Jan. 7, 2025, marked the beginning of over eight catastrophic wildfires that struck Los Angeles, the largest of them being the Palisades and Eaton fires. The latter burned down a majority of Altadena, an unincorporated community in Los Angeles County near the San Gabriel Mountains.
“I think a lot of people don’t know how many Black people there are in Altadena. It’s a Black and Brown area,” explained Rachel Aladdin, who is impacted by the loss of not one, but three of her family’s Altadena homes.
“These are generational Black homes. These are everyday people, working people, some people who only have a house because it is passed down to them.
“My aunt’s house is gone. My two cousins’ homes are gone,” she said. “My aunt’s house, that was like the main house for my family. She’s the keeper of our family heirlooms, our photos, even my dad’s urn was in the home.”
Altadena represents Rachel’s childhood, as well as key moments in her life.
“My dad passed away in my grandmother’s home here. Sometimes on my dad’s anniversary, I’ll go around and revisit all my stomping grounds. I’ll go to my grandmother’s house, [then] the place I lived with after my parents split, then I’ll go up and see the house my aunt had the majority of my life, and I could walk to the Chase where I had my first job,” she recalled.
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On the eve of the Eaton fire, Rachel believed the evening to be the end of a rather normal day.
“I was actually unaware of what was going on. My friend called me, and I was in the bathtub, and she told me that people were leaving their homes,” Rachel remembered.
The first obstacle that arose for Rachel – and many other friends and family trying to reach their loved ones in Altadena – was reception: because of its close proximity to the mountains, Altadena’s cell service is notoriously unreliable. However, winds of nearly 100 mph gravely exacerbated this issue.
Rachel tried to warn her family that evacuations had begun, but power outages and downed telephone lines left most of Altadena in a physical and digital darkness.
“Five people live in that home, and I couldn’t reach any of them,” mourned Rachel.
Finally, her aunt called at 10:30 p.m. and asked Rachel to come pick up her family. She remembered, “from the corner of their house, I could see the fire.”
After Rachel and her family evacuated, her cousin decided to go back to see the damage, but was not expecting to see rubble.
“[We] drove down the block, and it was just chimney, chimney, chimney. That’s all there was. While we’ve had fire scares, no one anticipated they wouldn’t have a home to come back to,” Rachel said.
“When I came back, I tried to look for my dad’s urn because it was metal, and I thought it was salvageable. I was digging where it was sitting, and the ash was still warm. Everything was still warm. And I couldn’t find it.”
While they mourn the loss of their homes, their possessions, and their feeling of safety and belonging in Los Angeles, Rachel and her family are grateful for their lives.
“We’re all safe, and that’s the good part. My aunt is the strongest woman I know,” Rachel admitted.
To contribute to the Aladdin family’s GoFundMe, please visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-my-family-rebuild-after-eaton-canyon-fire