The unprecedented Eaton Fire has gone down in history as one of California's most devastating natural disasters. For some residents, the aftermath marks only the beginning of an uncertain future.

“My situation is not looking too good right now. I lost everything,” says Adrienne Lett, an Altadena resident born and raised in Pasadena—known as the City of Roses—where the devastated town is located. After living in the predominantly Black community for ten years, she now has only memories to hold onto. “My house burned down to the ground.”

If losing her home wasn’t enough to bear, Lett’s anguish is compounded by the scattering of her family, including her daughter and brother, who had lived next door.

“It’s been very difficult,” she adds.

The life-altering decision to evacuate came with an early-morning knock on her door, urging her to leave immediately.

“I opened the door, and the wind and embers were just sweeping down my street. I only had enough time to grab my daughter, my two dogs, and the clothes we had on—my pajamas—and that was it,” she recalls.

Lett learned hours later that her home had been consumed by the fast-moving flames. She managed to return briefly before officials closed off the streets.

“When I pulled up, I just broke down. So many memories—my children's belongings, pictures, things I’ll never get back,” she recounts. “My son’s football and baseball jerseys, my daughter’s softball equipment—all those memories are gone.” Tragically, Lett also lost friends in the fire.

The Eaton Fire decimated Altadena, a historic city just outside Los Angeles. Altadena is celebrated as the hometown of trailblazers like Hall of Fame baseball player Jackie Robinson, renowned author and civil rights activist Octavia Butler, and Academy Award-winning actor Sidney Poitier.

The legacy of Altadena underscores the resilience of Black communities and their struggles for equality and homeownership in the face of systemic redlining. During the Great Migration of the 1930s, Black families began moving to the town, but widespread homeownership didn’t become a reality until the passage of the Fair Housing Act in 1968. This legislation, along with California's Rumford Act in 1963, outlawed housing discrimination based on race, ethnicity, or national origin.

Lett has found temporary shelter at the Pasadena Convention Center, alongside what she estimates are “maybe hundreds and hundreds” of evacuees. “It’s a revolving door here; there are so many of us coming and going,” she says.

From living at the convention center, where meals and essentials are provided, to couch-surfing with friends, Lett’s current reality is far from stable. “I’m just hoping FEMA can expedite assistance because this situation is not normal. But I understand—there are so many of us.”

To add to her frustrations, Lett has struggled to contact her landlord about reimbursements for deposits and rent she had paid in January.

“We all have questions, but we’re getting nowhere. They’re not answering the phones or getting back to us,” she laments.

While her home and a decade’s worth of cherished memories are now gone, Lett aspires to return to Altadena one day.

“It’s a wonderful place to live, but it’s going to take a long time to rebuild,” she says. “We have a very historical and beautiful community here, but I don’t think we’ll be back anytime soon.”

“We just have to deal with it until it gets better.”

Lett's daughter-in-law has created a GoFundMe to help with her recovery.