Rebuild or leave? One Black family in Altadena decides their future after Eaton Fire
Imperfect Paradise
LAist Studios
4.5 • 535 Ratings
🗓️ 9 April 2025
⏱️ 44 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The biggest question hanging over most people in Los Angeles who lost homes in the Palisades and Eaton Fires is whether to rebuild or leave -- a question that's especially fraught for Altadena's Black community, who faced a long history of redlining.
Charel Bailey’s parents have lived in Altadena since 1977, and she desperately wants them to rebuild after the fire. Her dad has been on the fence. We follow the Baileys as they grapple with this question and ultimately, come to a decision.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Support for LAIST comes from CarPros Kia and the new 2027 Kia Telluride Hybrid, |
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| 0:11.7 | You can learn more at CarPros Kia in Glendale, Huntington Beach, and Moreno Valley. |
| 0:16.7 | LAISD is supported by Elephant Energy. |
| 0:19.3 | Elephant Energy is LA's expert in installing modern and efficient heating and cooling systems, |
| 0:24.5 | the new standard for whisper-quiet comfort year-round. |
| 0:28.0 | They handle the design and the rebates to save you thousands. |
| 0:30.9 | Claim your rebates at elephantenergy.com. |
| 0:33.3 | On January 10th, just a few days after devastating fires broke out across Southern California, |
| 0:40.1 | Sherell Bailey Dixon called into LAS's radio show, Air Talk. |
| 0:44.4 | Hi, thank you for allowing us to speak about Al-Qaeda people. |
| 0:48.7 | I promise I'm going to cry. |
| 0:51.0 | That's okay. That's all right. |
| 0:53.1 | The host, Larry Mantle, had asked listeners to share their experiences of the fires. |
| 0:58.4 | Sherell's childhood home, the house where her parents lived, had burned down just a few days ago in the Eden fire, along with much of Altadena. |
| 1:07.1 | 18 people killed. |
| 1:09.3 | Over 9,000 structures gone. Houses of warship, restaurants, and homes. |
| 1:16.1 | Altadena is a mountain town north of Pasadena, with a population of about 40,000. |
| 1:21.6 | And one of the things that's so special about it is that it's home to a black community that has roots going back decades. |
| 1:29.4 | I was born and raised in Al-Dabinas, and my concern is for the black Al-Sahedians who have |
| 1:38.0 | bought a home, and we can't come back to that home. My parents were red lines to live where they live. |
| 1:48.0 | They couldn't live on the east side of Lake. |
... |
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