to rebuild. Yoga studio WalkGoodLA, Holy Assembly Church, USAL, and more have become donation pick-up centers for families.

Coach Walt Butler’s son and daughters shared an emotional memory of Walt speaking about the pain he feels losing his home of over 60 years. In his response, Walter Butler passionately spoke of taking the clothes off of his own back and gifting them to former student-athletes he would see become unhoused at local bus stops and the community resonated with his loss and heart. As a soulful mentor figure of Altadena, Butler has been receiving support for his future healing and plans to rebuild his home and prized vehicles. A sudden natural disaster can’t deter Black human progress from gearing towards a new chapter. Despite challenges, the strong Black community that was built by the hands and minds of Black writers, leaders, and middle-class workers are going to prove that they can reconstruct their society again.

In reality, the aftermath of these fires have led Black families feeling hopeless and fearful of future red-lining even with plans of rebuilding. With these formerly housed plots of land dissolved into rubble, Black residents are weary of home insurance companies, realtors, and banks looking to gentrify the area even though some Black elders bought their houses for affordable rates decades ago. With Black homeownership exceeding over 80%, over 43,000 Black folks occupied Altadena and the housing rate is abundant compared to the national rate of Black homeownership.

Now, over 440 Black families are utilizing crowdfunding resources in order to ask the public for help. Over 8 million dollars has been donated to these families, however, there was also over 150 billion dollars of damages to Los Angeles’s greater community. A small financial fraction of what it will take for generations of these natives to heal and fully restore the community they all found peace, soul, and security in. In Octavia Butler’s 1993 “Parable of the Sower”, the afro-futuristic writer hinted at a life-threatening fire wreaking havoc against Los Angeles in 2025 and her premonition was devastatingly true as she is buried in her home of Pasadena, herself.

The near future has to be an overflowing well full of community support for Black Altadena to return to even the slightest sense of normalcy. At the moment, essential goods are vital as the Los Angeles fires continue to rage. With the exacerbation of climate change, wildfire season in Los Angeles used to be around 70 days long, now, the season is year-round, meaning year-round community aid and services need to be necessitated for the survival of these Black families’ lineage and heritage in Altadena. A glimmer of hope is on the horizon as the community comes together to protect these endangered Black families from further devastation while rectifying the vestiges of a community that is an aspirational, cultural beacon full of aged passion for Los Angeles.

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