‘We all need hope': Altadena community park reopens four months after fires
'This little guy has been really sad about his playground burning,' said Ali Glasser, 43, pointing to her 2-year-old son who was eyeing a winding slide on new playground equipment.
The Glassers' home survived the fire — neighbors helped fight nearby flames — but smoke and ash damage have forced them away. They've moved 14 times before settling in a rental in Highland Park.
Ali Glasser called the park's reopening 'a beacon and bright spot amidst a lot of devastation.'
'As a community we're all still mourning,' she said. 'At the same time, life does go on for our children.'
Neighbors in Altadena and government, business and nonprofit leaders hailed the renovated, rebuilt and expanded Loma Alta Park at a reopening ceremony Saturday. They praised the park as a hub for gathering and recreation as the community recovers from a disaster that displaced more than 6,000 families.
The park, which spans 17 acres, escaped major damage from the fire, but playground equipment melted and ash covered the pool and spread over the grounds. Los Angeles County workers and thousands of volunteers worked to clean up the area. Businesses and nonprofits donated funding and equipment.
Saturday's debut came with all new play structures, a conversation nook with Adirondack chairs and coffee stand, a satellite library, baseball fields, computer lab and renovated pool and basketball court.
Within hours of the mid-morning ribbon cutting, dozens of children traipsed through the play areas, seniors were deep into a bingo game and families lined up for a Little League baseball ceremony.
Mark Mariscal, a 36-year Altadena resident who lost his house in the fire, said he was excited to spend time with his grandchildren in the park again. While he's found alternative housing, Mariscal said he and many other fire survivors remain unsettled and daunted by the lengthy process of rebuilding their homes.
It was important to celebrate one of the only public spaces that could reopen now, he said.
'We all need hope, and we all need love and we all need appreciation,' Mariscal said.
The decision to reopen the park so quickly wasn't without controversy. Many residents reacted angrily when L.A. County officials called for volunteers in March to help with rebuilding the park, saying that the decision was tone deaf in the face of fire survivors' trauma and unsafe given the toxicity of the debris.
Glasser said she felt 'mixed emotions' about the park's reopening, noting neighbors' concerns on the timing and extent of the cleanup efforts.
Some residents came to the opening to call attention to critical housing and public safety problems in the wake of the fire that they said weren't being addressed.
Julie Esnard, 67, said she and her neighbors feel trapped in their apartment building, which is reserved for low-income seniors. The building, which opened last year, is still standing along an Altadena commercial strip but was damaged by smoke and ash.
Esnard said evacuation the night of the fire was chaotic after the building lost power. Elevators no longer functioned, and residents had to drag themselves down the stairs while the complex filled with smoke, she said.
The building's residents returned two weeks after the fires, and Esnard is unconvinced that it's safe. Multiple burned lots across the street from the building haven't been cleared of their debris, and residents are fearful of what remains on the sites.
'Nobody goes outside,' Esnard said, leaning on her walker. 'It's toxic and we're old.'
Esnard, who has lived in Altadena for 60 years, joined about two dozen other residents and activists who marched and held up signs at the opening calling for greater protections for renters, more enforcement of laws requiring homes to be habitable and direct assistance for fire survivors still living in cars and shelters.
They delivered a letter to Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who represents the area, asking her to host a town hall to address their concerns.
'We're mad and we want things to change for the better,' Esnard said. 'Renters and elders have been ignored.'
Barger said she planned to review the request, but said 'it was unfortunate that they felt it was better to disrupt' Saturday's event.
Barger toured the park's refurbished amenities and said residents were thankful for somewhere to return so soon after the fires.
'People were grateful for the fact that they have a place, a space to come,' Barger said. 'Many of them are displaced, so they're coming up here and reconnecting with their community.'
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