SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — One year after the devastating Eaton Fire destroyed thousands of homes in Altadena, local families impacted by the fire are reflecting on a difficult year of recovery and their plans to rebuild.
The Eaton Fire, which burned more than 14,000 acres and destroyed over 7,000 structures, forced thousands to evacuate with little more than the clothes on their backs. For many San Diego families with loved ones in the affected area, the anniversary brings a mix of emotions.
"There are a lot of emotions," said Andres Godoy, a San Diego resident whose brother and mother escaped their burning Altadena home.
Godoy's brother, Jim Salazar, recorded video as he watched his home burn, saying a prayer of gratitude for their escape.
"Dear Father God, thank you. Thank you for getting my mother and I out within minutes of this thing going up, with the shirts on our backs," an emotional Salazar said in the video.
In the weeks following the fire, I reported on Salazar as he scrambled to help fellow fire victims, delivering sandbags amid the threat of rain and mudslides.
Godoy said community support remains strong in Altadena, which was nearly wiped out by the fires.
"They've experienced quite a bit of frustration during the rebuilding process. However, they've remained patient along the way, and they've stayed optimistic," Godoy said.
Salazar said their insurer, the California FAIR Plan, has paid out its share — about a quarter of the cost of a rebuild. He and other fire victims have filed suit against Southern California Edison, which has admitted their equipment may have ignited the Eaton Fire.
With any payout from Edison still pending, Salazar said his first step is to build an accessory dwelling unit on the property, which will break ground in the next few months.
For Jet Trego, the focus is not on rebuilding, but recovery. He was renting an apartment in an Altadena complex that was destroyed.
"I got out with this bag," Trego said, referring to the single bag he escaped with.
I spoke with him last January as he stayed with his daughter in San Diego after experiencing winds of up to 100 miles per hour during the fire.
Trego spent months couch surfing before renting an apartment in Pasadena. He didn't have renters' insurance in Altadena, received a modest payout from FEMA, and now lives a less cluttered life.
"I just want to have things I need to do what I want to do, and beyond that, I don't need much," Trego said.
Both he and Godoy's family remain connected to friends and neighbors in Altadena as the rebuild moves forward.
"They absolutely are at the forefront of ‘Altadena Strong,’ and they want the community as a whole to come back and be in a better place than before," Godoy said.
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