Inside the Flames in Upper Hastings

Christmas decorations at Upper Hastings Ranch (Photo – Daniel Peters)

Two weeks into 2025 feel more like days into 2020, with the masks and the torrential downpour of loss that thousands are experiencing.

By Daniel Peters

But it is a fire, not a virus, that is the core of this pain. In the City of Pasadena, you cannot walk ten feet without meeting someone who experienced or knows of someone whose life was affected by the devastating fires that rampaged parts of the City.

One area affected by the Eaton Fire was the Upper Hastings Ranch in Pasadena. Usually admired for its extravagant Christmas decorations, the spotlight has since shifted to the 70-plus homes damaged or destroyed by the fire.

One resident, Paul Novak, evacuated his home on January 7 at 9 p.m. to his in-laws house in Lower Hastings Ranch. He described those moments as “scary,” “nerve-racking,” and “horrifying,” full of smoke and ash and not knowing whether his house would make it. “The last thing we did before we left was hose down the roof and backyard.”

After arriving at his in-laws in Lower Hastings Ranch, police came knocking at 10 p.m., requiring residents to evacuate. So Novak and family were on the move once again, this time to a long night of uncertainty with a family on Lake Avenue.

Upon returning home Wednesday morning, Novak found what his home still standing.  Turning onto his street, he saw four homes burned and then his home,  only two buildings away from where the flames stopped.

“We still have a home, a place where we can stay. We’re safe, and we’re feeling very blessed,” shared Novak. “It’s hard to see people on their property trying to sort through rubble to find whatever they can. Everybody at this point knows half a dozen or a dozen people who’ve lost their homes.”

Thousands of people all across Pasadena and Altadena share with Novak similar experiences of uncertainty, unrest, and horror as they watched those flames rampage.

For information regarding Upper Hastings Ranch and donations, visit the Upper Hastings Ranch Neighborhood Association’s website at upperhastingsranch.org.

Deer at Upper Hastings Ranch (Photo – Daniel Peters)