Friday, January 24, 2025

Governor Signs $2.5 Billion Fire Relief Bill at Pasadena School

STAFF REPORT

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a $2.5 billion wildfire relief package at Willard Elementary School in Pasadena on Thursday, marking the 16th day since the devastating Eaton fire began ravaging local communities.

Dr. Elizabeth Blanco, Superintendent of the Pasadena Unified School District overseeing Pasadena, Altadena, and Sierra Madre, described widespread displacement across the District’s service area. Joined by Board President Jennifer Hall Lee, Blanco spoke at the press conference, which was packed with federal, state, county, and local officials.

“This has been a time of grief and gratitude,” Blanco said. “We grieve for all of our students and the families and staff that have lost their homes and were displaced. More than 10,000 of our students were in the evacuation zone, and so were nearly half of our employees, about 1,400 employees.”

“Ours is a strong community that is holding each other up,” Blanco continued. “Our teachers, our support staff, our administrators showed up today, they showed up even if they lost their homes, if they were housing others, and if they were far out of the cities that surround us and they will continue to show up for our students.”

The District welcomed back 3,400 students Thursday, with Blanco confirming “all students will return to school by January 30th, if not earlier.”

BJ King, Senior Pastor of Loveland Life Center, the Church, in Altadena, emphasized the human toll behind the statistics.

“We very easily will count the structures and forget that each structure represents a family,” King said. “Altadena is a city of generations and generations. Most people that live in ALT’s houses got passed down from Grandma to so on and so forth.”

Newsom said the emergency funding will support ongoing operations, disaster recovery, debris removal and traffic management. He noted that emergency crews battled hurricane-force winds up to 199 miles per hour at the Hughes Fire Incident Command.

“I want to just express a deep understanding and appreciation, a recognition of that and a deep recognition of our responsibility to provide for this community in a unique and culturally competent way,” Newsom said.

The relief package passed with bipartisan support as firefighting efforts continue, with 4,000 personnel from United States Forest Service, Los Angeles City and County firefighters, and California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection battling blazes across the region.

While red flag warnings remain in effect, officials are also preparing for new challenges from forecasted rain.

The Governor said he expects federal reimbursement for the state funds and hopes President Trump, who is scheduled to visit within 24 hours, will support the recovery efforts without conditions.