Imperfect Paradise: Residents left behind at elder care facilities in LA raise serious questions about evacuation preparedness
California City
LAist Studios
4.5 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 12 December 2025
⏱️ 38 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In the early morning hours of January 8, the Eaton Fire raced closer to the MonteCedro retirement community in Altadena, California. Nearly 200 of the facility’s residents were evacuated, but two women were left behind, raising serious questions. In this episode of Imperfect Paradise, LAist Health and Housing Reporter Aaron Schrank looks at what went wrong, who should be held accountable, and what it reveals systemically about emergency preparedness.
You can read more of Aaron’s reporting for his Left Behind series at LAist.com.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Support for Elayas comes from Willa presenting the voice of Hind Rajab from Academy Award nominated writer-director Kaltra Benhania. |
| 0:08.5 | The film uses real emergency call recordings to portray the attempts to rescue a five-year-old girl trapped under fire in Gaza in theaters December 17th. |
| 0:17.5 | Support for Al-Aisd comes from Pasadena Umain, a community-supported animal shelter and resource center that is leading the way towards a more compassionate and caring community for all animals. |
| 0:27.9 | To help a pet in need, you can adopt, foster, volunteer, or donate at Pasadenaumain.org. |
| 0:34.6 | This is in Perfect Paradise. I'm your host, Nereida Moreno. |
| 0:39.5 | For many affected by the Eaton and Palisades fires, the search for answers and accountability |
| 0:44.4 | continues for communities across L.A. County, almost a year after the fires killed nearly |
| 0:49.7 | three dozen people and destroyed thousands of homes and businesses. In today's episode of Imperfect Paradise, we look closely at what happened to some of the most |
| 0:58.7 | vulnerable residents during one of LA's most devastating disasters. |
| 1:03.3 | I've been trying to find a way out. |
| 1:06.1 | Let's get you out here. |
| 1:07.0 | Let's get you out. |
| 1:08.0 | Where do I go? |
| 1:09.4 | But don't lose me. |
| 1:10.7 | I promise how. No one lose you. I promise how long lose you? |
| 1:11.6 | Don't worry, okay? |
| 1:12.6 | That's Jean Bruce Poole, a 100-year-old resident who was left behind at the Montecedro |
| 1:18.6 | retirement community in Altadena after it was evacuated during the Eaton fire. |
| 1:23.6 | LA County Sheriff's deputies discovered her alone hours later. Their body cam footage showed her |
| 1:29.1 | wandering a dark hallway on the third floor, and she was not the only one left behind. |
| 1:37.0 | Her community, Montecedro, was one of two residential care facilities who were cited for failing |
| 1:42.3 | to follow their own emergency evacuation procedures |
... |
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