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In her 1993 novel, “Parable of the Sower,” Octavia E. Butler describes a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles in which devastating fires have ravished the region, as a result of climate change.
Butler’s novel starts in the year 2024, and details the story of Lauren, a Black teenager who is impacted by social inequality and who eventually becomes displaced from her home.
While written several decades ago, Butler’s novel has come close to describing 2025 so far.
During the first week of the new year, the Eaton Fire erupted, spreading quickly across Altadena, where Butler is buried, and parts of Pasadena, where Butler was raised.
Altadena, an unincorporated community, is one of few communities across Los Angeles with a large and thriving Black community. While Altadena had an overwhelming large white (95%) population in the 1960s, several events like freeway construction and “urban renewal,” combined with larger historical events such as the Civil Rights Movement and the Watts Riot led to an exodus of the community’s white population.
By 2000, the white population was 47% while Black residents rose to 31% of the population, according to the Altadena Heritage Committee. The racial change in housing affected Altadena in a way that led to “an overall down cycle in real estate values for a time.”
Today, Altadena is recognized as a multicultural community, with a home ownership rate of more than 70% and a Black population of 18%.
Now, the vibrant neighborhood has succumbed to fire, where dozens of family homes, passed down from generations, have been totally destroyed, leaving nothing but burnt reminders and memories.
Charles Bryant, 73, and his wife, Lynnelle Bryant, 60, have lived in Altadena for more than 30 years, where they raised four children. Charles, an architect, founded his business, Masbuild, an architecture and interior design firm in 1996. Located in Pasadena, Lynnelle, an interior designer, is the CEO of Masbuild and manages the interior design efforts as well as day-to-day business.
When the fire erupted on Jan. 7, Lynnelle recalled the power being out as they made their way home from work around 6 p.m. Lynnelle described smelling smoke, but not seeing smoke. Instead, the couple decided to go to the gym until power was restored.
While in the gym, Lynnelle and Charles were able to see the Eaton Fire from the gym window in Pasadena.
“It was very real and very vivid that this [was] a serious fire,” Lynnelle said. “And we looked at that and we thought, ‘you know what, we better get on home.’”
The Bryants went home and used the flashlights on their phones to grab important items such as passports, photographs, jewelry, their car and Charles’s guitars.
The things they have left sat in the small conference room of Masbuild, where the couple evacuated to and slept. The Bryants lost over two acres of property and most of their possessions to the Eaton Fire.
“But the difference that we had and other victims didn’t have, is that we left early. We made a choice to leave, and we chose what we wanted to leave because we had the time,” Lynnelle explained. “We, emotionally — even though we didn’t really know the full scope, were able to say goodbye.”
As Lynnelle and Charles decided to evacuate, some of their neighbors decided to stay until they were woken up by firefighters at 3 a.m. and told to evacuate within 15 minutes. The Bryants attempted to return to their home hours later, around 5 a.m., but as they drove up Figueroa Street, houses to the left and houses to the right were on fire.
Prior to the National Guard being deployed, the Bryants returned to see what was left of their home. In their truck, they maneuvered through fallen power lines and telephone polls, and trees that had been struck down.
“I don’t know how anybody could survive that, even if you were outside anywhere because that fire was so hot and so many things were burning,” Charles explained. “But the interesting thing is, some people stayed. On our street, there were 12 houses. Three houses actually survived.”
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but several residents of Altadena have filed lawsuits against the electric company, Southern California Edison, citing Southern California Edison’s negligence, recklessness and willful failure to “properly, safely, and prudently inspect, repair, maintain, and operate the electrical equipment in its utility infrastructure.” This specific lawsuit is being filed by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and law firm Singleton Schreiber on behalf of the Mahone family, whose home was destroyed by the Eaton Fire.
Wildfires in Southern California highlight climate change warnings
As Butler foretold, climate change has a particularly big role in the current fires raging across Southern California. The state has experienced an unusually lengthy dry season, with the region not having rain for the past eight months.
In recent days, as the fires have continued to ravish Los Angeles, Butler’s novel has been pushed to center stage as people wonder how she could have foreshadowed what is taking place in Altadena, decades before.
While Butler’s book may appear to be prophetic, the firestorms in California are not new or unheard of, but they are rare. Climate scientists have long warned about the effects of global warming such as extended droughts and longer fire seasons. This potential, combined with forceful Santa Ana winds, produced disaster across Los Angeles County in the early days of 2025.
“For both the Palisades and the Eaton Fires, those [are] what we call the upper end or almost historical type of windstorm that’s pretty unique to get into more populated areas,” explained David Gomberg, lead forecaster at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
“Sometimes we see these hurricane-type force gusts up in the mountains, but to get it down into the coastal and valley areas of Los Angeles and nearby, is pretty rare.”
Lynnelle recalled other fires over the past decades that have impacted Altadena and the surrounding region, although not as severe as the Eaton Fire.
The Eaton and Palisades Fires are not the first firestorms that have devastated this part of the state. In October 1993, several fires broke out in Pasadena and neighboring Altadena. Recognized as the Kinneloa Fire which started from a campfire, additional fires began to break out due to arsonists and downed power lines. According to a report compiled by the National Weather Service Western Region, the 1993 fires were “one of the worst fire outbreaks in recent history” to occur in Southern California, until now, that is.
“The fires were a result of a near-perfect combination of several factors; strong Santa Ana winds, high temperatures, low relative humidities, the abundance of vegetation due to well-above normal rainfall during the last two winters, and the lack of significant preoccupation over the previous six months,” the report’s introduction reads.
Similar to the series of fires that have erupted across Los Angeles County and in parts of Riverside and San Bernardino Counties in recent days, the Kinneloa Fire was one of many during the fall of 1993 that erupted across Southern California. According to the Western Regional Climate Center based in Reno, Nevada, 20 fires erupted across several Southern California counties that destroyed 194,000 structures, killed four people and injured 162 people.
The dry climate and the aggressive Santa Ana winds created an environment in which urban fires like the Eaton and Palisades Fires could rage. Five days before the fires began, the National Weather Service issued an advisory across Southern California, warning the public of potential fire risk weather. The advisory progressed to a Red Flag Warning and then a “Particular Dangerous Situation” alert due to the high winds.
“When we issue a high wind warning, that’s a cue for the public to realize, ‘Hey, this is going to be a damaging wind event.’ You can expect trees down, power lines down, numerous power outages — both planned and unplanned. So, that should be the first cue,” Gomberg said. “And then, if you see a Red Flag Warning PDF, especially, that means it’s a high end red flag event that’s going to affect urbanized areas, and at that point, you really need to take that seriously and be ready to evacuate.”
The Eaton and Palisades fires happening now are more devastating than 1993, with 27 people dead, according to the Los Angeles County Coroner’s latest report. With approximately 37,700 acres of homes and businesses destroyed, hundreds of families have launched Go Fund Me pages, detailing their unexpected losses and passing of loved ones due to the fires.
As Butler’s novel parallels the impacts of climate change in real time, she also describes the social inequality that follows as a result. This is a concern of many as working class families in Altadena are now facing displacement.
More than 400 Black families have launched Go Fund Me campaigns, many of which describe how their now destroyed homes were passed down from generations. Residents in the region largely own their homes or housing units, with 78% of the homes owned, according to 2023 Census data.
“We had put in a lot of time and effort into cultivating all that stuff. You see in the gully? That was all filled with oak trees,” Charles described as he reviewed images of their property after the fire.
On their property, the Bryant’s had a vegetable garden, orchard trees, six pineapple guava trees, two lemon trees and eight avocado trees, among other fruit trees. Neatly all are gone now, with the exception of part of a lemon tree.
As firefighters work to contain the fire, residents across Los Angeles and within Altadena have remained resilient and determined to rebuild the community.
Lynnelle shared that some people have said they don’t seem to be affected, but they are.
“Our emotions are survival. We’re in survival mode,” Charles said. “You can’t wallow in grief if you’re trying to survive.”
As the Bryant’s continue to run their business and develop plans to rebuild, they are in awe of the outpouring of support from people across the community and beyond.
Within days of the Eaton Fire breaking out, dozens of nonprofit organizations and mutual aid groups launched donation drives, collecting toiletries, clothes, gift cards, water and KN95 masks.
Since the fires erupted, organizations and businesses across the state have banded together to support victims of the fires. The DENA Relief drive has opened two donation centers in Pasadena where those impacted can drive through and receive essential items like groceries, diapers and water. Local churches across Los Angeles and Riverside have gathered and packed boxes donated from the Churches of Christ Disaster Relief Effort, a Nashville based non-profit.
Altadena residents face challenges in rebuilding after fires and insurance cancellations
Online discourse about the victims of the fires, who have lost their homes, have also sparked controversial opinions regarding social and wealth inequality, a theme emphasized in Butler’s novels.
Altadena is composed of working class residents, whose homes have been passed down for generations. According to Census data, the income per person in Altadena is about $65,192, with an average of about three people per home.
With hundreds of families now displaced and fire insurance companies cancelling insurance for thousands of residents across Southern California, rebuilding Altadena could be an uphill battle.
On Jan. 14, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order restricting predatory investors from making “unsolicited undervalue offers” to families impacted by the fires to purchase their land, by offering cash for destroyed property.
“As families mourn, the last thing they need is greedy speculators taking advantage of their pain. I have heard first-hand from community members and victims who have received unsolicited and predatory offers from speculators offering cash far below market value — some while their homes were burning,” Newsom stated in a press release. “We will not allow greedy developers to rip off these working-class communities at a time when they need more support than ever before.”
As victims of the Eaton Fire themselves, the Bryants understand the position a lot of families are in during this time as they struggle to find temporary housing and face long-term or even permanent displacement. But Lynnelle warns victims not to make a “hasty decision” and sell quickly in return for cash right now.
“You’re not thinking of the greater good, and it’s easy for me to say sitting on the outside, but just take a beat and say, ‘Okay, what is the long-term impact of the rebirth of this community?’” Lynnelle offered. “How can I use this property, even though I don’t want to be bothered with it, to really help sew into a greater development in making an equitable community?”
Charles explained that insurance companies are taking advantage of people by offering low land assessment values, and then doubling the profit by selling to someone else.
“The fear is that these limited liability companies and developers are going to come in, take these properties, throw some crap in here, and then blow up the price all over the place,” Charles explained. “That’s going to make it even harder for people of color and new home buyers to buy in.”
A report from the California Association of Realtors noted that in 2022, roughly one-fourth of white California households and “a little over” one in 10 Black and Hispanic/Latino California households could afford the same median-priced home, while 31% of Asian populations could buy a median-priced home. In December 2024, the statewide median home price was $861,020.
As a member of the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA), Charles extended an offer to homeowners who are seeking assistance and support with decision making regarding their homes on behalf of the organizations. The homes destroyed in the fire were unique and differed by design, and Charles recommends hiring an architect that can help reconstruct what was lost, or design something better.
The organization encourages those impacted by the fires, and who have the capacity, to complete a survey that will help NOMA develop a plan to gather “necessary resources and support for both immediate relief and long-term recovery.”
Rebuilding Altadena will take time, especially as firefighters continue to contain the fire (currently at 89% containment), but Lynnelle advised, “Don’t let anybody push you into a situation that you’re not ready for. In other words, [if] a contractor or somebody comes up to you, don’t start signing papers.”
Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Charles Bryant was a contractor. This article has been updated to reflect that Charles is an architect and his wife, Lynnelle Bryant, is an interior designer at Masbuild, an architecture and interior design firm.
