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Crisis | Well-being | Los Angeles
Sparked into Crisis — Stages of Grief and Hope During the Eaton Fire that Destroyed Altadena
From sudden evacuation into working with neighbors, my emotions have been jolted hard
Our power went out Tuesday morning, Jan. 7 and winds were blowing furiously. Power went out again in the afternoon and our house was dark as the sun set but the winds kept blowing strong and has forever changed us, our community of Altadena, and many lives in Los Angeles County.
Living through the wildfire with winds whipping up to 99 miles per hour that destroyed neighborhoods and businesses in Altadena has led me through a cycle of stages:
Shock
We live on the eastern edge of the Altadena Golf Course. I went from lying down for a brief nap to debating evacuation with my wife within ten minutes.
The fire moved rapidly.
Our power was out and we had flashlights on.
At 6:05 p.m. I lay down for a nap. A few minutes later my wife looked said there’s pictures online of a fire in the hills behind us.
She stepped outside and yelled for me to look. The slopes behind us leading up to Mt. Wilson…
