California fires destroyed or damaged nearly half of Black homes in Altadena

Residents fear recent wildfires could erase a once-thriving community that nurtured Black artists, activists and writers

Nearly half of Black households in Altadena were destroyed or majorly damaged by the Eaton Canyon wildfire, according to new estimates by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Altadena has been a center of Black homeownership in Los Angeles for decades, and residents fear that January's wildfire, which turned blocks of homes and businesses into rubble, could erase a once-thriving community that has nurtured Black artists, activists and writers, from Sidney Poitier to Octavia Butler.