Studies need to be done — deep ones — on why of the 17 known deaths from the Eaton fire, all of them so far were in west Altadena, not in the homes, businesses and institutions in east Altadena, close to the Eaton Canyon ignition point of the blaze.
Warning systems failed. The very concept of how emergency evacuation warnings and then orders from authorities are given will certainly have to be updated and probably radically changed and expanded. Now that the threat of worse wildfires coming into the suburbs adjacent to fire-prone mountains and canyons is clearly higher all over California, there needs to be a total rethink of all kinds of preparedness, from brush cutbacks to the fire-hardening of homes to new innovations in technology so that communication with all residents can be effectively made.
But one geographical fact will remain clear: The reason west Altadenans didn’t get warnings and evacuation orders as early as those close to the original fire is that they were miles away from the neighborhoods initially affected.
No one, including seasoned firefighters, imagined that the storm of burning embers could be blown so far so fast in such a destructive fashion. It’s five miles from the Eaton Canyon ignition point to houses off West Loma Alta Drive that were later that night burned to the ground. This was unprecedented. Don’t believe the conspiracy theories being spread that west Altadena, home to more Latino and Black families than east Altadena, were underinformed intentionally.
But the scope of the disaster shows how dramatically fire warnings need to change. Not everyone, particularly the elderly, so many of whom are among the dead, is adept at navigating mobile phone apps. The fact that one of the earliest warnings to west Altadenans was sent out on X is preposterous. And, though texts were also sent, as county Supervisor Kathryn Barger told KCRW’s Madeline Brown Wednesday, “The texts were not enough. We need to do more.” Now that we know how quickly unprecedented wintertime Santa Anas can spread a fire, everyone needs to do more. Government, including fire department and sheriff’s officials, who did get the word out when the threat became clear, evacuating residents. But also neighborhood and grassroots organizations pulling together in this new era.