The Brief

The Terraces at Park Marino once stood less than 2 miles from where the Eaton Fire started in the foothills above the Pasadena-Altadena border on the evening of Jan. 7.

By the time the assisted living community burned to the ground, all of its nearly 100 residents had gotten out.

But the last resident to exit — a woman who uses a wheelchair — remained inside her third-floor room for hours before Pasadena firefighters reached her and brought her to safety, according to a state investigation report released over the summer.

The California Department of Social Services cited The Terraces in August, saying authorities there had left the woman behind in room 326 — a violation of her personal rights as a care facility resident.

The facility denies that and has since appealed. They say first responders were in charge of evacuation efforts that night, not staff. And they say staff alerted firefighters about the woman in room 326 after they arrived on the scene.

“[She] was never abandoned,” said Adam Khalifa, chief executive of Diversified Health Services, in a statement. The organization owns and operates the facility.

“She was rescued by firefighters after our staff alerted them that she was unable to evacuate from the third floor because she requires a wheelchair and the elevators were out,” the statement continued.

The dispute between the facility and state officials has raised questions about who’s responsible for keeping track of residents at residential care facilities during an emergency evacuation, as well as how complaints are investigated and reported to the public.

The Terraces is one of two residential care facilities that state authorities cited for failing to properly account for residents during evacuations. The other — MonteCedro in Altadena — is still standing. State licensing authorities said they cannot comment on pending appeals.

The complaint that launched the investigation

When the state's investigation into The Terraces' evacuation began in February, licensing authorities were looking into a separate allegation. That initial complaint was connected to a resident named Dorothy Benesh who lived in room 315 of The Terraces, not the woman in room 326 who was rescued by Pasadena Fire personnel.

The details in the state’s initial investigation into the complaint into what happened in room 315 match allegations Jim Benesh told LAist and the Los Angeles Times. Benesh said that he rescued his mother Dorothy from her room in The Terraces after he called her on the phone repeatedly and determined she needed help. He said staff left her in her room for at least two hours after they began moving others down to the lobby.

Benesh told LAist he did not contact the California Department of Social Services to file a complaint but did tell investigators what happened when they called him with questions.

“I responded and told them I wished the protocol for evacuation was better, so that they actually check the building for everyone left behind and not just assume everyone got out,” Benesh said. “Because my mom didn't get out — until I got there.”

State investigators were not able to substantiate the complaint that matches Benesh’s allegation.

But over the course of their investigation, they determined a different person — the woman in room 326 — had been left behind during the evacuations.

The California Department of Social Services said that’s what led to the citation, according to the report.

Residents are not identified by name in state investigative reports. LAist was not able to identify or contact the woman in room 326 who the state says was left behind or her family.

LAist reached out to over a dozen former residents and family members for this story. Multiple residents told LAist the buildings were safely evacuated on Jan. 7.

Serena Bernolak’s mother was at The Terraces in January and was among the evacuees. Bernolak said she “firmly” believes staff at the facility did their best as the fast-moving Eaton Fire advanced. But, she said, there’s room for improvement.

“I think there should be some type of reform so that when a situation like this comes up, these care facilities are evacuated immediately,” Bernolak said.

Residents of The Terraces and other facilities are evacuated as the Eaton Fire approaches on Jan. 7, 2025, in Altadena.

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Ethan Swope

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Associated Press

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How the evacuations unfolded 

On Jan. 7, staff at The Terraces started gathering residents in the lobby around 7 p.m, according to the state report. That was about a half an hour after they first spotted flames on a nearby hillside.

At 7:26 p.m., L.A. County officials sent evacuation orders to the area, according to the county Office of Emergency Management. But staff at The Terraces said they did not receive an evacuation notification because power was out, according to the state citation.

Bernolak was texting with facility staff soon after the fire started to find out whether her mother, Anna Ruggiero, was OK. Bernolak was unprepared to care for her mother at home because she was completely immobile, she told LAist. At 8:18 p.m., Bernolak texted an employee at The Terraces.

“Hi,” she wrote, according to screenshots of text messages reviewed by LAist. “Are there plans to evacuate?”

The Terraces employee replied at 8:31 p.m., according to the screenshots: “You should come get your mom asap. Not worried about fire, but smoke is coming in”

Bernolak told LAist she dashed out the door of her home in East Pasadena and arrived at The Terraces less than 10 minutes later.

According to fire authorities, the Pasadena Fire Department arrived at The Terraces by 8:30 p.m. By then, two sides of the building were burning, Capt. Trey Sorensen told LAist, in a statement.

Some people were being transported away in private ambulances and personal cars. Most were sheltering in place and awaiting further instruction, Sorensen said on a podcast in April.

Once fire conditions worsened, Sorenson "directed residents and staff to be relocated to avoid loss of life," according to a written statement provided to LAist by a city of Pasadena spokesperson.

Between 8:45 p.m. and 9:15 p.m., staff members tried to get back inside the burning building to continue the evacuations, but firefighters wouldn’t let them enter, state investigators wrote in their report.

Around this time, someone alerted the Pasadena Fire Department about the woman still inside room 326, investigators wrote. The state report said she was rescued by Pasadena Fire after her “responsible party” called Pasadena police.

Exactly who first alerted authorities that the woman needed rescue is under dispute.

A spokesperson for the city of Pasadena told LAist in November that the woman in room 326 was evacuated by the Pasadena Fire Department after the Pasadena Police Department “received a call from their family member stating they needed assistance.”

Representatives for The Terraces have said in state appeals and statements to LAist that it was facility staff who notified authorities that the woman was still in her room.

Administrators and staff from The Terraces did not agree to be interviewed, but the CEO that operates the facility and one caregiver provided written statements to LAist, through a public relations specialist.

Zion Brown worked in The Terraces’ memory care unit as the lead medication technician. He and his co-workers made multiple trips carrying residents down from the upper floors, he told LAist in a written statement.

“The last time we went back up, we were overtaken by firefighters who told us we had to get out [of] the building, which was on fire," Brown said. “I told them there was still someone in room 326 and they said they would evacuate that resident.”

The Pasadena Police Department told LAist that it had no record of any 911 calls associated with The Terraces evacuation. The tip was provided in the field, according to a statement from Pasadena Police Department Administrator Alicia Patterson.

“The information was relayed by an evacuee to the command post,” Patterson wrote. “The information was then relayed to fire personnel.”

A wheelchair left in the 7-Eleven parking lot on Jan. 8, 2025, after several care facilities staged evacuations there the night prior, including The Terraces at Park Marino.

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Sharon McNary

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LAist

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In an August appeal of the state’s findings, operators at The Terraces said their staff no longer had control over the evacuation once first responders showed up.

They cited a section of state law that says firefighters can restrict access to disaster areas, and that those who refuse to comply can be charged with a misdemeanor.

News footage from the scene shows staff from The Terraces working with fire personnel and sheriff’s deputies to move dozens of residents to a nearby 7-Eleven parking lot and then onto city buses.

Sorensen recounted the chaotic evacuation of the woman in room 326 in the podcast interview, saying firefighters came “down the stairwell with the wheelchair. … This lady, her head is wrapped in a blanket and towel so that she doesn’t get smoke inhalation. They’re like, ‘Where are we going?’ I’m like ‘7-Eleven.’”

Bernolak, who received a text message from The Terraces to pick up her mother as the fire neared, said she is thankful for what The Terraces staff did to help move her mother and many others to safety.

She said the facility’s medical director carried her mother down three flights of stairs and helped her onto a bus.

“ He put himself in harm's way to get my mom out of the building,” Bernolak said.

The timeline at The Terraces

Emergency planning

LAist filed a public records request seeking incident reports, service logs and 911 call recordings documenting the Pasadena police and fire departments’ response to The Terraces that night, along with other nearby facilities that were evacuated. Pasadena authorities said no such records exist.

Sorensen, the Pasadena fire captain who led the city response at the facility, praised The Terraces staff for their efforts in an email the facility quoted in its state appeal.

“Your staff did an amazing job facilitating one of the most amazing tasks I have ever seen accomplished in my 23 year career!” Sorensen wrote to an employee who worked at the now-destroyed facility.

All long-term care facilities in California are required by law to have written evacuation plans, updated annually and filed with the state. This includes assisted living facilities and nursing homes. But when the Eaton and Palisades fires tore through the region, many of those plans were outdated or failed to identify clear procedures, transportation plans and relocation sites.

LAist reviewed more than 70 plans filed with the state by residential care facilities in L.A. County that were evacuated during last year’s fires. We found over 90% were outdated. Over one-third were last approved a decade ago or longer despite a state law that requires yearly reviews and up-to-date plans.

The plan in place at The Terraces when the Eaton Fire hit had been last approved in 2020, according to state records. Operators assigned evacuation duties — including transportation, head counts and notifying families — to staff members by name.

The plan also identified two nearby facilities as temporary relocation sites: Two Palms Care Center and Pasadena Park Health and Wellness Center, both in Pasadena. On Jan. 7, neither facility was an option. They, too, were under evacuation orders. Two Palms eventually burned down. Pasadena Park was damaged by the Eaton Fire and remains closed.

Rachel Tate, who oversees the L.A. County ombudsman program for long-term care facilities, said many assisted living and nursing homes craft plans for smaller emergencies — like those that involve only one facility, not hundreds.

“I don't think that facilities in Los Angeles County were braced the way they should be for regional incidents where so many people were impacted at the same time,” she said.

The Terraces plans to rebuild and reopen in 2027, according to public statements by the facility’s former community director.

Over the summer, state authorities ordered The Terraces to submit a written plan to update their emergency disaster procedures to avoid fines.

A representative for The Terraces provided LAist a copy of the documents submitted to state authorities in August after the citation. They outline some evacuation procedures including transportation logistics, confirming residents locations and communicating with family members during emergencies.

Diversified Health Services Inc., the Oakland-based company that owns and operates The Terraces, also owns and runs the Gardens at Park Balboa assisted living facility in Van Nuys. The Terraces’ new emergency plan lists the Van Nuys facility, about 30 miles away, as its single temporary shelter location.

A representative for The Terraces said in an email that they will update the plan with more details once the facility is rebuilt and restaffed.

Dorothy Benesh’s evacuation 

Jim Benesh called his mother repeatedly between about 6:45 p.m. and 8:40 p.m. on the evening of Jan. 7, Benesh told LAist. He also tried to call The Terraces directly, he said.

“The reason I didn’t go over there immediately is because my mom said the alarm was going off and she was supposed to stay in her room,” Benesh told LAist.

He said he drove to The Terraces, walked through the building’s glass doors around 9 p.m. and then upstairs to his mother’s room. He said all the doors he saw were wide open aside from room 315, which belonged to his mother.

“My mom was sitting on her couch,” Benesh said. “I told her we needed to move immediately.”

Using his cellphone for light, Benesh said he carried his mother, then 96, and her walker down three flights of stairs. They exited the building at around 9:15 p.m, according to Benesh.

Benesh could not immediately provide LAist with phone records that corroborated his timeline, explaining that they were no longer saved on his phone or by his phone company.

Benesh said two paramedics helped transport him and his mother back to his parked car, but he was unable to determine what agency they worked for.

Khalifa, The Terraces’ CEO, told LAist he believes the timeline of Jim Benesh’s story is not correct. By 9:15 p.m., firefighters had been at the facility for nearly an hour and the building was fully engulfed in flames, Khalifa said in a statement.

“The confirmed factual timeline does not support that account,” Khalifa wrote.

Benesh disputes this.

“But it did happen,” he told LAist this week. “He wasn’t there. And none of the people he claims were trying to get in between 8:45 and 9:15 were there."

"I don’t hold a grudge against The Terraces, I just want to make sure proper protocols are in place so this doesn’t happen again," he continued.

The remains of The Terraces at Park Marino — an assisted living facility that burned in the Eaton Fire.

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Allen J. Schaben

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Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

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State authorities investigated the claim about Benesh’s mother but were unable to substantiate it, according to initial findings in May. They concluded that Benesh’s version of events could be accurate, but without witnesses there was no way to confirm it.

In August, the state Department of Social Services removed the May report from the website where it tracks complaints and citations. A new report posted that month found The Terraces had failed to remove a different resident during the evacuations — the woman in room 326. The second report didn’t change the state’s findings about Dorothy Benesh, which remain unsubstantiated.

In November, The Terraces filed a revised appeal accusing the state of violating public records laws by initially deleting its original May report, rather than keeping both versions on the website. The facility argued in that appeal that the second report from state authorities left out key information and failed to record any new findings about the first complaint about Dorothy Benesh.

“This substitution created confusion in the public record,” the appeal said.

As of this month, the removed report had been restored on the California Department of Social Services’ website. Both reports are now visible to the public.

This reporting was supported by the Fund for Investigative Journalism. None of our funders have any influence on our editorial decisions.

Some government funding streams for L.A. County’s public health system are drying up, and officials are turning to private philanthropy to fill the gap.

A new privately funded foundation launched Thursday to strengthen public health services after $50 million in federal, state and local funding cuts to the county’s Department of Public Health since early last year.

“It is really a hard day for our community when we have to ask for private donations to fund a public good, but unfortunately, we've lost too much money to not take this important step,” said Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer.

In February, the county’s Public Health Department closed seven clinics, with six remaining open. About half of the patients seen in those clinics are uninsured, according to county officials. The department also cut hundreds of staff positions.

Ferrer is on the board of the new foundation, The Fund for Advancing Public Health LA, which held its first meeting Thursday.

She said the fund will help the county maintain its basic public health infrastructure, including disease prevention, health promotion, environmental health, and emergency response efforts.

Other board members include several health insurance executives, as well as actors Sean Penn and Danny Trejo. Board member Saree Kayne of the R&S Kayne Foundation pledged $150,000 to the fund Thursday. Kayne said she hopes the donation encourages others to give.

The foundation aims to raise $2 million this year.

More cuts expected

L.A. County Supervisor Holly Mitchell said it’s crucial to have an alternative funding stream to protect services for the county's most vulnerable residents.

“We are saving public health,” Mitchell said. “This fund represents a new approach, one that brings together government philanthropy in the private sector to invest in community-based solutions, protect vulnerable populations, and strengthen our public health infrastructure.”

Officials say more public health cuts are coming, through the federal budget law known as the "Big Beautiful Bill," which slashes funding for Medi-Cal.

The county Department of Public Health anticipates losing up to $300 million in revenue over the next three years because of the federal budget bill and other potential funding freezes. Federal funding accounts for almost 50% of the public health budget, according to county officials.

Mitchell also led an effort to put a half-percent county sales tax increase to fund public health on the June ballot.

If approved by voters, that proposal, known as Measure ER, is expected to raise about $1 billion a year for county safety net health services, including about $100 million for the public health department.

Board members

The Fund for Advancing Public Health LA announced its founding board of directors, which includes:

• Dr. Barbara Ferrer, LA County Department of Public Health director
• Debbie I. Chang, Blue Shield of California Foundation CEO
• Sean Penn, actor and co-founder of Community Organized Relief Effort (CORE)
• Martha Santana-Chin, LA Care Health Plan CEO
• Saree Kayne, R&S Kayne Foundation CEO
• Danny Trejo, actor and restaurateur
• Jarrett Barrios, an executive at the American Red Cross
• Dr. Deborah Prothrow-Stith, Charles R. Drew University College of Medicine Dean
• Kristin McCowan, an executive at the Los Angeles Dodgers

The Rose Bowl in Pasadena may be a centenarian, but it’s holding up pretty well as it continues to host events on its way to a starring role in the LA28 Olympics.

But before it can host the soccer final, it needs fixes, especially to the infrastructure serving the bathrooms and drinking fountains. Fears of a toilet backup while in the world’s spotlight led Rep. Laura Friedman to seek federal funds for upgrades. On Thursday she announced she secured just over $1 million.

“Two years from now, athletes around the world are going to compete for gold right where we are standing. This is not the time to find out whether or not these pipes are up to the task,” Friedman said.

The planned work, she added, will lead to improved water flow capacity and water drainage, eliminating the risk of backups and emergency maintenance.

The funds came from the House of Representatives Interior and Environment subcommittee. The fixes, an official said, will be completed by the LA28 Olympics.

The funds, however, are a drop in the bucket when it comes to what’s needed to make needed improvements to the Pasadena venue.

Officials, including (left to right) Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation President Dedan Brozino, Deputy Fire Chief of the City of Pasadena Tim Sell, Congresswoman Laura Friedman, and Rose Bowl Stadium CEO Jens Weiden announced infrastructure funding for the 103-year old Rose Bowl.

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“Over the  next 20 years there's about $200 million that we need to put in and that's everything from updating light fixtures to updating gas, water, wastewater lines, etc.,” said Dedan Brozino,  president of the Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation, the nonprofit that supports the Rose Bowl stadium's preservation and enhancement.

Getting venues ready will be expensive

The money is a much-needed win at a time when elected officials in city, county, state and federal offices have been struggling to find the funds to get L.A.-area venues ready for the global Olympic stage in two years.

The entrance to a men's bathroom at the Rose Bowl.

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A $360 million proposal to spruce up asphalt in parking lots around Exposition Park won’t be done in time for the Olympics, as originally planned. Meanwhile, just up the street, there’s concern that a $2.6 billion expansion of the L.A. Convention Center, which is hosting Olympic wrestling, fencing and judo in 2028 won’t be ready for the Olympics.

Additionally, to save money, LA28 organizers moved Olympic diving to the Rose Bowl complex last year because it has two Olympic-sized pools, while the Exposition Park complex doesn't and would need expensive upgrades.

Topline:

About the chick: The chick hatched March 14. The zoo opened its Cape vulture enclosure in February 2025 after years of planning to encourage the birds to roost and nest, welcoming a new breeding pair that year. When it grows to be an adult, it’ll have a wingspan of 8 1/2 feet.

About the enclosure: The L.A. Zoo said it spent years developing the vulture habitat, which was designed to mimic the vultures’ natural environment in South Africa and nearby countries. Dominick Dorsa II, the zoo’s director of animal care, said in a statement the successful hatching is “a testament to the design and construction” of the habitat.

How to see the chick: You can’t for the time being. Zoo officials are keeping it away from visitors until the chick matures, though you can still see adult Cape vultures at the zoo’s enclosure.

Though visitors will have to wait until the chick matures to see it in the enclosure, you can still take in the impressive eight and a half foot wingspan of the adult Cape vultures.

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What zoo officials are saying: “Welcoming a Cape vulture chick is a thrilling moment for our team and a beacon of hope for African vultures,” the L.A. Zoo’s curator of birds Rose Legato said in a statement. “Vultures are one of nature's most misunderstood marvels, and I cannot wait for our guests to eventually watch this chick grow and learn just how vital they are to our ecosystems.”

About the species: Cape vultures are listed as a vulnerable species due to human activities and encroachment. According to the L.A. Zoo, African vultures are more closely related to eagles and hawks than vultures native to the Americas, like the zoo's California condors that hatched last year.

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

What should have been a celebration for formerly incarcerated youth completing a reentry program at the Boyle Heights Arts Conservatory (BHAC) last week instead ended with seven students and two staff members detained by the Los Angeles Police Department, according to witnesses. 

Now, nearly a week later, BHAC staff and city officials are demanding answers from the LAPD, with some accusing officers of racial profiling. 

According to the LAPD, officers observed a large group gathered on the corner of Cesar E. Chavez Avenue and Mott Street around 4:16 p.m. on March 26. Authorities then requested backup for what they described as “a large group surrounding officers,” LAPD Public Information Officer Tony Im said. 

The group, classified by police as an “aggressive gang group,” consisted of seven 18-year-old students from the BHAC’s Bridge Academy Movement (BAM) program and two BHAC staff members.

The BAM program pays formerly incarcerated youth to complete 200-250 hours in media and visual arts training to prepare them for creative careers. That day, students were set to showcase their work at the BAM program graduation for families and community members. 

Rene Weber, a teaching artist at the BHAC, had been with the students setting up for the ceremony minutes before the incident occurred. 

According to Weber, the students had gone to coffee across the street at Milpa Kitchen as they often did, when staff were alerted that they were being detained. 

Weber said he arrived to find students and a staff member pressed against the wall in handcuffs. 

Video from the scene, taken by a staff member at the BHAC, shows multiple officers surrounding the group. At one point, an officer orders a person to “get on the wall” and displays a stun gun.  

“No, none of that, these are kids right here,” the staff member replies.

Another staff member, Teotl Veliz, recorded a large police response.  

“I counted 12 cop cars, that’s at least 25 cops, and they had a helicopter,” Veliz said. “It was just so comedic, tragically comedic, that it was on their graduation day too.”

Officers established a perimeter with yellow tape along the side of Ashley’s Beauty Salon as local business owners and witnesses gathered around the students. 

“I was just incredibly disappointed in LAPD… because it became so apparent to everybody, all at the same time, that it was racial profiling and nothing else,” Veliz said.

Weber said officers gave shifting explanations for the stop at the scene, including blocking the sidewalk and possible underage vaping. After Weber told the officers that all of the students were 18, they said they would investigate whether the group had any gang affiliation. 

Police have not responded to questions about what led officers to believe that the group was gang-affiliated. 

Weber recalled pleading with the officers to let the group go and explaining to them that they worked across the street. Community members and local business owners also stepped in to vouch for the students. 

“Our job is to help them gain a new perspective on life,” Weber said. “They’re coming out of juvenile detention and they’re turning their lives around. We can do our part in keeping them off the streets and keeping them doing better but what does it mean if they’re going to be profiled and treated exactly the same way?” 

In total, seven 18-year-old students and two staff members were detained. BHAC staff said one student and one staff member were taken to Hollenbeck Community Police Station and released less than two hours later after advocacy from community members and Councilmember Ysabel Jurado.

The incident ultimately resulted in an infraction for smoking a cannabis e-vape on a public sidewalk, according to a photo of the infraction shared with the Beat. LAPD did not provide details about the people taken to Hollenbeck Station or the infraction. 

The graduation ceremony was cancelled that night and is expected to be rescheduled in April. 

“Graduation should be a moment of pride and possibility — not fear,” Jurado said in a statement. “I’m seeking answers about what occurred, and this underscores the need for stronger relationships between law enforcement and community organizations so moments like these are protected, not disrupted.”

Carmelita Ramirez‑Sanchez, the conservatory’s executive director, said she was grateful to the community and Jurado for advocating for the students’ release. Jurado met her at Hollenbeck Station within 20 minutes of being alerted to the incident, she said. 

“They had store owners, señoras, barbers, that ran out and were trying to explain to the police who our kids were,” Ramirez‑Sanchez said. 

Still, she said the incident tarnished what should have been a joyous celebration.

“I imagine that what this does is derail this entire idea that you can be an active participant in your own restorative growth,” she said.