After the Flames: A Family Fights to Rebuild Their Legacy in Altadena
Memories blur as Aurielle Hall struggles to recount the loss of four multi-generational homes that the Eaton Fire claimed from her family.
On Tuesday, January 7, Ms. Hall was unaware of the raging wildfire nearby. Severe Santa Ana winds whipped through the neighborhood, knocking out power and sending loose branches flying outside the two-bedroom duplex she shared with her 12-year-old daughter, Jade. Though unnerved by the chaotic weather, it wasn’t until concerned friends called to check on her and her daughter’s safety that she realized the inferno was on its way to consume the land she knew and loved in Altadena, California.
Believing the evacuation would only last a few days, Ms. Hall packed three days’ worth of clothing and left behind everything else—her mother’s keepsakes, her daughter’s baby photos, and even her savings—hoping they would remain safe. She prayed that God would bring them back to their home.
“When I left, I looked over at my mom’s memorabilia and said, ‘Mom, I’ll be back in a few days,’” Ms. Hall recalls while surveying the remnants of her grandmother’s property.
Ms. Hall evacuated that evening and vividly remembers the harrowing ordeal. Her family’s frantic energy filled the air as they fled. The pitch-black sky ignited with a red-orange glow from the advancing flames. Smoke thickened the air, and ash swirled around them as the Santa Ana winds intensified.
Driving away, Ms. Hall watched flames creep into Pasadena and saw neighboring families desperately fighting to save their homes. A sinking realization hit her.
“We’re not going back, are we?” she murmured, glancing at the burning Eaton Canyon in her rearview mirror. “There’s not going to be anything to come back to, is there?”
Her worst fears were confirmed when she returned a week and a half later. The land her grandmother, Pauline Townsend, had purchased in 1970 to support generations of their family was now unrecognizable. Ms. Hall had relocated to Altadena in 2020 to provide her daughter with a supportive village and to reconnect with her late mother’s roots. She fondly remembers the joy of stepping onto the grass, feeling grounded by the very land that raised her mother.
Now, that once-thriving property had been reduced to ashes. The hard work, love, and pride her family had poured into their home were gone. As she surveyed the rubble, Ms. Hall found it nearly impossible to distinguish the duplex and multi-bedroom home that once stood there. The destruction left her feeling hollow and unsettled.
“It’s very hard to find peace when everything you’ve had access to your whole life is gone,” she explains. “Grounding for me... that’s something we’ll deal with when we have a permanent place to live.”
Currently, Ms. Hall and Jade are staying in a studio provided by a local organization in partnership with Airbnb. However, the temporary housing arrangement has brought on new anxieties. With no certainty of where they will go once the housing expires in a few weeks, Ms. Hall feels echoes of the homelessness she experienced as a single mother years ago. She never imagined she would face it again after settling into her Altadena duplex.
“I feel that wave of grief hitting all of us now, a week and a half after the fire,” she says when asked about rebuilding. “Is anyone going to step up with real help?”
Ms. Hall also wonders how her family can rebuild and preserve their legacy in today’s inflated economy.
“It’s unrealistic to try to replace everything you’ve lost, from 1970 to 2025,” she laments. “How do you identify every little thing? And how do you rebuild now, when my grandma bought this land for $50,000 and everything is so much more expensive?”
As days pass since the devastating fire, Ms. Hall prays that California and the media will not let Altadena fade into memory. She hopes the predominantly Black community will band together to fight for its long-term prosperity and preservation.
To help ease the pain and support Ms. Hall and her daughter in rebuilding their lives, please consider donating to their GoFundMe campaign.