Altadena's Good Neighbor Bar was there in a time of need. Now it needs support

In early January, Randy Clement got a call from a neighbor asking if he could check on their house in Altadena. The Eaton Fire had started the day before.

Clement and his son were able to check and report back by hiking through the Eaton Canyon area. Those houses did not survive.

He then posted a message on Instagram on the account of the bar he owns, Good Neighbor Bar, asking customers if they also wanted him to check on their house. The messages poured in.

“ It was something that we thought that we could do that would be immediately very helpful to people so they could have some sense of what they were dealing with,” he said.

For many Altadenans on the day of the deadly fire, Clement was the only resource they had to find out the status of their house. Now, four months later, his bar is one of the only ones left Altadena. The Altadena Ale House on Fair Oaks Ave also still stands, though owner Gail Casburn and her husband Judah lost their home and belongings in the fire.

As the community continues to rebuild, Clement is encouraging Angelenos to visit the burn areas in person so they can truly understand the devastation — and support affected businesses.

Most of his customers right now are people who are just coming to and from Altadena as they monitor the rebuilding process.

“Give them in any way, shape or form, acts of random kindness… give them some hope [and] try to help them create some momentum,” he said.

During the fires, Clement checked on people’s houses for about a week, sneaking around the National Guard. He would take pictures and upload them to software that had a running list of people’s requests.

“[We would] figure out who on Instagram that picture belonged to and would then just message them either ‘I’m so sorry’ or ‘It’s still there,’” Clement said.

The experience taught Clement to be vigilant about fire insurance. He encourages others to review their policies and to calculate how much it would cost to rebuild their homes after a crisis, so you’re “properly positioned to have as much control as possible over the next steps of your life.”

Right now, Clement says he’s focused on a new “ultra” marathon relay coming up Saturday. The route runs from Altadena to Pacific Palisades and starts at the bar. It will also feature a full-scale map of the wildfire damage created by local artist Noel Carthy.

LAist’s Nereida Moreno recently interviewed Clement at his Altadena bar. Here's the full conversation.