Altadena's Christmas Tree Lane survives. Volunteers hope to turn the lights on again

The radical who thin Altadena’s venerable deodar cedars person suffered incomprehensible assemblage losses this week, but Santa Rosa Avenue, a.k.a. Christmas Tree Lane, is simply a tiny agleam spot among the wreckage wrought by the Eaton fire.

Despite what residents described arsenic a fiery rainfall of embers propelled by hurricane unit winds, the street’s 135 cedars seemed unfazed by the fire. The raging Santa Ana winds person breached a fewer branches, but overall, the monolithic trees with their graceful drapey limbs look fine, which means the community’s 104-year vacation airy contented tin continue.

Tony Ward and his wife, Maureen, longtime residents of Santa Rosa Avenue and past presidents of the Christmas Tree Lane Assn., went retired for meal successful Hastings Ranch connected Jan. 7, aft the powerfulness went retired astatine their home.

Thousands of radical crook retired each twelvemonth to thrust nether a astir mile-long canopy of sparkly lights strung connected 135 deodar cedars connected Santa Rosa Avenue successful Altadena, a 104-year, volunteer-led contented known arsenic Christmas Tree Lane.

(Los Angeles Times)

The upwind was aggravated erstwhile they near “but determination wasn’t immoderate treatment connected the media astir a fire,” Ward said.

Their meal outing was short. Before their repast was served, Ward said, “the waiter came up and apologized. He said, ‘We person to springiness you the repast to spell due to the fact that we person an evacuation order.’ ”

The Wards’ location of astir 50 years is astatine the confederate extremity of Santa Rosa Avenue, adjacent Woodbury Road, astir six miles westbound of Hastings Ranch. As the mates returned location and looked to the north, “we could spot Eaton Canyon was wholly progressive successful fire, from apical to bottom, and we were flabbergasted. It happened truthful fast,” Ward said.

Once they got home, they began packing “all the things we could deliberation of, photos and concern records, into our car and van,” successful lawsuit they had to evacuate, Ward said. “The upwind was intense, and the fume was conscionable heavy, heavy, heavy.”

The gusting Santa Ana winds blew fiery embers passim Altadena, including connected Woodlyn Road, connected Jan. 8 during the Eaton fire.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

The Wards person lived successful their location for 50 years and ne'er experienced this benignant of occurrence event. Between the changeless roar of the upwind and the advancing flames, slumber was intolerable that night.

They joined their neighbour lasting ticker extracurricular “to spot if thing flared up truthful we could tally and stamp it out,” Ward said.

By 2:30 a.m. past Wednesday, “we noticed embers flying each the mode down from mode up successful the [Angeles National] forest. They would onslaught the trees [the deodar cedars] and burst into small sparklers. And astir of the embers went out, but this was thing we’d ne'er experienced before,” helium said.

“And successful summation to the upwind roaring, determination were precise large reports we could perceive successful the background, which we surmised to beryllium exploding canisters of substance for barbecues and outdoor abstraction heater,” helium added. “It was beauteous scary due to the fact that the upwind was truthful intense, and the particulate and ashes, everything was close successful your eyes. And who thinks of wearing information goggles? We had nary thought that thing similar this could hap truthful acold distant from the canyons and the nationalist forest.”

When the evacuation bid came astatine 5 a.m., the Wards yet left. They were capable to instrumentality concisely past Thursday and recovered their location inactive standing. It turns retired that astir of the houses connected Santa Rosa Avenue southbound of Mariposa Street escaped occurrence damage, though houses connected adjoining streets were burned.

And the cedars, astir of which were planted successful the precocious 1880s, seemed fine.

A ample breached subdivision from a deodar cedar hangs precariously from a drawstring of lights connected Santa Rosa Avenue the time aft monolithic winds and the Eaton occurrence tore done Altadena.

(Jeanette Marantos / Los Angeles Times)

However, determination is upwind damage. A fewer ample branches breached successful the dense winds dragged strings of lights with them to the street. But the trees didn’t burn, and it’s not wide why.

“They are beauteous lusciously green,” said Cristhian Mace, a earthy areas biologist for Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation, “which makes maine deliberation they were good irrigated, and that’s astir apt 1 of the factors that saved them. They weren’t adust and brittle, and erstwhile you look astatine cedar bark, it’s heavy and somewhat occurrence resistant. ... I don’t cognize however other to relationship for their resiliency.”

The trees are good tended by the Christmas Tree Lane Assn., but they are mostly cared for by the homeowners connected whose spot the trees reside, said Assn. President Scott Wardlaw. During drought years, the relation has taken steps to springiness the trees other water, but usually, Wardlaw said, it has to pass homeowners against overwatering the deodar cedars. Too overmuch h2o tin pb to Armillaria basal disease, a deadly signifier of basal rot.

Preserving the trees is critical, due to the fact that without the cedars, determination is nary Christmas Tree Lane.

In November 2024, volunteers usage ropes and pulleys to bent agelong strings of vacation lights connected Christmas Tree Lane’s deodar cedars. Casty Fortich, acold left, and Temple City High School pupil Patience Cam, propulsion arsenic Scott Wardlaw, president of the Altadena Christmas Tree Lane Assn., and Feli Hernandez, right, look on.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

It takes 10 weekends and much than a 100 volunteers to drawstring those lights each year; volunteers statesman their enactment successful September to beryllium acceptable for Altadena’s escaped wintertime festival and histrion lighting lawsuit successful aboriginal December. The aforesaid volunteers usually commencement taking the lights down for the twelvemonth successful February to debar wintertime rains.

The festival is traditionally held successful the parking country of the Altadena Public Library astatine the country of Mariposa Street and Santa Rosa Avenue. Last week, respective buildings astatine the intersection burned, including the Altadena Senior Center adjacent door, but the room was saved.

The country lighting lawsuit that began successful 1920 inactive has a small-town, old-fashioned feel, with booths and blistery chocolate, section leaders making speeches and attendees walking the way erstwhile the lights are turned on. The Christmas Tree Lane show itself is beauteous low-tech, with nary euphony oregon peculiar effects. But it inactive draws thousands of radical each twelvemonth for the elemental pleasance of driving dilatory for a adjacent mile nether a canopy of sparkly lights.

Wardlaw said astatine slightest 13 of the Christmas Tree Lane volunteers mislaid homes successful the fire. Also, the section schoolhouse that had fto the relation parkland its motortruck and store its instrumentality of instrumentality for escaped was destroyed successful the fire.

Now the relation is grappling with wherever it volition store its motortruck and equipment, which didn’t pain successful the fire.

The instrumentality volition beryllium uncovering a caller retention spot the cash-strapped nonprofit tin afford. “The cheapest retention units complaint astir $5 a time for a truck, astir $1,900 a year, which we can’t spend for conscionable parking,” Wardlaw said.

The relation relies connected annual $35 memberships and sponsors to screen its expenses, and respective of its sponsors, including Altadena Hardware, St. Mark’s School, Pasadena Waldorf School and Western Fence Co., mislaid buildings successful the fire.

Those losses person weighed dense connected Wardlaw, who, similar astir displaced Altadena residents, is chafing to get into the burned areas, presently closed to the public, to spot what has been lost, and what, if anything, tin beryllium saved. The breached histrion branches connected the thoroughfare volition person to beryllium cleared away, helium said, and the strings of lights, galore of which are apt broken, volition person to beryllium repaired oregon replaced.

The enactment volition necessitate volunteers, galore of whom volition beryllium preoccupied by their ain losses, Wardlaw acknowledged, but helium sees the enactment up arsenic a tiny enactment of defiance against each the fire’s unspeakable destruction.

“Something I privation to do, if it’s feasible, is crook the lights connected again arsenic soon arsenic possible,” helium said, “Just truthful we tin say, ‘We’re inactive here.’ ”