Families of color, making up over half of Altadena, have bought homes and kept them for generations. The Black homeownership rate exceeds 80%, almost double the national rate.

"It's a nightmare. My soul and my heart ache. Everything is gone. Houses, schools, churches, banks. Everything," Teresa García, who is originally from Poncitlán, Jalisco, a small town in Central Mexico,

These photos chronicle the catastrophic scale of destruction from wildfires in California that started on January 7.

LOS ANGELES -- A humanitarian team from Mexico, deployed to fight the fires burning in Southern California ... would fight the Eaton Fire in Altadena, but because the Palisades Fire is continuing ...

As climate change warms the planet, wildfires have become so unpredictable and extreme that new words were invented: firenado, gigafire, fire siege — even fire pandemic. California has 78 more annual “fire days” — when conditions are ripe for fires to spark — than 50 years ago.

I started receiving texts from other friends who were fleeing Altadena. Families like Jeff and Kevin, two Marines who fell in love in the service, got married at the Altadena Town & Country Club, and had a beautiful baby boy together.

An Associated Press analysis found the first evacuation order covering neighborhoods closest to the start of the devastating Pacific Palisades wildfire didn’t come until about 40 minutes after some of those homes were already burning.

Rochele Jones, the couple’s 42-year-old daughter, said her parents and other family members collectively lost more than a dozen homes in Altadena. “It’s gut-wrenching,” she said. “You had your family around and when you had an issue you could turn to your family for help.

When asked what was the best place for lunch in Altadena, I often recommended Fox’s Restaurant on north Lake Avenue. Their elevated take on the BLT — stacked with roasted

Fire agencies are investigating whether Southern California Edison -- a subsidiary of Edison International -- infrastructure sites caused fires in areas devastated by the Eaton and Hurst wildfires. "You can't rule out anything ever until you can get your eyes on the equipment," Pizarro said.

Attorneys for Altadena resident Evangeline Iglesias have asked a judge to order Edison to preserve evidence in the area.

Fanned by strong winds, the wildfires have killed at least 24 people and swept through 40,000 acres in the Greater Los Angeles area.