Four months after an Inferno crossed Altadena, a debris capsule and the shells of the destroyed stores and restaurants are still aligned in the commercial district of North Lake Avenue. Near the top of the street, the beloved Mexican restaurant of Maggie Cortez is located, one of the few survivors of the city.
She and others fear that the area can continue to be a moor, while Altadena's residential parts advance with reconstruction.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency commissioned the US Army Engineers.
“The elimination of commercial property debris is the owner's responsibility.
The pattern survived the Eaton fire that destroyed many close businesses and neighborhoods.
The agency hired ECC builders for more than $ 668 million to do residential cleaning in areas affected by the Eaton fire, as the records show. So, while those lots are being clear with speed, most commercial owners have stayed to clear their land. And many question if they can afford when the commercial perspective is so gloomy, leaving strips of the city not incorporated trapped in a toxic limbo.
Within the pattern, music reproduces on the head as customers are transported to normal. But the reminders of what happened in January are not far away: on the other side of the street are the remains of a pizzeria and a historical church, while the caution tape still clings to the trees of the neighboring park.
Cortez, 45, said that customers, their “family”, whose photos adorn the walls, visit their way to register in their houses destroyed or supervise the remediation. But after an initial increase, businesses have decreased. She fears for the survival of her restaurant.
Cortez lives two blocks away and knows that the view is a deterrent element for potential diners, especially those who still traumatize for fire. “I can feel your pain,” he said.
A church through Lake Avenue of El Patron is in ruins.
The member of the Board of the Chamber of Commerce, Larry Hammond, said there was an initial confusion about whether business owners would get help in the cleaning process. Now, reopene companies face the problem on how to attract people as recovery continues, while those whose businesses are burned if they can reopen in an area that lacks people. Touring all this are questions about the toxins of the properties that have not been eliminated.
“The future is not clear in terms of companies,” Hammond said. “The people who frequented local companies have left.”
The Supervisora Kathryn Barger, which represents Altadena, presented a motion last month to help the economic recovery of the area through small loans and the approval of emerging events and restaurants to operate in vacant lots over the next five years in an effort to bring to the customers back. The county announced Tuesday that companies could request loans for up to $ 75,000, but that they would need to be open to the public to qualify.
Anish Saraiya, Barger's advisor, said the supervisor has advocated debris cleaning to include commercial properties
At the end of El Patron Street outside the webster community pharmacy, trucks that transport debris pass the store store in Lake and Mendoza Street. The store and its surrounding commercial complex survived the fire, but the nearby buildings burned.
The owner of the Webster Pharmacy, Meredith Miller, on the right, had to relocate the store of her historic building one block away after the Eaton fire. Above, hugs the client and resident of Altadena, Nancy Allen.
The owner Meredith Miller said that although some loyal customers have returned, sales have dropped. She imagines that the scene outside does not help.
“There have only been one or two businesses that have done their own cleaning. Apart from that, everything is sitting like the Fire Day. People don't really want to see it,” said Miller, 71. “Because it's annoying.”
The displaced residents who now live in Glassell Park, Monrovia and other neighborhoods return to Webster when they check their properties and to collect medications. Hugs are often shared between customers and Miller; Tears spill.
In the front there is a donation section for people to take toys, toothpaste, sunglasses and books. And bags, t -shirts and hats read “beautiful Altadena”, a phrase that the store coined years ago, and one of the new lenses of the community: “Altadena Strong”.
The owner of the Webster Pharmacy, Meredith Miller, had to relocate the store of her historic building one block away after the Eaton fire.
The pharmacy is a basic element of 99 years in Altadena that Miller and her husband bought 15 years ago. They moved to this location a few blocks from the original site last year and are locked in a five -year lease. His hope is that the pharmacy reaches 100 years, and beyond.
“We really don't just want to give up,” said Miller. “Ultimately, people will return to the community, and they are receiving recipes the best they can fill here … but will spend years to rebuild.”
The fire has left companies dealing with a variety of the next steps. Fair Oaks Burger, for example, survived the fire and is preparing to reopen in a few weeks. The hope is that customers return, but the owners plan to build a wall in the parking lot to hide the ruins that surround it. In Lake, the owners of the Fox restaurant clarified their land, but are not in a hurry to rebuild. And less than five blocks away, Altadena Hardware is trying to find a new place in the city to reopen since the building they leased was destroyed, but the possibilities are limited.
Miller believes that house cleaning should be a priority, but said that help for the stores, offices and restaurants of the community is needed.
“Don't leave us behind,” he said. “We are the businesses in which it depends and trusts for years.”
According to the 2023 data provided by Barger's office, almost 10,500 people lived and worked in Altadena before the fire.
Gail Casburn has lived in the area since 1989. His house in Las Flores Drive burned, but his beer bar and wines survived in Fair Oaks Avenue, another commercial district in the city. She and her husband opened Altadena Ale and Wine House to serve the locals, but without the community, less people have reasons to visit. He is sure that the constant vision of the buildings that are aligned in the street is a deterrent.
“There is no doubt about it, devastation is surreal,” he said.
The bar recently celebrated its 15th anniversary. Casburn said there was an increase in customers that day, but the place has been quieter than before. The other business of his family, the 1881 jazz club further east under the burning zone, has also seen business slowly, he said.
The owner of El Patrona, Maggie Cortez, is fighting for her survival months after the Eaton fire destroyed many close businesses and neighborhoods.
Mariachis acts at the El Patron restaurant in the shadow of a burned structure in Lake Avenue.
In a cloudy and dried May five, the balloons frame the entrance of El Patron as a mariachi band playing. The music filled the restaurant and spilled on the street.
Cortez had considered canceling the annual event, but her clients encouraged her to move on. “This is hope,” they said. “This is a miracle.”
Regular customers for a long time gathered; Cortez greeted each one with a hug and took out his clients, his family, his seats to dance, delivered shots of tequila and introduced them to his granddaughter, born shortly after the fire.
Outside, the sequelae of fire were visible and the smell of ashes persisted with the arrival of the rain. But inside, the view of destruction was eclipsed by the celebration.
