The Brief

When the Eaton Fire reached the backyard of the MonteCedro retirement community in the early hours of Jan. 8, many residents woke up to the smell of smoke and the sound of people knocking on doors.

Residents waited for directions on what to do. Should they shelter in place? Should they head for the exits?

Some told LAist later that they figured staff at the Altadena facility would take the lead. But something went wrong. The retirement community is among the region’s most upscale — the average entrance fee is around $1 million, according to public finance documents.

“We assumed that there’s some kind of plan, but I never saw it, and didn’t think to investigate it when I moved in,” said Linda Bergthold, an 84-year-old who lives at the care facility.

She was among the residents moved to safety during the fire.

According to state authorities, two women were left behind during the dawn evacuations of nearly 200 residents.

Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies found both women at the property hours later. One was walking her dog outside the building's entrance as nearby houses burned. The other, Jean Bruce Poole, then 100 years old, was wandering the dark hallways of the third floor, according to the Sheriff’s Department.

“I think there could be some protocols put in place that they would know who's where and who's not accounted for,” Poole’s son, John Ward, told LAist.

The California Department of Social Services, which licenses residential care facilities, including assisted living facilities, cited MonteCedro in September for failing to follow its own emergency evacuation procedures and leaving residents behind during evacuations.

Neither MonteCedro, nor the nonprofit Episcopal Communities & Services that runs it, responded to multiple interview requests for this story.

In a Jan. 29 statement, Episcopal Communities & Services said that fire personnel and MonteCedro staff “made two complete tours through the building, triggering fire alarms and inspecting every residence.”

“However, two independent living residents were not encountered and did not make it to the buses," the statement read.

At least one other residential care facility, the Terraces at Park Marino in Pasadena, also was cited for not evacuating all residents.

MonteCedro withstood the Eaton Fire. The Terraces did not. The facility was destroyed shortly after firefighters rescued a woman from the third floor who was initially left behind during the evacuations.

Both facilities have appealed the citations, according to state records. MonteCedro’s appeal has not been made public. Administrators for both facilities avoided fines by submitting required plans to fix the problems.

MonteCedro administrators said at a meeting with residents in February that they were working alongside first responders and weren’t the only responsible party, according to a recording of the gathering reviewed by LAist. Administrators noted that the two women who were left behind ended up being moved to safety.

Sheriff’s deputies and Pasadena public transit bus drivers worked with MonteCedro staff to relocate residents to the evacuation shelter at the city’s convention center. One night earlier, the Pasadena Fire Department helped evacuate the Terraces.

Both evacuations reveal what can happen at long-term care facilities during a disaster when emergency planning and coordination are found to be inadequate. They also raise questions about where a facility's responsibility ends and first responders’ begins.

State investigators determined that MonteCedro’s executive director, David Weidert, was designated to remain on site during emergencies, but he went home before the fire closed in on the facility. He also failed to call in additional staff despite emergency protocols requiring it, according to the state’s investigative report.

Weidert has since left MonteCedro. Shortly after residents returned in March, an interim executive director was named, according to the facility’s final public fire update on March 11. LAist made several attempts to reach Weidert by phone and email but was unsuccessful.

State licensing authorities also found that four of the five people working the early hours of Jan. 8 had never been trained in emergency procedures.

Some residents say they have seen safety changes within the past few months.

A day after the Eaton Fire devastated the area, MonteCedro's Facebook page posted an exterior shot of a main building, noting the interiors still needed to be inspected.

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MonteCedro via Facebook

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Hour by hour at MonteCedro

The official evacuation order for the area that includes MonteCedro was issued at 5:42 a.m. on Jan. 8, according to archived alerts from the L.A. County Office of Emergency Management.

By then, the fire had been burning for more than 12 hours.

Bergthold, who has lived at the facility for seven years, said her daughter called her from Los Feliz the night of Jan. 7 to warn her about intensifying winds and encourage her to prepare for a possible evacuation.

Bergthold packed a go-bag and slept in her clothes inside her apartment.

She said that when she woke up the next morning, the smoke outside was so thick she couldn't see the trees outside her window.

"But I was not told to pack any sort of suitcase by the facility," she said. "I was being proactive. I really wanted to be ready, and I'm glad I was."

Weidert, MonteCedro’s then executive director, left the facility Jan. 7 around 10 p.m., according to statements he made at a post-fire town hall meeting in February with residents and their family members.

By that time winds in the area were at 70 mph, and both the Palisades and Eaton fires had been burning for hours.

According to the state investigation, five employees stayed on the clock past 10 p.m.: a building and safety manager named Bruno Molina, a security guard, two caregivers, and one licensed vocational nurse who was a temporary worker.

Molina did not respond to LAist’s interview requests.

Only the managers and administrators at MonteCedro had gone through emergency training. All but one of them had gone home for the day.

At 11:30 p.m. on Jan. 7, the executive director called the facility and told Molina that MonteCedro should shelter in place while awaiting official evacuation orders from county authorities, according to the state’s report.

At the town hall, James Rothrock — CEO of Episcopal Communities & Services, the nonprofit that runs the facility — explained the buildings were built to withstand wind and fire, and that evacuating hundreds of residents too soon could have exposed them needlessly to trauma and other health risks.

“The safest place we want to be was inside the building,” he said. At 3 a.m., MonteCedro staff called the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for help, according to the state investigation.

Around 4 a.m., the Sheriff’s Department and L.A. County Fire Department got involved with the MonteCedro evacuation, according to an Eaton Fire response after-action report commissioned by the county.

At 4:15 a.m., MonteCedro authorities made the decision, along with the L.A. County Fire Department, to evacuate 195 residents who had not previously left on their own, according to a Jan. 29 statement from Episcopal Communities & Services.

Around 5:30 a.m., the evacuation began, according to the state report. By that time, eyewitnesses told LAist they saw fire near the back of the MonteCedro property — and neighboring buildings burning.

Most of the residents, some barefoot and in nightgowns, were rushed outside and onto buses by first responders and facility staff.

Two people were missing.

“That should not have happened,” Rothrock said, in the February town hall recording reviewed by LAist.

He stressed that staff members were working alongside sheriff’s deputies, paramedics and firefighters during the chaos.

Rothrock did not respond to interview requests.

Evacuation plans

During the Eaton and Palisades fires, more than 3,000 residents at more than 100 facilities across L.A. County had to be relocated, according to state authorities.

All residential care facilities are required by law to have written evacuation plans, updated annually and filed with the California Department of Social Services.

LAist reviewed copies of plans for more than 70 assisted living facilities evacuated in January, obtained through a public records request. More than 90% of those plans were outdated. And more than one-third of the facilities’ plans were last updated a decade ago or more, despite state law that requires they be filed each year, updated as needed and approved and checked during annual licensing visits.

Disability policy consultant June Isaacson Kailes reviewed LAist’s findings, as well as dozens of plans independently, and said she was “floored by the inadequacy.”

“Some of them were 10 years old,” she said. “Some of them were not fully filled out.”

MonteCedro’s emergency plan, which was signed and approved by the executive director in 2023, set a framework for what should happen during an evacuation, but state investigators said it lacked details about designated staff roles.

It did not list specific transportation plans or relocation sites as required by state law, according to LAist’s review of the document.

And MonteCedro did not follow some of what it had put in writing, state investigators said in the report. For example, the facility’s plan requires it to maintain an emergency contact list for off-duty staff who are supposed to be called in for help during an evacuation. MonteCedro had no such list, investigators said.

Rachel Tate, who oversees the L.A. ombudsman program for long-term care, said many facilities craft their plans for an emergency that’s just affecting their own location.

“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.

Tate said she encourages families to ask residential care facilities or skilled nursing facilities about their emergency plans.

Isaacson Kailes said local officials should do the same.

“Local governments need to recognize that their plans are weak and inadequate, and therefore they need to be planning with these places," Isaacson Kailes said. “Otherwise, people will die.”

John Ward and his mother, Jean Bruce Poole, celebrating her 100th birthday.

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Courtesy John Ward

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‘Don’t lose me’

By 7 a.m., most of the MonteCedro residents had arrived at the Pasadena Convention Center, which was operating as an evacuation shelter during the fires.

Jean Bruce Poole had not.

She woke up that morning at the care facility and went about her normal routine, her son told LAist. He said she told him she ate breakfast and took a shower before leaving her room. Then she realized the hallways were dark.

The elevators were down. Emergency lights were out. Sheriff’s deputies found her in a hallway hours later, after first spotting another resident walking a dog near the entrance shortly after 9:30 a.m.

Back at the convention center, MonteCedro staffers were doing a head count around that time, according to the account dated Jan. 29 and posted on their website.

Deputies searched the building looking for anyone left behind, kicking down about 40 doors. They found Poole on the third floor, looking for an exit just before 10:30 a.m., according to timestamps on a deputy’s body-worn camera footage. (The footage obtained by LAist above contains text added by the Sheriff's Department.)

“Don’t lose me,” Poole says in the video.

After Rothrock, CEO of the nonprofit that runs MonteCedro, learned two residents were missing, he went to MonteCedro “immediately,” where he was told that two people had been found and transferred, according to the January statement.

Poole was taken to the convention center and then temporarily relocated to Mt. San Antonio Gardens, a care center in Pomona. Eventually she returned to MonteCedro, where she continues to live, her son said.

Ward said his mother didn’t know how close the Eaton Fire had come until she rounded the corner in a patrol car and saw a nearby church in flames.

Pasadena Transit buses arrived at the MonteCedro retirement community in Altadena before dawn on Jan. 8

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Courtesy of a MonteCedro resident

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Looking back, he told LAist, he has some regrets. He said his mother adores MonteCedro — the gourmet meals and access to field trips and concerts. But when it came to safety in an emergency, staff weren’t adequately prepared, he said.

He remembered that his wife told him the previous evening to drive to the care facility to pick up his mother. At the time, the fire was still 3 miles away, and he thought it would never reach her.

“That was a mistake I made,” Ward said. “And it could have been a very serious ending.”

MonteCedro residents and family members told LAist they’re grateful to facility staff who did stick around to help get most people out. That included Molina, the building manager, who they say evacuated residents as his own family home burned down.

“It's extraordinary courage and dedication to us for them to do that,” said Bergthold, the 84-year old MonteCedro resident.

MonteCedro staff told residents they hired a company called Fire & Life Safety Inc. to review its emergency plans and response effort, according to the recording reviewed by LAist. Staff at the meeting said they have no plans to release those findings publicly.

Residents and family members compiled their own list of changes they are demanding from the facility, according to interviews with LAist. The list includes upgrading alarms, new evacuation protocols, more training for staff and better notification systems for residents and families.

So far, residents said MonteCedro has made some of the changes.

Weidert, the previous executive director, retired in February.

Residents at MonteCedro care facility were moved to safety in the early morning hours of Jan. 8, 2025 as the Eaton Fire approached. The facility survived the Eaton Fire.

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Aaron Schrank

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LAist

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The facility hired a new executive director, Adam Peña, in August. Bergthold served on a resident committee that hired the new director.

She said that since he took over, there have been new earthquake drills at the facility, residents were provided emergency go-bags with flashlights and battery packs, and a new resident emergency planning committee was created.

Each floor of MonteCedro’s various buildings now have designated emergency leaders, responsible for coordinating evacuations, Bergthold said.

"I'm very pleased with the actions they've taken," she said.

But she and others say there is still work to be done. They’re hoping for a warning system with flashing lights to help people who are visually impaired.

And they want a stronger transportation plan for evacuating residents from the MonteCedro’s memory care villas so residents don’t have to rely on first responders.

Mostly, they want clearer communication from the people in charge, they said.

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

Angelenos looking up Saturday may have noticed a particularly striking sight — a vibrant sunset framed by clouds.

Tropical moisture coming in from far off the coast could explain it.

“One thing that might have played a role in making it look awfully nice yesterday was those high clouds that were moving in,” Robert Munroe, meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said. “The way the sun was hitting the high clouds made some bright yellows and oranges in the sky. That moisture is actually related to probably mostly Odalys.”

An early sunset at yesterday's "Be The Light" 5K event in Valencia last night.

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Jenn Baughman

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Jenn Baughman

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Odalys is the hurricane (since downgraded to a tropical storm) churning off the coast of Mexico, along with Hurricane Polo.

Neither is expected to make landfall here, but they're forecast to bring high surf, dangerous rip tides and potential flooding to coastlines already battered this month by Hurricane Marie.

The bright side is Munroe said those high clouds from yesterday will be sticking around through at least today, which could make for another pretty sunset this evening.

An earthquake with a magnitude of 3.6 struck off the South Bay at about 8:40 a.m. and was reported as being felt as far as Oxnard.

The U.S. Geological Survey says it was centered about four miles west-southwest of Hermosa Beach. More than 1,500 people reported feeling it within the first hour after it struck. [You can report what you felt to the USGS.]

No significant damage has been reported, which is typical at this low of a magnitude.

The quake was below the threshold of 4.0 magnitude that triggers an alert on the ShakeAlert app.

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Courtesy ShakeAlert

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We have earthquake resources

We don't want to scare you, but the Big One is coming. We don't know when, but we know it'll be at least 44 times stronger than Northridge and 11 times stronger than the Ridgecrest quakes in 2019. To help you get prepared, we've compiled a handy reading list:

• Your guide to surviving the Big One
• For earthquakes, forget the 'go-bag.' Here's how to prepare
• How to not get life-threatening diarrhea after a major earthquake
• 10 earthquake-related questions to ask your landlord immediately
• How to prepare for an earthquake if you have a disability

Listen to our podcast

On a Sunday night at the Mexican restaurant La Popular in Claremont, diners are eating to a soundtrack that starts with cumbia and jumps to J Balvin and Bad Bunny before landing on Luther Vandross.

That’s the aim of DJ collective Compás Discoteca — to bring connection and community through live vinyl mixing at La Popular and El Balcon in Ontario.

How Compás Discoteca was born 

Ricardo Carlos, Elias Ruiz, Albert Piña and Adrian Silva have been friends for about two decades. They all DJ as a hobby and often share music. On a night out in 2024, they saw a sign: a parking space for a “compact car,” minus two letters.

“The C and T are missing — compá. Like, ‘We're compás,’” Carlos said, recounting that night.

A "Compás Discoteca" turntable mat.

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Dañiel Martinez

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LAist

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Their DJ collective, Compás Discoteca, was born. “Compás” means “buddies” in Spanish and “Discoteca” means “nightclub."

Seasoning the scene

When Compás Discoteca first formed, the members said Southern California’s vinyl-listening scene was more focused on track selection, letting songs play out in full. The collective wanted to bring more life to the experience by mixing music live.

“It just seemed a little stale,” Silva said. “I feel like we helped to bring some seasoning to that.”

They also wanted to play genres people wouldn’t normally hear together.

“You might hear us jump from funk to cumbia to hip-hop to disco, soul to house. We're just trying to take people on a journey with us,” Silva said.

Each compá takes their turn at the turntables for two 30-minute sets. And each brings their own sound.

Three of the "compás" pose for a picture in between their sets.

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Dañiel Martinez

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LAist

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Silva is the “party-starter.” He gets people dancing.

Carlos has a Latin bent, taking influence from his Puerto Rican, Salvadoran and Creole roots.

Ruiz lives for “jaw-drop moments” and brings records he thinks will surprise his fellow DJs.

Piña spins rare world grooves in the funk and boogie vein.

“He probably gets the most Shazams from us and from the audience,” Ruiz said of Piña. “But most importantly, you feel like you're hanging out and with some good music.”

Albert Piña prepares looks through a box of vinyl records during his DJ set at "La Popular" in Claremont.

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Dañiel Martinez

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LAist

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Feeding off the energy

Compás Discoteca DJs at El Balcon in Ontario on the first Friday of each month and at La Popular in Claremont on the third Sunday.

The vibes for Sundays are chill, they said, and Fridays are for letting it all loose.

“There's like an energy there, like, ‘Oh, man, we made it through the week.’ We try to feed off of that,” Piña said.

Along Highway 62 in Joshua Tree, a stack of high school lockers holds something the High Desert was missing: a real New York-style bagel.

For that, you have DIY baker Richard Lee to thank.

“I want a bagel. What do I do?” Lee remembered thinking after moving to Twentynine Palms in 2023 from Los Angeles, where he had lived for more than a decade.

The Bagel Portal off Highway 62 in Joshua Tree.

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Richard Lee

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Courtesy 29 Loaves

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It wasn’t just any bagel the born-and-raised New Yorker was craving, but the kind from back home that gives “a little crunch” when you bite into its crust — with a “chewy, softer” inside and a taste Lee calls “ineffable.”

“Like maybe a sourdough or an Italian bread,” he said.

Taught by YouTube, tested by family in New York

Richard Lee converted his garage in 29 Palms to make bagels.

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Courtesy 29 Loaves

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A tinkerer by nature, Lee launched 29 Loaves in early 2024, bringing bagels he handcrafts in his licensed home operation to Twentynine Palms, Joshua Tree and surrounding communities.

“I went to the culinary school of YouTube,” he said, having watched more than 100 videos on how to make a bagel. At first, he relied on his own taste buds as a guide, before sending his creations to his family in New York to taste.

After months of overnight shipping, Lee said, “Even a UPS store is asking me, ‘Why are you doing that?’”

“I know it makes no sense,” he told them. “That's how I operate.”

29 Loaves serves up New York-style bagels to Joshua Tree and other desert communities.

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Courtesy 29 Loaves

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Eventually, his sister gave the thumbs-up. To be extra, extra, extra sure, Lee went to folks living in the desert with New York ties to get their blessing.

“Attention is an ingredient,” Lee said of his bagels. It’s a philosophy he’s honed while running his other business providing IT services, which he now operates remotely.

“Garbage in, garbage out,” he said. “If you make a mistake or something falls on the bagel and marks it, it’ll end up that way as a finished product.”

Why bagels mean so much to him

Lee, whose father is Korean and mother is Brazilian, said his bakery is ultimately about food memories — and draws inspiration from what he ate growing up. The only other baked good 29 Loaves sells is pão de queijo, a gluten-free Brazilian cheese puff he makes.

Richard Lee handmakes New York-style bagels at his home operation.

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Courtesy 29 Loaves

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But nothing rivals bagels. Sundays were often bagel days in his childhood home in the Long Island suburbs. As a teenager working for his father, Lee remembered they would make detours off the Long Island Expressway to grab fresh bagels.

“They were nice and plump, and they were so hot,” he said.

Father and son would eat them straight out of the bag — no cream cheese, no nothing.

“Those were the types of memories that I wanna bring here,” Lee said.