Evacuation warnings lifted, Power almost fully restored, but gusty winds expected

Where the fire stopped. The right side of the canyon is Monrovia. It was barely touched.

City managers report on the fire for Jan. 11.

 Good afternoon, Monrovians,

As of 3:00 p.m. today, January 11, all Evacuation Warnings have been lifted. The Evacuation Order has been downgraded to an Evacuation Warning for those residing in the Hillside Wilderness Preserve. Welcome home everyone. 

Also great news...Edison is finalizing repairs to all power outages in Monrovia after nearly five days of outages.

However, the Eaton Fire remains active elsewhere in the community. Thus far it has burned 14,117 acres and is currently 15% contained with a portion of the increased containment along our Santa Anita Canyon. Yesterday, Fire Chief Jeremy Sanchez and I toured the Santa Anita Canyon burn area and were greeted by a strike team (5 engines) out of San Diego and many other smaller emergency vehicles who have all been keeping watch on the eastern edge of the fire. There were no visible flames or some in the area despite a light breeze, and there are none today. 

While the fire did manage to cross the service road and reach Monrovia city limits, as you can see from the photos below, the Eaton Fire reached the Bobcat Fire burn area where there was already little vegetation to burn. 

The weather forecast does include gusty northwest winds tonight through tomorrow, with gusts up to 30 mph with the possibility of another Santa Ana wind event this upcoming Tuesday, January 14. So teams won't be demobilizing anytime soon and the City remains ready to respond to any change in the incident.

- Brad Haugaard 

Foothill Unity Center distributes food to fire victims

Today Foothill Unity Center distributed food, clothing, blankets, pillows, sweets for little ones, and other essentials to support families and individuals hurt by the fire. The center’s Monrovia site (790 W Chestnut) will resume accepting in-kind donations starting Monday. To donate money visit foothillunity.org.

- Brad Haugaard 

Engineering students to visit high speed rail; Advocating for special ed funding

At its next meeting (agenda here) the Monrovia Board of Education will consider ..

~ Approving an extended field trip for Monrovia High honors engineering students to visit Fresno State University Engineering Department and tour the high speed rail construction site. Details. 

~ Approving a letter to elected officials advocating for full funding for special education programs. Details.

- Brad Haugaard

Owner of Jake's Roadhouse restaurant loses home in fire

Tony Banuelos, owner of the Monrovia restaurant, Jake's Roadhouse, lost his Altadena home in the Eaton Fire. Details. 

- Brad Haugaard

Calvary Chapel Monrovia helping Altadena recovery

Calvary Chapel Monrovia posts on Facebook that it has been providing food, water, and help cleaning up in Altadena.

“Our church remains a disaster relief hub for those in need of prayer, food, water and basic necessities.

“We are accepting any donations of food, water, toiletries, clothes, kid’s toys and books. [The church is located at the corner of Myrtle and Cherry]

“We will continue to see what more we can do to help those affected by the fires.

“Please continue to pray for the families and individuals that have lost their homes.”

- Brad Haugaard 

Eaton Fire held at Santa Anita Canyon; emergency communications; clean-up details

From City Manager Dylan Feik's latest update:

"The Eaton Fire continues to be held at the Santa Anita Canyon and with good weather ahead, our focus increases towards electricity restoration. Many residents had power restored yesterday and early this morning, and restoration will continue."

He adds, "There is widespread coverage about problems with emergency communication tools used by agencies including Southern California Edison, Los Angeles County Office of Emergency Management, and others. We apologize for the confusion this has caused. Should we need to communicate changes to the status of the emergency, we will continue to use this City Manager's Update. And if we need to evacuate Monrovians at any point, the city will use every communication tool we have AND will send every city vehicle into evacuation areas and with lights, sirens and bullhorns."

Also ...

Feik said that while the city appreciates donations of food and supplies, the city is no longer accepting them. For information on how to help contact the Red Cross at 800-RED CROSS (800-733-2767).

The city is cleaning up debris now. Street sweeping will continue as usual and parking restrictions will be enforced beginning Monday, Jan. 13.

For residents cleaning their own yards:

• Fill your green bins as much as possible. 
• Place larger logs, limbs or items in a neat pile in the parkway adjacent to your home.
• Place leaves in lawn bags and beginning on Monday, Jan. 13, city crews will pick them up and haul them off for you.

Monrovia Public Library and the Community Center will be open on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and closed on Sunday. City Hall, Public Works Yard, Fire Administration will remain closed today.

Athens Trash will be servicing those in the Evacuation Warning areas of Monrovia today (Friday, Jan. 10) and tomorrow (Saturday, Jan. 11). Leave trash bins out today or at the latest, Saturday morning.

- Brad Haugaard

Foothill Unity Center Food Distribution for Eaton Canyon Fire Victims

Foothill Unity Center will host a food distribution tomorrow from 9 to 11:30 a.m. at 191 N. Oak Ave., Pasadena, to support communities affected by the Eaton Canyon fire. Food, water, clothing, masks, and other essentials will be available. Donations are needed, including water, flashlights, batteries, face masks, new pillows, blankets, and dry pet food, which can be dropped off at the same location. Monetary donations can be made here.

- Brad Haugaard

Evacuation Orders Lifted - Mostly

Monrovia evacuation orders have now been lifted for all Monrovia residents, except those who reside in the Hillside Wilderness Preserve, according to City Manager Dylan Feik.

Evacuation warnings, however, remain in place for:

• North of Hillcrest and west of Myrtle, including all of Gold Hills.
• North of Hillcrest, east of Myrtle, and Norumbega Drive north of Greystone.

- Brad Haugaard

Fellowship Church opens its doors to fire victims

Monnrovia’s Fellowship Church (at Huntington and California) is opening its doors today, from 2 to 9 PM for anyone who needs Wi-Fi or a place to charge their phone, a safe place to rest, clean air, prayer, or just someone to talk to.

It also has a Fellowship Relief Fund, 100 percent of which goes to those now on need.

- Brad Haugaard

Lunch at La Noria

Lunch at La Noria, the taco stand at the corner of Foothill and May. Got the Thursday special, five taquitos for $9.95, and a soda for $3.25. Yummy!

- Brad Haugaard 

Fire Still stalled in Santa Anita Canyon, other updates

Red tint shows burn area.

City Manager Dylan Feik reports that the Eaton fire did not progress much at all last night due to favorable weather, wind and nighttime firefighting.

Feik said there is now a small area where the fire is moving up Santa Anita Canyon on the Monrovia side but there were several firefighters keeping the fire in the canyon.

Also, he said that:

- Evacuation orders and warnings remain in place.

- the President and Governor have declared a state of emergency, which frees funds for firefighting and recovery.

- Hopefully power (still spotty) will be full restored soon.

- The Community Center will be open 7 a.m to 9 p.m. and will have snacks, water, and areas to charge phones.

- No street sweeping for now, and while City Hall is closed the city will not assess late fees or payment penalties. 

- Monrovians don’t need to boil water. It’s safe as is.

- Brad Haugaard 

Clubs seek donations for fire victim relief

Way of Life Car Club and Lady of Roses women's social club, are joining forces Friday, January 10, to aid those affected by the devastating Eaton Canyon fire that wiped out so many homes, schools, and businesses.

A boil-water order has been issued for the area, so the club is collecting:

• Bottled Water

• Blankets and Pillows

• Clothing of all sizes which can be gently used but must be clean for immediate redistribution.

The organizations will be distributing items from 1-4 p.m. on the Raymond side of Central Park, 275 N Raymond Avenue, Pasadena, next to the Green Hotel.

For information call coordinators Donald Johnson or his wife Beverly at

(626) 255-2855 (Donald) or (951) 538-8672 (Beverly). They will be in the park at noon to receive donations. You can also reach out to First Sergeant Vincent Lymon (retired) of Thank a Vet, (951) 907-6900, who will also be on site to help.

If you would like to donate water but cannot make it to Pasadena, you can have cases of water (2 case minimum) delivered from 7-Eleven through such food delivery services as Grubhub via 7-Eleven with a 2-Case Maximum. You can also order water from Amazon Fresh. New blankets or clothing can be delivered from Walmart via Instacart. Please be mindful of delivery times.

- Brad Haugaard 

Monrovia YMCA collecting for those in need after the Eaton fire

The Santa Anita Family YMCA in Monrovia (at Mountain and Lemon) is distributing several pallets of fresh produce, canned goods, and snacks for those in need. It is also collecting blankets and personal items all day today (Jan. 9) to deliver to the Pasadena Convention Center to use at the Pasadena Shelter.

- Brad Haugaard

Fire stalled at Santa Anita Canyon

 

Here is the latest report from city manager, Dylan Feik.

January 8, 2025

 Good evening Monrovians,

Tonight at 6:00 p.m., we attended an Incident Briefing for the Eaton Fire. Since early this afternoon, the fire along the eastern edge was held generally around the Santa Anita Canyon. With favorable weather today, including little-to-no winds throughout the afternoon, the fire slowly backed down into the Santa Anita Canyon drainage area where  crews were positioned to hold the fire's position. Additionally, a dozer line was placed between the Santa Anita drainage area and Lower Clamshell Trail along the burn scar from the Bobcat Fire. This was done as a contingency in case the fire jumped or moved across the Santa Anita drainage. Air support was also provided this afternoon and is available throughout the night as needed.  Incident Command does not anticipate the fire to grow along the eastern edge tonight, and they expect to continue attacking the fire with significantly more resources early Thursday morning. At this time, there are no changes to previously issued Evacuation Orders or Evacuation Warnings. 

For tonight, Monrovians will see the fire on our hillside, including that eerie glow and occasional flames jumping. The fire will also look a lot closer than it is, as the fire is holding in the Santa Anita drainage area. Monrovia Fire & Rescue staff remain in Monrovia but also are assisting in Sierra Madre and Arcadia, doing their part to combat the fire's movements in our neighboring communities as needed. 

The map below is based off of the infrared map of the Eaton Fire and does not necessarily reflect the fire perimeter. The green area is the boundary of Monrovia with the red representing the Eaton Fire burn area. We anticipate receiving more maps as information becomes available to us. 

Electricity and cell service continue to be spotty as power outages remain widespread throughout the city. Southern California Edison is unable to say when power will be restored so we recommend planning ahead for extended outages. 

Certain City facilities remain without power, including City Hall and will remain closed to the public until further notice. Non-emergency city phone lines will also be out of service until electricity is restored. On Thursday, the Community Center will be open from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. and has snacks, water and areas to charge your cell phones. Be sure to stop by and say hi. 

Keep your phones nearby and continue to be ready should weather conditions change. I will provide another update in the morning. 

Take care and keep safe!

Dylan

Free movie for veterans - Feb. 1

- Brad Haugaard