Monday, May 4, 2026

Help Filing Eaton Fire Paperwork: County Mental Health Brings One-on-One Sessions to Loma Alta Park This Week

[photo credit: County of Los Angeles]

The Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health offers walk-in support all day at the Altadena Library satellite branch inside the recently rebuilt park

Sixteen months into the Eaton Fire recovery, the volume of paperwork falling on survivors has not eased: insurance claims under review, FEMA appeals, SCE Wildfire Recovery Compensation Program offers, contractor estimates, county debris programs and rebuild permits all crowded into the same kitchen tables.

On Saturday, May 9 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health will offer free one-on-one technical assistance with post-fire paperwork at the Altadena Library satellite branch inside Loma Alta Park.

No advance appointments are required for the Saturday sessions. Survivors can simply walk in. The location, Loma Alta Park, reopened last May as a so-called super park after sustaining damage in the fire, with a satellite Altadena Library, satellite senior center, mental health clinicians, after-school programming and youth employment hubs all built in as part of the park’s expanded role in the community’s recovery.

The Department of Mental Health, the largest county-run behavioral health agency in the nation, has been a steady presence in the burn area since the fire, operating walk-in centers at the Eaton Fire Collaborative on West Woodbury Road and offering free Dealing with Disaster psychological first aid classes weekly at Loma Alta Park. Saturday’s session reflects what county officials have come to acknowledge plainly: that the practical and the emotional are inseparable for fire survivors, and that helping someone fill out a form is sometimes also helping them get through a hard week.

The park is at 3330 N. Lincoln Ave., on the Lincoln Avenue corridor in Altadena. The Loma Alta Park renovation was supported in part by the FireAid benefit concert.

Eaton Fire post-fire paperwork assistance will run on Saturday, May 9 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Loma Alta Park, 3330 N. Lincoln Ave., Altadena. For more information, call (213) 965-6484. Walk-ins welcome. Admission is free