Help Restore Mr. Padron's Life Post-Fire

Hello! My partner and I were forced to evacuate from our Altadena apartment directly south of the Eaton Canyon fire on the early evening of January 7th. When we left, we had no idea the extent to which the fire would affect our neighborhood nor that it would be the last time we'd stay at that home. Though the majority of the fire would end up destroying homes and neighborhoods north and west of us, our area was not spared the destruction of the rest of Altadena.

When we left, we took our three cats, some important documents, and some instruments. Everything else was left as we could see the fire moving toward us from our windows and between that and the intense winds, we didn't have enough time to take much of anything else. After several stressful nights in a motel, we tried to return to see if our home was still standing. The firefighters had just finished with our area and, though the air was thick with smoke, we were so relieved to see that our apartment survived. Unfortunately, after getting inside, it was very clear that all windows facing the canyon and burned structures had left a large amount of ash inside and the smoke had come up through the heating system and poisoned the home with an acrid smell. We would later learn how toxic the ash and smoke could be and how little of our home was salvageable. Almost all of our belongings had a coating of ash on them. The office suffered the most smoke damage, which unfortunately housed all our books, workspaces, and my collection of scores.

No one can ever wholly prepare for any natural disaster and this is no different: the five-figure costs to remediate contents (a small estimate of our books and a desk alone was over $10,000), the thousands of dollars to evaluate ash samples and get a sense for what contaminants were present in the soot and ash (as this informs the steps to remediate and what can be saved), and the ultimate cost of replacing lost items gets very expensive very quickly. Electronics have a shortened life after smoke damage, smells and heavy metals can leach into certain surfaces, so many items we thought would be okay ended up being compromised. This was only made worse by the fact that our renter's insurance was cancelled when we first moved to that home, our landlord was not interested in remediation and wanted us out, and the property had no water or power to clean anything. Thus, we made the difficult decision to throw away most of our belongings and move on from that home.

Between January and today, we have been so blessed to have wonderful friends and family around us (and people we've just met!) that have lent support in this very difficult time. I've been so touched by those that offered to help us get food, allowed us to stay with them, helped to find long-term housing, helped us move, and connected us with aid resources. It makes it hard to ask for help given the kindness we've already experienced; however, we are not able to afford replacing all that we've lost. If you are able and willing to donate toward that end, we'd be deeply appreciative. We are eternally grateful for any amount, no matter the size.

This GoFundMe is organized by SPHS parent volunteer Gina Loyonnet who has supported Mr. Padron through the SPMS & SPHS Music Boosters since 2023 when he joined SPUSD. Funds raised will be used for general recovery, not for home cleanup or rebuilding.