Monday, March 23, 2026

Altadena Fire Survivor Makes the Case for Rebuilding Without Gas

[photo credit: Pasadena Village]

A retired JPL engineer urges neighbors to go all-electric at a free Pasadena talk on April 6

Sandy Krasner watched the Eaton Fire take property in his neighborhood. Now he wants to make sure what comes back is built differently.

Krasner, a retired Jet Propulsion Laboratory engineer and Altadena resident, will speak on April 6 at Pasadena Village about the case for rebuilding homes in the fire zone without natural gas — replacing gas furnaces, water heaters, stoves, and dryers with all-electric alternatives. The free talk comes more than 15 months after the January 2025 fire destroyed more than 9,000 structures across Altadena and killed 19 people, and at a moment when most homeowners in the burn zone have not yet broken ground on reconstruction.

“It will take a long time for Altadena and its neighboring communities to recover from the enormity of this loss,” Krasner said in a 2025 statement to the Citizens’ Climate Lobby.

Krasner leads the Pasadena-Foothills chapter of the Citizens’ Climate Lobby, a nonpartisan organization with more than 500 chapters nationwide, and is a member of the Pasadena 100 coalition, which successfully advocated for Pasadena City Council to adopt a goal of 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2030. He said he has no financial interest in the products he will discuss.

His argument draws on a report published in April 2025 by UC Berkeley’s Center for Law, Energy and the Environment, which found that all-electric construction could save homeowners up to $9,000 compared to rebuilding with both gas and electricity. The report also concluded that all-electric homes go up faster, because builders coordinate with one utility instead of two and skip the time required for gas-line installation and safety testing. However, the Berkeley researchers noted that actual savings in Altadena may be lower than the headline figure, because much of the underground gas infrastructure survived the fire intact.

The health argument is also central to Krasner’s pitch. Gas appliances produce indoor air pollutants including nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide, according to the Building Decarbonization Coalition, a statewide advocacy organization that is providing technical expertise to a Blue Ribbon Commission examining LA County’s rebuilding standards. All-electric appliances, including heat pumps and induction cooktops, do not produce those pollutants, the organization said.

The timing of the talk coincides with significant infrastructure changes in the burn zone. Southern California Edison has already upgraded the electrical distribution system in West Altadena from 4 kilovolts to 16 kilovolts, a change the utility said would better support all-electric homes, electric vehicles, and other high-demand technologies. Edison is also undergrounding 63 miles of power lines across Altadena as part of a broader rebuilding plan estimated at $860 million to $925 million.

As of early 2026, approximately 1,700 rebuilding permits had been issued in the Eaton Fire burn area, according to LA County permitting data — roughly one for every three or four of the parcels that were destroyed. The pace of reconstruction, while faster than many post-disaster recoveries by historical standards, means that thousands of homeowners have not yet committed to final building plans, and the gas-versus-electric decision remains live for most of them.

The talk, titled “Resources for Healthier Rebuilding in Altadena,” takes place Monday, April 6, from 1 to 2:30 p.m. at the Pasadena Village Office Community Room, 236 W. Mountain St., Suite 113, in Pasadena. The event is free and open to the public, but capacity is limited to 27 and registration is required through the Pasadena Village website at pasadenavillage.org. Free rides are available on request. For more information, call 626-765-6037 or email info@pasadenavillage.org.

Krasner has spent years in the weeds of energy policy, but the Eaton Fire made it personal. He is not telling his neighbors what to do. He is telling them what he learned — and what he believes they can still choose, before the concrete is poured.

RESOURCES FOR HEALTHIER REBUILDING IN ALTADENA Date & Time: Monday, April 6, 2026 at 1:00 p.m. Venue: Pasadena Village Office Community Room, 236 W. Mountain St. Suite 113, Pasadena , CA 91103. Phone Number: 626-765-6037. Website: https://www.pasadenavillage.org/events/4515-resources-for-healthier-rebuilding-in-altadena