By Mary O’KEEFE

Many events across Los Angeles County have been focusing on the one-year anniversary of the Eaton and Palisades fires of Jan. 7, 2025. In Altadena on Sunday, Jan. 4, one event had more than 3,000 people coming together to show their support.

The Altadena MUG Run/Altadena Forever Run was organized by Victoria Knapp, the former chair of the Altadena Town Council, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Dept. (LASD)-Altadena Station Capt. Ethan Marquez and his LASD staff/deputies. 

Lt. Wiemann of the LASD-Altadena Station said the event was in collaboration with the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Athletic Association (LASAA). This is the organization within the LASD that organizes fundraisers like MUG runs. (The name MUG refers to the mug that is given to participants who run a specific amount of runs within a series.)

MUG runs usually have in attendance about 300 or more runners for the 5K/10K runs; however, Altadena’s run had 10 times more runners, which is an example of the type of support the community and the surrounding areas have for Altadena, which continues to deal with one of the most devastating fires in California history. 

The route for the Altadena Forever Run was unusual in that it wound its way through neighborhoods of empty lots and remnants of burned homes. 

On Jan. 7 residents in the area of the Eaton Fire began the day facing strong winds. Mother Nature first pounded residents and business owners with wind … and then the fire began at about 6:17 p.m. 

The fire was wind-driven. Flames sped through neighborhoods as the wind whipped the fire, encompassing homes and businesses. The fickleness of the fire was seen as winds whirled flames around properties without burning homes or buildings. According to the After-Action Review of the Eaton Fire, communication was lacking and many who should have received evacuation orders either did not receive them at all or received them very late.

When the fire was knocked down, the Altadena community had to deal with recovery. To rebuild or not to rebuild was the first challenge; for those who decided to rebuild they had to navigate a mountain of permits – even though the County has streamlined the process as much as it can. Challenges include coping with FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency], the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as workers cleared properties of fire debris, and predatory developers. Many are paying rent at their present location while continuing to pay a mortgage for their burned or uninhabitable house and, of course, insurance needs to be paid – both for their burned homes and current residence. They are dealing with the loss of their belongings and the loss of their neighborhood. 

Considering all of this loss and navigating red tape, Sunday’s run is even more amazing. 

Wiemann said he was monitoring the run’s registration and knew to expect a high number of runners. 

“A lot of runners [came] from outside Altadena,” he said. 

But what really surprised him was how much the “town” got involved. He saw people along the route who had set up chairs at their burned-out lots and cheered on the runners. This was something, said Wiemann, that was not shared with the organizers – how the town took ownership of the run. 

To artist Keni Arts the involvement of the town is an example of what his community does – people support each other. 

Arts has been painting Altadena locations for over four decades. A lot of the homes and businesses he painted in the past are now gone or are empty shells of what they once were. After the fire, he started going to those places he had painted prior to Jan. 7, 2025 and is painting what they are now. 

“It’s hard because I am so familiar with [everything here] but I am looking [at] this with an artist’s eye,” he said.

The runners were from all over the area including from the LA County Fire Dept. academy and two teams of LASD cadets. Cheers from the crowd included those with the 501st Legion – Vader’s Fist, Rebel Legion and Mandalorian Mercs. These are three Star Wars international costuming non-profit organizations that support events like the Altadena Forever Run as well as hospital and school events. They were popular with many runners, organizers and other supporters who stopped to take a photo with them. 

The Altadena Forever Run raised funds that will be distributed to several organizations that help support fire recovery, and LASAA.