L.A. Fires: A year later, four who served students

Vanessa Palomina remembers an incident weeks after the Eaton fire.

One of the 3-year-olds she teaches stood staring quizzically, unable to recognize her. They were seeing each other for the first time since the fires at an event to unite members of the Pasadena Unified School District and recultivate a sense of community.

Palomino took out her pig puppet, and the child lit up.

“Oh my God, it’s Nacho!” the student exclaimed, recognizing both puppet and teacher.

The incident reminds Palomino that the youngest students may process the fires and the aftermath differently than older children.

After the fires, Palomino returned to the classroom to work with the district’s youngest students in transitional kindergarten and pre-K classes twice a week.

The initial weeks after the fires were difficult. “There was a lot more crying, and a lot more like just needing the extra cuddle,” Palomino said.

She revisited some of the songs she taught them in fall 2024, before the fires swept through the region. That included “Make New Friends” and what Palomino described as a “really banger scarf song about popcorn.”

The familiarity of the melodies and opportunities to engage in movement with sticks, scarves and shakers helped the students, many of whom had either lost their home or been away from home. They could connect to a more positive time — and have a sense of continuity, Palomino said.

As the months passed, crying became less common. Now, Palomino said, she’s finally “seeing that kind of independence that kids at that age want.”

Despite the fire-related hardships of the past year, LAUSD sixth grade math and science teacher Steven Bilek feels he has been able to tap into the most meaningful part of being a teacher.

On Jan. 7, Bilek could see smoke billowing while he and his class lined up on the field to be evacuated from the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Paul Revere Charter Middle School to University High School.

Bilek and his fellow teachers left their personal items, including their cars, and stayed with the students for hours until their parents picked them up.

That day and in the weeks that followed, Bilek reassured the students. “Is everyone safe?” he asked them repeatedly. “We can take care of the rest.” He felt his class grow closer.

Roughly 15% of the Paul Revere school’s students lost their homes to the fires. And the school, located in an evacuation zone in Los Angeles, didn’t return to normal operations for more than a week.

Instruction was suspended. Teachers like Bilek created space on Zoom for students to join — but only if they wanted to. No material was taught. It was just a safe space to check on one another.

As the semester progressed, he saw his class sizes dwindle.

“The hardest part,” Bilek said, “was, you had kids that never came back.”

But alongside those who remained, Bilek and his leadership students got to work. They led a schoolwide coin drive for fire relief and raised $4,000.

“This is when you can do the part of the job that really means the most,” Bilek said. “You’re not worried about any of the other standards; you’re just there to be a support.”

Joe Ford lives in El Monte, east of downtown Los Angeles.

He likes his neighbors, but he wishes he was living 15 miles north in Altadena, where his home burned last year.

“We deeply miss living in Altadena, where I was raised, as were my children,” he said. “I’ve been blessed to be able to live and work in Altadena all my life. Serving our youth and their families, there’s nothing better.”

Within 15 minutes of learning a fire was spreading this past January, Ford and his wife left their home and drove to Sycamores, a group home for foster youth where he works as chief program officer.

As fire embers flew around them, Ford and three other staff members evacuated the 16 boys who lived at the home to a Sycamores office outside the fire zone. The boys stayed there for the next 20 days, keeping up with school virtually.

They asked for special items left behind. One boy wanted a photo of his grandmother; others were concerned about clothing they’d just received over the holidays, Ford said. He assured them they would replace anything lost in the fire. The home was littered with ash but remained standing. He knew the ordeal was stressful for the boys.

In the year since the fires, Ford and his wife have lived in two temporary homes before finding their current rental.

Since the fires, Ford’s challenge has been twofold: ensuring the youth have a semblance of normalcy in their temporary home, and working toward returning them to Sycamores. The 16 boys are now back with their families, living independently or remain at the group home.

“We know that they’re feeling the unprecedented chaos and instability, and so we just want to keep things as normal as possible and as routine,” said Ford, reflecting on the year. “And the best way to do that is staying connected to people that you know and love.”

After the Eaton fire swept through Altadena, devastating schools throughout the Pasadena Unified School District, Julianne Reynoso, assistant superintendent of student wellness and support services, lost the help of nearly half her co-workers, who had been directly impacted and needed to take time away from work to look after their families.

Guided by the district’s motto to “Rise, Rebuild and Reopen,” she and the co-workers who stayed got to work. From mornings into late into the night and on weekends, they solved problems, cleaned up campuses, figured out where to relocate students, and arranged mental health resources for students who had endured trauma.

Reynoso recalled that her top priority was keeping kids at school and maintaining a sense of community, knowing that “when kids are in school, they do better.” And to help with basic needs, she and her team organized a convoy of semi-trucks stocked with food, clothing and other things to help the community heal.

Within two weeks of the fire, they had organized a community event, including a DJ, free food and giveaways. More than 1,000 people showed up. Reynoso today described the event as “one of the best things we’ve ever done.”

“I’m really proud of Pasadena Unified because their promise to kids and to staff remains steadfast, and a fire or cuts isn’t going to get in the way,” Reynoso said. “We do not forget why we show up.”