Half of Altadena’s Black Homes Lost or Damaged in Eaton Fire

Altadena, the center of one of January’s massively destructive wildfires in the Los Angeles area, was long a bastion of affordable and nondiscriminatory housing for Black families. “In past years, Altadena’s Black residents have had nearly double the homeownership rates of Black Americans across the Los Angeles county area – making the town a potential success story in efforts to shrink the racial wealth gap,” writes Lois Beckett in a piece for The Guardian.

Now, more than half of Altadena’s Black homeowners lost their homes, Beckett reports, putting residents at risk of displacement. According to an analysis by UCLA researchers, 61 percent of Altadena’s Black homes were within the Eaton Fire perimeter, and 48 percent of Black households were destroyed or majorly damaged.

The damage could eliminate decades of generational wealth built up by local families. The UCLA study also notes particular challenges that the Altadena community will face during recovery: more than half of Black homeowners are elderly, making them “especially vulnerable to incomplete or insufficient insurance coverage or predatory financial scams;” roughly 80 percent of Altadena homeowners are still paying off mortgages — on now-destroyed homes. Advocates are pressing for a 12-to-18-month mortgage deferment and a property tax freeze for affected families.