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After the 2009 Station Fire (160,557 acres torched, 89 structures burned), Pasadena Glen neighbors decided to be proactive about taking care of their area, which firefighters have di\ufb03culty reaching due to limited access and very steep hillsides. After forming the FSC, Mala registered for grants\u2014securing over $1 million to date\u2014much of which have been used for clearing brush and trees around homes and on the surrounding hillsides. Her work with the FSC expanded beyond her neighborhood when she became a regional representative during COVID, helping Southern California residents be better prepared to survive a wildfire. In her own neighborhood, Mala has hosted guest speakers and has led drills, community emergency response team (CERT) training and workshops. Her evacuation training sessions addressed things like what to do when you must evacuate quickly. Repetition of training and information is important for readiness, she has learned. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
By noon the day of the Eaton Fire, Mala said they were already on high alert. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019d been getting all of the weather warnings, Edison had shut the power o\ufb00 at four that afternoon, and the winds were crazy, so everybody knew there was a lot of danger.\u201d Pacific Palisades was already fiercely on fire, with hundreds of homes burned. To get more information about local fires, she turned to apps: Pulse Point for emergency agency activity, Watch Duty for active fires and number of units called to fight them. The Eaton Fire started at 6:17 p.m. and had around 30 units dispatched immediately to fight it. Mala thought, \u201cIt\u2019s going to be huge.\u201d Using Slack, email and emergency notification system One Call Now, around 6:30 p.m. she notified neighbors\u2014 many of whom had been preparing to leave\u2014\u201cYou need to evacuate now.\u201d An image Mala took around 7 p.m. as the neighborhood evacuated shows the flames frighteningly close to Pasadena Glen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mala and Phil helped evacuate a neighbor\u2019s horses then returned to their own home and closed windows, turned o\ufb00 the gas, and pulled out and turned on the water for hoses. As the emergency response leader, Mala was the last in the neighborhood to leave\u2014she thought. Several in the neighborhood, including a neighbor\u2019s son, who is a firefighter, stayed behind to douse spot fires, saving her home and others. All the homes in Pasadena Glen were spared. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when they left Pasadena Glen to stay at a friend\u2019s house in northeast Pasadena around 7:30 p.m., the fire was expanding. \u201cDuring dinner at our friend\u2019s home, we got another evacuation notice, because the fire was not only burning the wilderness near Eaton Canyon but was starting to eat away at houses in Pasadena and Altadena. So, we evacuated to my mother-in-law\u2019s in West Los Angeles,\u201d she says. \u201cWe went to bed at 3 a.m. and then got up at 7 a.m. and turned the news on. We learned our rental home in southwest Altadena, miles from the mountains, was in danger. That street was on fire, and houses were burning down. We thought, What in the world is going on? Because that\u2019s just insane. How could it have burned through that many houses? But it did. It did.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Remarkably, their home in Altadena, a 1909 all-wood bungalow, still stands, once again thanks to neighbors. Their renters evacuated safely and have since returned to the remediated Altadena property. Unfortunately, most of the rest of the homes on that block are gone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Throughout Altadena and Pasadena, there are structures within devastated neighborhoods that survived. \u201cMost of those houses are still standing because somebody was there with a hose or a pool and a pump, because many of the firefighters were already away fighting the Palisades fire,\u201d Mala says. The 100 mph winds were blowing the embers everywhere, so anything that was prone to ignite, did.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mala says her family is incredibly grateful to those who sacrificed their safety to save lives and property (14,120 acres burned; about 7,500 structures destroyed in the Eaton Fire alone). In the aftermath, intense storms on February 13 and March 13 caused all of the loose materials on hillsides where supporting vegetation was burned to flow down the Pasadena Glen stream. The fast- moving debris flows were full of gigantic boulders, trees and other materials. Many properties\u2019 yards were damaged by the mud\/rock slurry, including Mala\u2019s and Phil\u2019s, but no one was injured. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now Mala is working with another Pasadena Glen organization, the Pasadena Glen Community Services District, to have the neighborhood stream channel and roads repaired, get water service restored and clean up the remaining mud along the roads and in many yards. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Those winter rains also deposited rich ash and silt from the uninhabited hills above the neighborhood, resulting in abundant weeds, vibrant flowers and overflowing fruit trees (Mala\u2019s plum tree is sagging). It\u2019s a seeming paradise that Mala and other residents realize may not last. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGlobal warming makes me feel like what we\u2019re doing is a little bit in vain because it\u2019s just going to get hotter and the storms more extreme,\u201d she says. \u201cWe can keep ramping up our e\ufb00orts to prevent damage, but I don\u2019t think we\u2019re going to keep up. We\u2019re going to start losing ground faster and faster. I don\u2019t want to stop trying. I just think it will eventually become untenable to live in a neighborhood like this.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mala says she will continue leading neighbors in home hardening workshops and evacuation training so that, together, they\u2019ll be prepared for whatever comes next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Disaster Prep Tips<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhether it\u2019s fire, flood, debris flow, earthquake, plane crash, riots, whatever, we all need to be prepared,\u201d Mala says. \u201cEmergency services from the city or county will not be able to help everybody. We have to depend on ourselves and neighbors.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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- Get to know your neighbors\u2019 strengths, equipment and availability. Sign up for the Map Your Neighborhood program through the Red Cross. Or, set up a neighborhood meeting.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Find out from your neighborhood or community leadership which emergencies are most likely in your neighborhood, then research how to prepare. See L.A. County Fire Department\u2019s Ready! Set! Go!<\/a> booklet on how to prepare for fire.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Think about how you\u2019ll get information in an emergency, especially if power, cell network and\/or internet is out. Do you have a battery-powered FM radio? Is there a HAM radio operator in your neighborhood? Who can go door-to-door in your neighborhood to warn everyone?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Discuss with family, roommates, etc. evacuation plans based on how much time you have: from five minutes to several hours or days. Include communication in the plan, so everyone knows everyone\u2019s location and that they are safe. Do this now,<\/strong> before any disaster! Have one out-of-state phone number that everyone knows to call with status updates. It\u2019s often easier to call out-of-state when phone communications are impacted by an emergency.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Enroll in free CERT training<\/a> to learn how to prepare for and respond to emergencies.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Have a go bag and keep its contents updated. See Build a Kit<\/a> or NPR\u2019s guide<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Have a plan; visit Emergency Survival Plan<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Keys to a New Beginning<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Harvey Mudd College donated its B\u00f6sendorfer grand piano to Jeanina Quezada, a pianist, teacher and director of a Foothills Music Together program whose Altadena residence was among the 6,000 homes destroyed during the Eaton Fire in February. The B\u00f6sendorfer, a high-end Austrian piano known for its quality and craftsmanship, resided for years on campus in the Garrett House (past HMC presidents\u2019 residence). \u201cThis piano\u2014that has brought music to this campus for so many years\u2014to have this special new home is a heartwarming thing in the midst of this great tragedy in our community,\u201d says music professor Bill Alves. Quezada credited the piano donation and other community support with helping her rebuild her professional life. \u201cBeing able to keep teaching gives my students\u2014and myself\u2014normalcy,\u201d she says. \u201cThis gift ensures that my students and I can continue our work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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