To the editor: This paints an incomplete image of what occurred the evening of the hearth (“A Times investigation: As west Altadena burned, L.A. County fire trucks stayed elsewhere,” July 23). We reside in east Altadena. From our kitchen window, we noticed the beginnings of the hearth just a few ridges away from our home. I figured we’d quickly hear the sound of fireplace engines coming to place out the blaze. As an alternative, nothing. Nothing within the neighborhood and no firefighting presence on our avenue, which was left to burn.
The subsequent day, as we tried to get to our home, there have been fires in every single place, so we needed to flip again. On your complete drive from Pasadena to Altadena, we didn’t see one hearth truck. A few of our intrepid neighbors did handle to get to their houses regardless of the fires. They took movies of fires burning on our avenue. They, too, didn’t see any hearth vehicles.
Lastly, after round two days, we had been in a position to get to our neighborhood, however to not our avenue as a result of the hearth and police departments lastly confirmed up and had been blocking entry. Our space was instantly deemed too harmful to go to. We noticed many offended encounters between neighbors — eager to see if their houses had been nonetheless standing — and police, barring entry to the realm.
Our house managed to outlive, though most of the houses round ours weren’t so fortunate. Via this horrific expertise, I’m grateful that we obtained an evacuation warning in time to get out safely.
Jackie Naiditch, Altadena
