Banner on Rose Parade float calls for Eaton Fire inquiry from California AG Rob Bonta

A banner that was briefly displayed during the Rose Parade in Pasadena on Thursday called for an investigation into the response by Los Angeles County officials when the Eaton Fire broke out in Altadena last January. 

The message read: "AG Bonta — Altadena demands an investigation."

Moments after the float passed by the cameras, a guide who was walking with the float took the sign, but demonstrators believe they got their message across.

"Our message was to the attorney general," said Gina Clayton-Johnson, one of the two people seen holding the sign on Thursday morning. "We unfurled the banner at the time we hoped cameras would see it. Once that happened, we felt satisfied with that."

She was one of several people riding the Rising Together float, a tribute to Eaton and Palisades fire victims. The devastating fires, which burned at the same time on opposite sides of Los Angeles County, destroyed thousands of homes and businesses and killed 31 people, 19 of whom died in the Eaton Fire. 

"It is the attorney general whose job it is to investigate where and when there have been violations of laws and the dispensation of emergency services, evacuations and also civil rights violations," she said. "Altadena was a historically Black community that was underserved in this fire and people died."

Clayton-Johnson lost her childhood home in the fire, where her parents were still living. She and her husband, along with their two children, are planning to return to Altadena to rebuild. She's hopeful that Attorney General Rob Bonta will not only seek justice but lead an investigation that will help prevent similar fire disasters in the future. 

"I'm really thinking about my children. When we go back to Altadena and rebuild, we want to make sure we have safety there," she said.

Though Altadena is not technically a city and is without a mayor, the area falls in the district of LA County Supervisor Kathryn Barger. She told CBS LA in a statement that she agrees with Eaton Fire survivors who have valid questions about the issues with safety alerts and emergency warnings. 

"I want to be clear that an investigation is already underway," Barger said in a statement. "Los Angeles County Fire is currently conducting an internal investigation. It was catalyzed by the Board of Supervisors' commissioned McChrystal Group Independent Report and the state's recently released after-action report timeline."

Barger went on to say that she won't move on until there are clear answers for the community. Clayton-Johnson said that her statement wasn't just about her, but about the 19 people who died in January. 

"Today was so much for us about honoring the lives lost and the tremendous amount of property damage and trauma that we've endured," she said. 

Attorney General Rob Bonta's Office sent the following response and referred updated fire investigation inquiries to the Office of the Governor of California's California Fires Independent Analysis report.

"To protect their integrity, we're unable to comment on, even to confirm or deny,  potential or ongoing investigations."