Altadena-Pasadena Eaton Fire | A Bird’s Eye View – Devastation Hits Dena

A little over four years ago I had shared the story of my quest to find a nest in which to raise my small family.

Recommended by a friend, I was looking in the Pasadena area, which I then learned was included in the local nickname of “Dena”, since it is located so closely to another community, a bit closer to the mountains, called Altadena.

Here’s what I wrote then, “A few months ago as I was about to become a momma bird, I spent time flying the airwaves in my valley. I was looking for a place to build a nest for my upcoming family. I had heard good things about the city of Pasadena so I spent many hours flying back and forth in the cool of the evening: north and south, east and west, to see what I could find out about this notable city.”

After much research, I decide to settle our soon to be active family in the Northwest area of Pasadena, just two blocks below Woodbury Rd.

Running East to West, Woodbury is the North/South dividing line between Pasadena and Altadena, and also a main thoroughfare in that neighborhood, very near to the local favorite, Christmas Tree Lane. That’s where the fire mainly stopped. It stopped on the north side and our nest is two blocks to the south of Woodbury.

Our street has many wonderful large trees, and most of the human dwellings were built over 100 years ago! There are sidewalks that I see them walking with their kids and pets along, and a peaceful breeze often blows through these trees. As a bird, it’s an ideal place to live because there are many options for housing, and even though the area is dry (as drought seems to be perpetual), we still can find water nearby, especially when the humans water their plants. When that happens my neighbors and I usually sing out, “waters up, waters up!” chirping alerts to everyone about the opportunity for a good drink and/or bath!

My little ones have been looking forward to beginning at the local bird school and have made friends with some other little fledglings as well. They’ve gotten together to play as they’ve all ventured a bit further from the nest, and have gone out looking for worms together more than a few times! All-in-all, it’s been a peaceful, calm place to live! But this past Tuesday, just after the turn of the new year (and after that giant Rose Parade down on Colorado Blvd.!) the winds began to blow more strongly than I’ve ever experienced. After that, we started to smell something toxic and our instincts started to sense danger. We quieted down and watched as the humans seemed to start to move about in some sort of flurry?! Faster and faster the wind blew, and faster and faster the humans moved. What was going on? We couldn’t be sure what was coming then, but it didn’t seem good.

Tuesday, January 7th, 2025 Everything Changed in Dena

Another bird friend of mine from the East Pasadena area told me that she was flying by Eaton Canyon on New York Dr. on her way home for the day (she lives near Pasadena High School) and she saw a spark on a big wire. As she continued her flight, she became alarmed and began to fly faster – the spark had turned to flame! One of the local human media outlets published a story on the couple who my friend saw taking these photos!

As soon as my friend saw the small flame burst into a larger flame, she flew as fast and hard as she could back to her home in Altadena. She felt an urgency that she, her family and her flock must be warned, that along with the incredibly strong winds, the flames could bring another destructive danger. Later that evening, she came, along with many others, down to Northwest Pasadena on our street. The heat, smoke and ultimately the flames drove them from their beautiful homes.

Thankfully some of the humans there used as much water as they could to soak their plants – so my friends, kids and I were chirping the news far and wide for other birds to come get the refreshing water….

That night is one that we will never forget, with the fire spreading so rapidly – our hearts break at the thought of those who didn’t make it. And those who nests are gone. Also, for the broader community, so special to all of us animals that inhabit nature along with the humans that lived there. Even though Northwest Pasadena has been a wonderful place to live for us and for many, we wonder that our friends won’t be able to return for a long time to that special area called Altadena, “the beautiful”.

***

Editors note:

MANY of our contributors as well as our readers have been affected by the Eaton Fire that spread so rapidly this past week. But FIVE, listed below, have lost their homes and all their belongings.

As of this publishing, the fire is 15% contained, has scarred 14,117 acres and has killed at least six people. If you or those in your network are able, here is a list of those (click on their names to see their stories on CultureHoney.com) who have published with Culture Honey as we have shared stories from DENA these past nearly TEN years!  If you are able to help, here is our list, and THANK YOU from all of us at CultureHoney.com!

*****

Max Boyle, lost his childhood home in Altadena that he recently had been sharing with his wife Jasmine, as well as the studio apartment on the property where his dad Tim lived.

Link for support:  https://gofund.me/1e79ef35

Linda “Peaches” Tavani has been a CultureHoney.com contributor from the beginning. Offering more than 20 articles for our independent online Travel & Culture magazine, she is someone that shares our heart! Linda and her family lost their entire home in Altadena along with all their belongings.

Link for support:  https://gofund.me/d7a81663

Justin Chapman lost his home in Altadena that he shared with his wife Mercedes and their small daughter. You can read a guest story from Mercedes in this week’s edition here. The family in total lost two homes, two cars, and most everything else. Justin shares his memories and a part of his grieving process with us this week here.

Link for support: https://gofund.me/3dddf518

And an honored guest contributor for us, Dennis Robinson, who shared the inspiring story this past summer during the Paris Olympics of his Grandfather, Mack Robinson, (from Altadena!) qualifying and competing in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany.

CultureHoney.com also featured Dennis’ local (and Black-owned) design company in a great story as part of our series by Enrique Bautista, “Roses of Color, Black & Brown Owned Businesses in Dena“. Pasadena CLSC’s website is here. Please support their good work by purchasing their creative, high quality, and local-supporting tee shirts! Dennis’ mother Rose and his younger brother Marshawn have lost their place in Altadena to the Eaton Fire. They’ve lost everything that they owned, along with family photos, keepsakes, and other sentimental items.

Link for support: https://gofund.me/b430a47e

At Culture Honey we stand with all those in the Altadena / Pasadena area who are suffering loss from the Eaton Fire. We were founded in October of 2015 in and operate from our base in Pasadena, California. We continually offer real stories, by real people about the blessings and the hardships of living in our beloved city.

Sylvia Syms

Sylvia and her family are known in the Dena as giving, hospitable and community supportive people. Sylvia has generously shared her poetry and essays with CultureHoney.com readers over the years and has lost her entire home in the Eaton Fire.

Link for support: https://gofund.me/21b90119