Desperate Eaton Fire survivors forced to live in rundown apartments
With blown-out windows, smoke-damaged walls, a gaping hole in the roof and a burned-down carport, desperate Eaton Fire survivors returned to their rundown apartment complex in Altadena after having nowhere else to go.
"It's not conditions that anybody would want to live in," resident Brenda Lopez said.
Lopez has lived at the complex her entire life. Her family of six, along with a dozen other families, returned to their units shortly after the fire ended in mid-January. In addition to the dilapidated conditions, none of their units had any power or gas.
"Everybody's living without gas," Lopez said. "Most of the people have resorted to connecting an extension cord to the light bulbs outside. When the light turns off after 5 p.m., they get power that way."
The families held a news conference on Thursday, along with community activists, to call for timely repairs at their rental property. They've been told to live there at their own risk until everything has been fixed.
"We are very conscious that we are not able to stay here," Lopez said. "But many of us have nowhere else to go."
The property management company said they cannot turn on the utilities until the county completes the permitting and inspection processes.
"Everybody has been speaking on homeowners since the fires," activist Brandon Lamar said. "We also have tenants who are suffering very badly in this season of our lives and we have to speak up for our tenants as well."
