Civic bonds in Altadena are stronger than ever, one year after the Eaton Fire

The election for Altadena's town council takes place in person: pencil on paper, no mail-ins.

That didn't change last year, despite the mass displacement caused by the Eaton Fire. Voting happened in November at library branches, the Grocery Outlet and a local pizza joint. It was a small dose of normalcy for a community still scattered with empty lots.

The results were surprising. The small-town election saw more participation than ever before in its 50 years. Nearly 900 people cast their ballots — almost double the normal turnout.

The Altadena town council holiday party and last meeting of the year in December was held in a large room at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

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Libby Rainey

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LAist

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It's a small number for the community of around 41,000 people. Yet, for those involved in public service, the surge in participation reflects a bittersweet side effect of the devastation in Altadena.

As the region marks the first anniversary of the Eaton Fire, local representatives and activists say their community is stronger and more engaged than ever.

" The majority of Altadena is displaced," said Morgan Whirledge, a newly elected town councilmember whose home was destroyed last January. "That still almost double the amount of people came and voted was a testament to how much Altadenans want to return home."

Altadena is in unincorporated L.A. County. It has no mayor or city council. Instead, County Supervisor Kathryn Barger represents the community. The town council is its smallest and most direct form of government.

The council doesn't write legislation. It weighs in on county decisions and provides a forum for neighborly debates. Victoria Knapp, who was chair of the town council in 2025, said that before Eaton, council meetings were full of the types of disputes you'd imagine in a small but animated community: tree removal, speed bumps and sidewalks.

Then came the fire and, with it, a whole new role for the small council for a town largely without its own governmental structures to face the fire with.

" The Eaton Fire changed everything," Knapp said at the council's holiday party and last meeting of the year in December, which was held in a large room at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. "It changed the scale of the work, the urgency of our decisions and the meaning of public service itself."

The town council became a central hub for fire recovery and coordination.

"I have watched residents become organizers, strangers become collaborators and survivors become the heartbeat of our recovery," she said.

Anton Anderson is another new town councilmember in Altadena. He told LAist he decided to run to make sure his community in West Altadena would have a greater voice.

" The rebuild is going to change and impact Altadena forever," he said. "The opportunity that presents us is to really make sure that what's actually happening in Altadena can go up to the people who make decisions."

That spirit was on display at the town council's holiday party, which Supervisor Barger attended. The first thing she noticed when she walked in was that the crowd was double the size, compared to last year.

" Even though they may not reside in Altadena as we speak, as they rebuild, they're coming back," she said. "They're coming back even without the bricks and mortar."