Thursday, March 26, 2026

Scientists Turn to Ecology To Rethink Eaton Fire Recovery

[City of Pasadena]

A free Pasadena library panel brings a county biologist, a prescribed burn advocate, and a Caltech researcher together to discuss what the burned landscape needs next

The Eaton Fire consumed more than 9,000 structures and 14,000 acres of the San Gabriel foothills. It also burned through one of Los Angeles County’s most ecologically sensitive habitats — and 15 months later, the canyon that gave the fire its name is still closed to the public, still raw, still recovering.

On April 4, a free panel at the Pasadena Public Library’s Hastings Branch will turn the conversation from what residents lost to what the land requires. The discussion, titled “Ecological Perspectives: On the Eaton Fire Recovery Process,” brings together a county biologist overseeing habitat restoration in Eaton Canyon, the founder of a fledgling prescribed burn association for Los Angeles County, and a Caltech graduate student with wildland firefighting experience to examine the fire through a scientific lens that official recovery efforts have rarely foregrounded.

The panel’s lineup connects directly to the ecological questions that the Eaton Fire raised. Christian Mace, a natural areas biologist with the LA County Department of Parks and Recreation, works in the very landscape the fire reshaped. Mace’s agency recently launched the Landscape Recovery Center at Eaton Canyon, a nursery and restoration hub that opened on March 7 with nearly $3 million in grant funding and a mandate to grow native plants for seven fire-damaged county parks, six of them in Altadena.

Two hundred native trees and 1,000 shrubs have been purchased so far. Species were selected for ecological value and their cultural significance to the San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians Gabrielino Tongva, according to LA County Parks.

Emilio Sweet-Coll, the second panelist, brings a different dimension. Sweet-Coll founded the LA County Prescribed Burn Association, a grassroots effort modeled after similar organizations across California that trains community members to use controlled fire as a land management tool. Prescribed burning — the deliberate, planned application of fire to reduce vegetation and restore ecological function — has gained traction across the state in recent years but remains relatively new in urban-adjacent Los Angeles County.

Eli Grossman, a Caltech graduate student who will moderate the discussion, has worked on wildland fire crews, including as a fire effects monitor at Yosemite National Park and a member of a wilderness wildland fire module where he participated in prescribed burns and suppression operations.

The panel’s stated topics include the specific post-fire management challenges facing Eaton Canyon and community-led efforts to change the way residents relate to fire, according to the event description posted by the Pasadena Public Library. Attendees may submit questions in advance through a form linked on the event listing.

The event arrives at a moment when the ecological dimensions of the Eaton Fire’s aftermath are becoming increasingly visible. The Landscape Recovery Center’s opening ceremony on March 7 drew LA County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, Assemblymember John Harabedian, and Parks Director Norma E. García-González, who described the center as the first phase of a multi-phase recovery of what the county has designated a Significant Ecological Area. Harabedian, who represents Pasadena in the state Assembly, helped secure state funding for the project.

Meanwhile, the broader ecological toll of the fire continues to come into focus. A study released in March 2026 by researchers at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences found that the Eaton Fire produced carbon monoxide emissions at rates more than 20 times higher than LA County’s average daily human-caused output, with burning structures contributing a larger share of carbon than trees and shrubs.

“Ecological Perspectives: On the Eaton Fire Recovery Process” takes place Saturday, April 4, 2026, at 10:30 a.m. at Hastings Branch Library, 3325 E. Orange Grove Blvd. in Pasadena. The event is free. For more information, call 626-744-7262 or visit the Pasadena Public Library’s event calendar at cityofpasadena.net/library.

Eaton Canyon’s trails remain closed. Its nature center was destroyed. But beneath the char, the roots of native plants are already pushing through soil that county biologists are learning to read — and on April 4, they will try to teach the rest of us how.

ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES: ON THE EATON FIRE RECOVERY PROCESS Date & Time: Saturday, April 4, 2026 at 10:30 a.m. Venue: Hastings Branch Library 3325 E. Orange Grove Blvd. Pasadena , CA 91107. Phone Number: 626-744-7262. Website: https://www.cityofpasadena.net/library/?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D197579829