Friday, December 5, 2025

Altadena’s Christmas Tree Lane to Relight Saturday Following Eaton Fire

CITY NEWS SERVICE with PASADENA NOW

Altadena’s historic Christmas Tree Lane will glow again Saturday, a hopeful milestone in the community’s recovery from the Eaton Fire and the first lighting of the display since the disaster.

Widely regarded as the nation’s largest and oldest outdoor holiday lighting display, the tradition dates to 1920 and relies entirely on volunteers who spend months stringing lights with ropes and pulleys.

“It’s 105-year-old tradition now, and that means that for over a century, people have come out and volunteered their time to carry this tradition on,” said Scott Wardlaw, president of Christmas Tree Lane Association. “So it’s clearly well loved.”

Starting Saturday, more than 20,000 lights will flicker back on along the trees lining nearly a mile of Santa Rosa Avenue, near the fire’s burn scar.

For much of its 105-year run, Altadena’s Christmas Tree Lane has gone dark only in moments of true crisis — during World War II and amid the 1970s energy crisis. After the Eaton Fire, organizers briefly debated whether this would be another such year.

Some of the holiday lights — still wrapped around the trees when the fire hit — were damaged along with branches, not by embers but by the fierce winds that drove January’s flames. But none of the 153 deodar cedars — the towering evergreens that line the street, some reaching 130 feet — were lost.

Just up the street, resident Scott James knows what it means to lose everything and still find reason to celebrate on Saturday. The realtor lives on Santa Rosa Avenue—the upper stretch of Christmas Tree Lane that bore the brunt of the Eaton Fire’s fury in January. His home was a total loss.

“There were quite a few houses on our street that were lost, and then there were some that were protected by certain circumstances beyond our control,” James said.

Those circumstances had a name: Himalayan Deodar cedars. The towering trees that have defined Christmas Tree Lane for generations formed a natural canopy that helped shield many homes and, crucially, preserved the historic stretch where 10,000 lights will glow once again this Saturday.

For James, the trees have taken on new meaning.

“These towering Deodars have guided families home during the holidays,” he said, “and in recent months, they’ve stood as quiet protectors.”

He describes this year’s lighting as “a celebration and a remembrance and a hopeful look forward”—the first community-wide moment of shared joy since the disaster.

James still gets choked up talking about it. But after months of meeting with displaced neighbors and those who stayed, he’s seen something that gives him hope.

“I find meeting with a lot of neighbors in the community, they are very resilient,” he said. “Altadena’s roots run deep.”

Wardlaw echoed that conviction.

“Half of our board members lost their homes and more than half of our volunteers lost their homes. So people have been scattered far and wide, but they come back. They’re commuting now to Altadena to help put the lights up and take them down,” Wardlaw said. “But the showing has been greater than ever, which is again, a testament to the spirit of cooperation and sense of community in Altadena.”

Organizers expect a larger-than-usual turnout for Saturday’s 6 p.m. kickoff. The ceremony will feature several new touches, including a moment of silence for the 19 Altadena residents who died in the disaster. Longtime volunteer families will help flip the switch alongside L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who represents Altadena in the 5th District.

When the lights return Saturday, visitors may notice the display shining brighter than before. A donation from the Walt Disney Co., which employs many Altadena residents, funded thousands of additional lights for this year’s show.

But the brightest part of the display’s return isn’t the new lights — it’s the volunteers who refused to let the tradition fade after the Eaton Fire.