USPS mail carriers make emotional return to Altadena for first time since Eaton Fire
For the first time since the Eaton Fire decimated Altadena in early January, longtime mail carriers resumed their regular routes, albeit in a completely unfamiliar environment.
"All of us were very anxious to get back out here and get to our routes and see who was still there," said Heather Gonzalez.
She's one of the U.S. Postal Service carriers who has been delivering mail to Altadena homes for decades.
In the past thirty-odd years, Gonzalez has learned the streets by heart and gotten to know the families living on every block. But when she returned, the once-familiar neighborhood turned into an unrecognizable wasteland of scorched earth.
"It doesn't even look like the same area anymore. When you know every, every family that was in those homes, it's a lot," she said.
Her route stayed the same, but the Eaton Fire changed nearly everything else. Instead of the Craftsman, Spanish, and Tudor-style homes she had grown accustomed to over the decades, she returned to blackened piles of debris.
"Certain areas are not ... they're not there and I finally got through there and it was hard to see. It was really hard to see and to see which ones were gone, but which ones were left," she said.
When she came back for the first time, she lugged around her usual loads of mail. However, seeing the wreckage made her wonder if there would be any mailboxes or doorsteps left to leave them. Many times there weren't.
In all, about 60 homes on her route were leveled and though hundreds of others were spared, they remained empty for weeks as residents were forced to stay away because of the lasting evacuation orders.
An eerie silence filled the streets as she attempted to find some solace in her work. She continued to make her deliveries as any USPS carrier would during rain, heat, snow — and now, ash.
Finally, some residents have started to return. The reunions, a constant in the chaos of the last month, have been emotional. And while the Eaton Fire took so much from so many, Altadena's sense of community remains.
"It's not just to talk about it, it's to try to, like, communicate and start some healing, cause all of us were hurt by it," said Kirk Rogers, an Altadena resident who had stay away from his home for five weeks. "She knew these people, I might not know who was up on the cul-de-sac around the corner, but she does. Heather is part of this community, very much so."
Gonzalez said "work" isn't the correct term for what her day-to-day consists of any longer.
"It kind of makes them feel like everything's kinda getting back to normal when they see us out here," she said. "They could have important stuff coming, they have insurance documents, they have checks. It's personal to me, it's not just a job. It's really personal."
