Friday, May 29, 2026

Latina Attorney Fighting for Eaton Fire Justice for Latino Community

By ANDRÈ COLEMAN, Managing Editor

Attorney Maribel Medina

Local attorney says immigration status does not strip residents of their rights

In a press conference on Thursday, a local attorney said that immigration status does not take away the rights of Latino residents suffering after the Eaton Fire.

“Every single Latino family affected by the Eaton Fire deserves to know that Edison caused this fire and you may be entitled to compensation,” said Attorney Maribel Medina. “Whether you rent or own, whether you filed an insurance claim or didn’t know you could, whether you are documented or not, you still have rights, and it is my job to make sure you are fully informed. I have spent 30 years preparing for cases like this. This community is why.”

“This lawsuit is your power, your chance to fight back against the utility that burned down Altadena.”

More than a year after the Eaton Fire devastated the San Gabriel Valley, thousands of Latino families are still struggling: unsure of their rights, uncertain of their options and too often afraid to ask for help. LA Fire Justice is here to change that.

Through its Pasadena office, LA Fire Justice offers free legal consultations to Eaton Fire survivors at no upfront cost, with all legal fees based on contingency. The organization regularly hosts Spanish-language community events, bringing its full bilingual team — including attorneys, community outreach workers and case managers — to provide access to the families who need them most.

Medina spent decades as General Counsel to some of California’s largest public agencies and was the first national Fried, Frank/MALDEF Fellow.

Born in Mexico and raised in a California farmworker family, she was the first in her family to go to college. She earned dual degrees from UC Berkeley, a Master of Public Administration from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and her law degree from UC Berkeley School of Law. Her career has taken her from civil rights litigation with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund to overseeing billion-dollar construction and operations matters for California’s most complex public institutions.

Medina was joined by Elvia Soto, LA Fire Justice Community Outreach Representative and Eaton Fire survivor, who lost her own home in the blaze.

“I know what it feels like to lose everything and not know where to turn,” said Soto. “I know the fear. I know the heartbreak and loss. And I know what it means to finally have someone sit across from you and say, we are here, we see you, and we are going to fight for you. That is what today is about. No one should go through this alone.”

The event was hosted by Abel Ramirez, owner of El Portal Restaurant and himself an Eaton Fire survivor and LA Fire Justice client. Ramirez has opened his doors so that his community has a place to come together, ask questions and take the first step toward justice.

Research from the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute found that before the Eaton Fire, Latino residents made up 27 percent of Altadena’s population.

These families accounted for 44 percent of those living below the federal poverty line, 60 percent more likely to fall below that threshold than their share of the population would suggest. These were families already stretched thin before the fire hit.

LA Fire Justice urges every Latino family affected by the Eaton Fire to speak with an attorney about their rights. Consultations are free, and there is no cost unless compensation is recovered.

“LAFJ is here to stand with families like the Ramirez family — and to make one thing clear: you have rights,” the group said in a statement released on Thursday. “Let me repeat that: your immigration status does not take away your rights. Even if you already received money from your insurance, you still have the right to pursue full recovery. You have the right to hold Edison accountable in court so your family can truly rebuild after the Eaton Fire.”

LA Fire Justice was the first to identify an abandoned transmission tower as the source of the fire. Using 3D photogrammetry, the organization’s fire origin and causation experts conducted physical scans of Eaton Canyon and built a detailed digital model pinpointing the fire’s exact point of origin: Tower 208, a Southern California Edison transmission tower that had been out of service for more than 50 years.

Edison knew idle towers posed a danger.

After the 2019 Kincade Fire, PG&E was fined $40 million for a blaze that started on an abandoned line. Edison did nothing to remove its idle tower in Eaton Canyon. LA Fire Justice holds that Southern California Edison is responsible for this disaster, and the organization’s lawyers and experts are building the case to prove it.