Pasadena shelter for nearly 300 wildfire survivors to move in days; new location not yet found

A temporary shelter housing nearly 300 wildfire survivors in Pasadena is set to close this week as the Red Cross works to find a new location. In the meantime, some at the shelter have said overcrowding has become an issue.

"Some people have even called the fire marshal because there are too many people in one room," said Alexander, an Altadena man who lost his apartment in the Eaton Fire and has been staying at the shelter. "And that's a problem. It's really, really tight."

The shelter at the 130,000-square-foot  Pasadena Convention Center is set to close Saturday. It was established after the Eaton Fire started Jan. 7, becoming one of the deadliest and most destructive fires recorded in state history as tens of thousands in Altadena and Pasadena fled their homes. While it remains unclear exactly how many homes were burned down, authorities said the blaze completely destroyed more than 9,400 structures, which includes buildings such as houses and businesses as well as smaller structures like car garages and sheds. 

On Jan. 11, days after the Eaton Fire started, the city of Pasadena transferred management of the shelter to the Red Cross.

The Red Cross said it's working to establish the new location closer to the community of Altadena. All 17 people killed in the wildfire were in the town, where entire neighborhoods of homes as well as churches, schools, stores and other buildings were burned down.

With the shelter's closure less than a week away, no new location had been announced as of Wednesday evening.

"We don't have anywhere to go, a lot of us don't have anywhere to go," Alexander said, declining to give his full name. "It's a feeling of uncertainty."  

But the Red Cross said the Feb. 8 closure of the temporary shelter is due to a prior agreement made when the city of Pasadena transferred management of the shelter to the Red Cross. The Civic Auditorium Complex, one of three buildings within the Pasadena Convention Center, had requested that the facility be returned to the city of Pasadena shortly after the first week of February.

The auditorium is set to host a speaking event on Feb. 12 and the 56th NAACP Image Awards on Feb. 22. 

Kim Mailes, a spokesperson for the Red Cross, said the organization will continue working with wildfire survivors before they are moved. In a statement, the organization said housing options will be "tailored to each household's individual circumstances" and each household will be guided by the Red Cross's Shelter Resident Transition caseworkers. 

These caseworkers work with victims of natural disasters in navigating government aid such as housing assistance grants from FEMA as well as other aid from nonprofits and private groups.   

"No one leaves an American Red Cross shelter until our Shelter Resident Transition teams have a plan for them going forward toward a permanent new normal," Mailes said.  

Lisa Derderian, spokesperson for the city of Pasadena, also said the Red Cross will keep offering services as the shelter's moved.

"While February 8th was set as the goal for transitioning the shelter at the Convention Center, we want to make it clear that no one will be left behind or shut out," Derderian said in a statement. 

Meanwhile, some displaced residents staying at the Pasadena Convention Center's shelter gathered outside the building Wednesday to raise concerns over the quality of food and other living conditions. 

"We're in one giant room with dogs, cats, babies," said William Lee. "It's like we're in a giant kennel."

Some staying at the shelter said they didn't have any such concerns. 

"I can't say anything negative because I don't have anything negative to say," said Mark Yodowitz, another evacuee at the shelter.

Mailes said he understood why some have struggled with the conditions, saying they have been staying there "several weeks."

"People have faced the worst day of their life," he said. "They're stressed and we understand that."

During a news conference Wednesday, Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, whose jurisdiction of the county includes Altadena, said she hadn't heard such concerns. 

"That's news to me about the mismanagement," Barger said. "I had not heard that."