Sunday, July 19, 2026

Altadena Recovery Radio Show Adds On-Air Therapist to Address Eaton Fire’s Mental-Health Toll

A weekly radio program that has chronicled Altadena’s recovery from the Eaton Fire is expanding its coverage into the disaster’s mental-health aftermath, launching a recurring on-air segment that invites survivors to call in with questions about trauma.

The segment, “Ask the Therapist,” is part of “Conversation Live: Altadena Rising” with James Farr on KBLA Talk 1580, and features licensed marriage and family therapist Dr. Eshele Williams, Psy.D., according to the program. It reflects a shift in emphasis a year and a half after a fire that killed 19 people — the deadliest in modern Los Angeles County history — from the mechanics of rebuilding toward the longer-running emotional strain on the people doing it.

Farr said the segment grew out of a question a caller raised during a recent live broadcast.

“I realized we had spent the last 18 months documenting the 19 souls who perished in the Eaton Fire, the emergency response, debris removal, insurance claims, rebuilding permits, lawsuits, and public policy. Those stories matter, and we’ll continue telling them,” he said in a statement announcing the segment. “But recovery isn’t only about what’s being rebuilt. It’s also about the people doing the rebuilding. We have a responsibility to tell that story, too. ‘Ask the Therapist’ is how we begin.”

Williams, herself an Eaton Fire survivor whose family lost their homes, said trauma often surfaces long after a disaster. “Trauma can be silent… until it isn’t,” she said. “The compounding effects of trauma don’t always show up right away. They can appear in our relationships, our parenting, our work, our faith, and our sense of hope. My goal is to help people recognize those signs, begin the conversation, and remind them that healing is possible.”

The pressures Williams described remain concrete for many in Altadena, where displacement, insurance disputes and rebuilding continue. The program has chronicled the recovery of the town’s historic Black community, where 18 of the 19 people killed lived on the west side. Dozens of lawsuits, including two filed by the U.S. Department of Justice, allege that Southern California Edison equipment ignited the fire; the utility has said its equipment could have been associated with the ignition but has not accepted fault, and the official cause remains under investigation.

Each edition of the segment opens the phone lines to listeners with questions about trauma, emotional wellness, and how to support the people they love, the program said. “This isn’t a conversation about diagnosing people over the radio,” Farr said.

“It’s about permitting people to ask the question they’ve been carrying. Not everyone is ready to walk into a therapist’s office. But they may be ready to make a phone call. If this conversation helps someone take that first step—or helps a parent, a spouse, a friend or a neighbor recognize the signs in someone they love—then we’ve done something that matters.”

“Conversation Live: Altadena Rising” is rebroadcast this weekend on Sunday, July 19 at 11:00 a.m. on KBLA Talk 1580.

If you or someone you know is in emotional distress or crisis, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. In an emergency, call 911.