Thursday, July 23, 2026

Eaton Fire Survivors to Launch Postcard Campaign Pressing Newsom on Wildfire Liability

[Eddie Rivera / Pasadena Now]

Organizers say a Friday press conference at an Altadena recovery hub will open DearNewsom.org and push for liability reforms to be debated openly rather than in last-minute deals

More than eighteen months after the Eaton Fire, hundreds of Eaton Fire survivors plan to gather Friday in Altadena and hand-write postcards to the governor.

The postcards will launch DearNewsom.org, a campaign the survivors are opening alongside elected officials, consumer advocates, civil rights organizations, labor leaders and community groups, according to a media advisory from the Every Fire Survivor’s Network.

Organizers say they are asking Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers to protect survivors and to take up wildfire-liability reforms through the ordinary legislative process rather than through last-minute, end-of-session deals.

The gathering is set for The Collaboratory, a fire-recovery hub at 540 West Woodbury Road, the advisory says. 

Speakers listed in the advisory are Joy Chen, executive director of the Every Fire Survivor’s Network; state Sen. Ben Allen, chair of the Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee; Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog; Brandon Lamar, president of the Pasadena NAACP; and Pablo Alvarado, co-executive director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network.

The network says it connects more than 10,000 survivors and allies across the Eaton, Palisades, Malibu and Topanga fire areas.

The campaign takes shape amid a broader dispute in Sacramento over who should pay for utility-sparked fires. The Los Angeles Times reported this month that a utility-funded group, Wildfire Victims First, is lobbying for proposals — drawn from a study Newsom ordered — that would cap awards for pain and suffering, limit attorney fees, and shift more cost onto property insurers.

A spokesperson for Newsom told the Times the governor and lawmakers were weighing new legislation because the study found the current system was not working for survivors, utility customers or insurers.

The public can RSVP through DearNewsom.org, where the campaign has also posted an open letter to the governor.