Families of color, making up over half of Altadena, have bought homes and kept them for generations. The Black homeownership rate exceeds 80%, almost double the national rate.

You can find links in the article below with more information on how to help those affected by the California wildfires.

Fanned by strong winds, the wildfires have killed at least 24 people and swept through 40,000 acres in the Greater Los Angeles area.

As climate change warms the planet, wildfires have become so unpredictable and extreme that new words were invented: firenado, gigafire, fire siege — even fire pandemic. California has 78 more annual “fire days” — when conditions are ripe for fires to spark — than 50 years ago.

Fires across the Los Angeles area have killed at least 24 people and destroyed more than 12,000 structures, officials said, scorching more than 60 square miles and displacing tens of thousands of people.

Firefighters scrambled Sunday to make further progress against wildfires that have destroyed thousands of homes and killed 24 people in the Los Angeles area as forecasters again warned of dangerous weather with the return of strong winds this week.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said firefighters from Mexico were en route to help fight the Eaton Fire. The Eaton Fire is one of several still burning and devastating the Los Angeles area. The fire was first reported Tuesday, Jan. 7, near Altadena and Midwick drives.

When fires swept through Altadena, in Los Angeles County, generational wealth and a place of opportunity for people of color, went up in smoke.

I started receiving texts from other friends who were fleeing Altadena. Families like Jeff and Kevin, two Marines who fell in love in the service, got married at the Altadena Town & Country Club, and had a beautiful baby boy together.

An Associated Press analysis found the first evacuation order covering neighborhoods closest to the start of the devastating Pacific Palisades wildfire didn’t come until about 40 minutes after some of those homes were already burning.

A quick-strike crew of Native American firefighters and journeymen utility workers from the Navajo Nation are helping Los Angeles residents cut through landslides, mangled trees and charred debris of the Eaton Fire that rampaged though the Los Angeles area.

When asked what was the best place for lunch in Altadena, I often recommended Fox’s Restaurant on north Lake Avenue. Their elevated take on the BLT — stacked with roasted