Editor’s Note: This article was first published in our July 2026 Print Edition.
Sheriff Luna with Keni Arts. Inserts: (L-R) Veronica Jones with Victoria. Nic Arnzen with Victoria (Photos – Victoria Knapp)
A year and a half ago, the Eaton Fire forever changed Altadena. Time is a curious thing. Some days it feels as though the fire happened yesterday. Other days, it feels as though it happened in another lifetime. One thing is undeniable: the rebuilding of Altadena continues in earnest.
By Victoria Knapp
Today, 97 homes have been rebuilt, 1,785 are actively under construction, and 3,510 rebuilding permit applications have been submitted, representing more than half of the residential properties destroyed in the fire. There is movement throughout Altadena: foundations are being poured, walls are being framed, and roofs are going on. Construction crews fill our streets each morning, and work trucks have become more common than family cars. I suspect there is no larger residential construction site anywhere in California today.
The numbers tell an important story, but they tell only part of it. Recovery is not measured solely by homes rebuilt. It also is measured by the strength of a community that has refused to lose sight of itself.
This past month offered several reminders of that resilience. Community leaders met with Congresswoman Judy Chu’s office to discuss federal funding for a mobile command post for the Altadena Sheriff’s Station as an investment in the community’s long-term safety and preparedness. Altadena’s first responders joined Habitat for Humanity to help build a home for Ms. Rosa, where local artist Keni Arts presented Sheriff Robert Luna with a framed print of his pre-fire painting of the Altadena Sheriff’s Station.
Altadena also celebrated PRIDE and Juneteenth; these celebrations affirmed that our community continues to embrace the diversity, culture, and shared history that have always defined this remarkable town. These moments matter because they remind us that recovery is about more than construction. It also is about preserving a community’s identity while rebuilding its physical landscape.
Eighteen months into this journey, one lesson has become abundantly clear: recovery is not linear. There are groundbreaking ceremonies and moments of grief. There are milestones worth celebrating alongside difficult decisions that still lie ahead. Progress is real, but so is the emotional weight carried by thousands of families who continue to navigate the long road home.
Yet hope endures. Every construction site reflects a commitment to Altadena’s future. Every volunteer, nonprofit, business, faith community, and public servant who continues to invest time and talents reminds us that this recovery always has been a collective effort.
The Eaton Fire may have changed Altadena forever, but it did not diminish the character of the people who call it home. They are still grieving, celebrating and showing up for one another.
The work ahead remains significant, but so does our resolve. If the past eighteen months have demonstrated anything, it is that Altadena’s greatest asset never has been its homes. It always has been its people. Those people give me hope that some of Altadena’s best chapters are still ahead.
Victoria Knapp, a fire survivor, is the former Chair of the Altadena Town Council.
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