Altadena blog

One year after the Eaton fire

Unknown child, Bella Hadid, and me outside Side Pie; unknown teens and me again, sans work permit/dignity, gunning past the worst grocery store in Pasadena.

In the fall of 2023 I made a comic. The panels above show two real places on the east side of Lake Avenue in Los Angeles County, roughly three miles apart: Side Pie in Altadena and the Ralphs in Pasadena. The Eaton fire last year — one of the most destructive in California’s history — burned down much of Altadena’s commercial strip on Lake, including Side Pie. It burned down many, many more homes.

What is there to say about the fire that hasn’t already been said? In a dream world, I would wake up, go for a hike in Eaton Canyon, get a slice at Side Pie, put in a print order at Ms. Dragon Print & Copy, peek into the Bunny Museum, and have friends over for dinner at our Pasadena apartment, next door to the building that used to house LA’s most haunted funeral home. A perfect day.

Another Altadena drawing from 2023: our friends preparing for their baby’s arrival at their beautiful house on Altadena Drive.