As we approach the one-year anniversary of the Eaton and Palisades fires, LAist is highlighting, and illustrating, community stories as the region works to rebuild.<\/p>\n
To do this, we read through dozens of responses to our survey and spoke to a handful of people directly to help tell their stories.<\/p>\n
Keep up with LAist.<\/p>\n
If you’re enjoying this article, you’ll love our daily newsletter, The LA Report. Each weekday, catch up on the 5 most pressing stories to start your morning in 3 minutes or less. <\/p>\n
Here\u2019s some of what they shared, and what they want to always remember.<\/p>\n
The magical neighborhoods<\/p>\n
For Palisades resident Kelly Sullivan, some of her most cherished memories are what she described as the simple, fleeting moments that capture the magic of \u201cPali.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kelly Sullivan, a resident of Pacific Palisades, stands on the destroyed secret sidewalk near the neighboring El Medio bluffs in October 2025. It was one of her family\u2019s favorite spots to visit. <\/p>\n
A colorful phoenix windchime hangs from a charred tree branch in mid October 2025 in the secret sidewalk, which was destroyed by the Palisades Fire.<\/p>\n
(<\/p>\n
Courtesy from Kelly and Noel Sullivan<\/p>\n
)<\/p>\n
One of her favorite spots was a path off Abramar Avenue by the El Medio bluffs that neighbors called the \u201csecret sidewalk.\u201d The path, which was destroyed in the fire, now borders the remnants of a home that burned to the ground. Tree branches used to curve down, creating a tunnel, and Sullivan remembers the gentle clanking of windchimes tied to the branches that filled the air.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a sign that said ‘secret sidewalk’ as you\u2019re walking down. We’d stop and touch all the chimes,\u201d said Sullivan, who used to visit the spot with her family. \u201cYou\u2019d have all these beautiful sounds as you\u2019re walking down, and you\u2019d sit on that bench and just listen to them all.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1767192373_176_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
An illustration of the secret sidewalk before it, and a nearby home were destroyed. This is a special place for Kelly Sullivan, her family, and others in the neighborhood.<\/p>\n
To Sullivan, the secret sidewalk had an almost storybook-like look. She said it was a special place for the people in the neighborhood.<\/p>\n
A couple miles northeast from the secret sidewalk, Rachel Jonas and her family often visited the Marquez Business Block, a hometown strip of stores in Pacific Palisades that included a deli, restaurant, nail salon, karate studio and pharmacy.<\/p>\n
“We practically lived there with our kids,\u201d Jonas said. \u201cIt was the kind of place where you’d see the same people over and over.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1767192373_699_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
An illustration of the now destroyed Marquez Business Block in Pacific Palisades. Rachel Jonas, her family, and their neighbors often visited the local shops.<\/p>\n
Jonas\u2019 home was destroyed in the Palisades Fire, and she and her family now live in Tennessee with her in-laws as they work to rebuild.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1767192374_840_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Rob Fagnani and Rachel Jonas in front of where their Palisades home stood.<\/p>\n
(<\/p>\n
Courtesy of Rob Fagnani and Rachel Jonas<\/p>\n
)<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn’t the fanciest but [it] had such an incredible community feel,\u201d said Jonas, describing the business block. \u201cThey had annual block parties where there’d be a face painter, a bounce house, etc. It was just the best.\u201d<\/p>\n
What made your community special? <\/p>\n
- \n
- Neighbors weren\u2019t just neighbors, they were family. We looked out for one another, celebrated together and built a community that was inclusive, vibrant and full of heart. \u2014 Denise Diaz Gonzalez, Altadena, referencing her neighborhood Poppyfields in Altadena.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \n
- The Loma Alta farmer’s market on Friday evenings was such a special and serene gathering place for West Altadena residents. \u2014 Victor Teran, Altadena<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \n
- The mid-century architectural style of homes that were built in the 1960s. \u2014 Robert Sandoval, Malibu<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \n
- I miss the sleepy part of downtown Pacific Palisades, Caf\u00e9 Vida and Matthew’s Garden Caf\u00e9. I miss a Sunday stroll in our neighborhood where I run into my neighbors who are always up for a chat. I miss seeing the older homes from the \u201830s and \u201840s on my walks through the neighborhoods. \u2014 Kathrin Werner, Pacific Palisades<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Residents from both Pacific Palisades and Altadena shared stories in our survey about how great each place was to have a childhood. Julia Goodwine, 16, told us what made Altadena so special to her was the community.<\/p>\n
She cherishes memories of biking down to her family’s home, which was destroyed in the Eaton Fire, and spending summer evenings at the library. Sometimes she would watch horses go by at Loma Alta Park or sit on the grass with a book. When she was in middle school, she would play baseball near the base of the park\u2019s hill by a Chinese Elm tree with her dad.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1767192375_365_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nAn illustration of Altadena’s Christmas Tree Lane where many homes were destroyed. The street and lighting ceremony attract many to walk and drive up and down the street admiring the lights on the cedar trees. <\/p>\n
One of her favorite places in Altadena is Christmas Tree Lane on Santa Rosa Avenue, where some homes along the street were destroyed in the fire. About a year ago, shortly before the fires, she got her driver\u2019s license and would drive down the street every night to look at the lights.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember the lights [were] so beautiful. I could just kind of sit, look at the trees, then think about the day, think about my problems,\u201d Julia said. \u201cIt was really a beautiful experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Being close to nature in L.A.<\/p>\n
A place of peace. A place close to nature. That\u2019s how many survey respondents described their communities before the fires.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1767192376_828_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nAn illustration of the Via Bluffs looking toward Santa Monica. Pacific Palisades resident Sue Pascoe would often visit these bluffs with her dogs on their walks around the neighborhood before her home was destroyed in the fire.<\/p>\n
For Sue Pascoe, walking her dogs along the Via De Las Olas Bluffs in Pacific Palisades was a treasure.<\/p>\n
She would pass by the different-styled homes and streets lined with trees. Now, the neighborhood has been mostly destroyed by the Palisades Fire, including Pascoe\u2019s home of three decades.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can see dolphins, you can see the waves, you can get the wind. The wind is so great up here. Beautiful breezes. You can see the ships going out,\u201d Pascoe said. \u201cIt\u2019s a marvelous place to walk.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a marvelous place to walk.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u2014 Sue Pascoe, resident of Pacific Palisades<\/p>\n
Pascoe is the editor and owner of the local Circling the News site, where she writes about the Westside, including Pacific Palisades. She often meets with other residents to talk about how things are going and to support one another.<\/p>\n
She said the people are what made the Palisades so special.<\/p>\n
\u201cKids, schools, religion, made this a very, very good place for families,\u201d Pascoe said. \u201cI think people recognized how good it was for families and that\u2019s why they moved here.\u201d<\/p>\n
What made your community special? <\/p>\n
- \n
- \u201cSunset on the Bluffs was magic! We are now far from the Bluffs. We know that all the homes along our walk are almost ALL gone \u2026 The Bluffs and the views remained but turning around to the homes of the folks who welcomed us to their neighborhood was heartbreaking. That\u2019s when I knew that I would come back when they come home. \u2014 Alan H. Rosenberg, Pacific Palisades<\/li>\n
- The shady tree lined streets of my Farnsworth neighborhood. The Oaks and Pines on a misty morning. The parrots in the loquat trees. \u2014 David Timoner, Altadena<\/li>\n
- The bell tower of Palisades Elementary School, across from the Methodist Church, with the bluffs overlooking the ocean in the distance down Via de la Paz. And the experience of walking my kids to school there with my parents, who used to walk me to school there when I was a kid. \u2014 Beth Caldwell, Pacific Palisades<\/li>\n
- I dearly hope to see the William Davies building and amphitheater at Farnsworth Park restored to their pre-fire glory. It devastated me to see it destroyed. \u2014 Peggy Romano, Altadena<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Altadena resident Elizabeth Gonzalez said she misses the backyard view of the San Gabriel Mountains.<\/p>\n
Her parents bought her childhood home in Janes Village in Altadena in 1995. The home is one of a handful left on its block in West Altadena. It was professionally remediated after the fires.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1767192377_435_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nElizabeth Gonzalez grew up in a home in the Janes Village neighborhood in West Altadena. The home she was renting with her family in Pasadena was destroyed in the Eaton Fire.<\/p>\n
Gonzalez rented a home in Altadena for 13 years with her husband and children. It was destroyed in the fire. Now, she said, her family will most likely live in an RV in the driveway of her parent\u2019s surviving home until they can get stable housing figured out .<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard for me to believe that block after block is gone,\u201d Gonzalez said. \u201cOld wise trees, luscious lawns and charming old homes are gone.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1767192378_412_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nAn illustration of a sign found in West Altadena’s Janes Village neighborhood that shows a drawing of the architecture of the homes. <\/p>\n
Gonzalez always admired the architecture of the Janes Village homes in Altadena, which she said looked like the cartoon homes in classic Disney movies. She was about 12 years old when they first moved into the neighborhood.<\/p>\n
“They\u2019re little cottages,\u201d she said, remembering the homes. \u201cThey\u2019re pointy and kind of interesting looking \u2026 As kids we thought they looked like the Snow White house.\u201d<\/p>\n
As kids we thought they looked like the Snow White house.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u2014 Elizabeth Gonzalez, current resident of Altadena<\/p>\n
\u201cSomehow my parents ended up living somewhere that is [visually] very close to the small towns in Mexico that they grew up in,\u201d Gonzalez said. \u201cI always thought that was pretty cool.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another Pasadena resident, Rebecca Rea, remembers the community and connection she found in nature in Altadena on her miles-long walks before the Eaton Fire.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1767192379_829_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nAn illustration of Altadena wildlife, including a bear, mountain lion, parrot and coyote, along with poppies. Bears are often found around the Altadena foothills, and parrots can be heard flying around or in the trees.<\/p>\n
Rea would go on 12-mile walks starting from Lake Avenue and Orange Grove Boulevard in Pasadena, walk toward the hills and end on Altadena Drive. She appreciated the different homes and small businesses that used to line her route, including the Rancho Bar, a local dive bar that was destroyed in the fire, and the wildlife that lived in the mountains.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew every garden. I knew every tree. I made friends with the coyotes for heaven\u2019s sake,\u201d Rea said. \u201cIt was just so very, very beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n
The next chapter<\/p>\n
Many who responded to our survey wondered about what comes next.<\/p>\n
They shared a hope that Altadena and Pacific Palisades will rebuild and not be remembered only for the deadly fires, but for what makes these places special to Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to take a long time to rebuild what it once was,\u201d said Julia, the teen from Altadena. \u201cBut I think we have such a great community here that we can rebuild to be something better and brighter than we were.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was the everyday moments of saying hello to neighbors. The soundtrack of crashing waves on the walk…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":482587,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[21053,18485,218486,1582,276,218487,5810,2961,224,5337,29168,6278,17254,5338,194806],"class_list":{"0":"post-482586","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-altadena","9":"tag-anniversary","10":"tag-bluffs","11":"tag-ca","12":"tag-california","13":"tag-christmas-tree-lane","14":"tag-eaton-fire","15":"tag-la","16":"tag-los-angeles","17":"tag-losangeles","18":"tag-malibu","19":"tag-pacific-palisades","20":"tag-palisades-fire","21":"tag-pasadena","22":"tag-san-gabriel-mountains"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115814727140816364","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=482586"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482586\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/482587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=482586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=482586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=482586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
- I miss the sleepy part of downtown Pacific Palisades, Caf\u00e9 Vida and Matthew’s Garden Caf\u00e9. I miss a Sunday stroll in our neighborhood where I run into my neighbors who are always up for a chat. I miss seeing the older homes from the \u201830s and \u201840s on my walks through the neighborhoods. \u2014 Kathrin Werner, Pacific Palisades<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- The mid-century architectural style of homes that were built in the 1960s. \u2014 Robert Sandoval, Malibu<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- The Loma Alta farmer’s market on Friday evenings was such a special and serene gathering place for West Altadena residents. \u2014 Victor Teran, Altadena<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n