The first stop former Vice President Kamala Harris made after leaving office and returning to California Monday was Altadena, where she met with volunteers and firefighters working on the Eaton fire.
Hours after attending President Trump’s inauguration, Harris and former second gentleman Doug Emhoff landed at Burbank Airport and headed to a former auto repair shop in Altadena.
Harris and Emhoff met with volunteers working for World Central Kitchen, the nonprofit organization founded by chef José Andrés that is distributing free meals in Altadena and Pacific Palisades. Then they helped distribute meals at the start of the dinner rush.
“The volunteers who were there, some of them who lost their own homes, are there doing the work of taking care of perfect strangers,” Harris said. “These are folks who understand the strength and the value of community.”
Harris’ visit came as Los Angeles County announced that all mandatory evacuation orders in Altadena had been lifted. The county also increased the estimated tally of buildings damaged in the blaze: 9,418 buildings destroyed and 1,069 damaged.
One 72-year-old Pasadena resident named Ann, who said she didn’t want her full name in the media, stopped by the World Central Kitchen site to pick up dinner before returning to her home near the Rose Bowl.
To her surprise, the volunteer who handed the meal to her — a beef and rice dish, an orange and a plastic packet of utensils — was the former vice president.
She set down the bag on the asphalt outside the garage and immediately called her sister, saying, “This is too fantastic.”
“Kamala Harris is serving the food!” she said in a voicemail message. “It’s 5:15. Maybe if you hurry, you can get over here!”
Former Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, meet with members of Fire Station 12 on Monday in Altadena.
(Carlin Stiehl / For the Times)
Then Harris and Emhoff visited Los Angeles County Fire Station 12 on Lincoln Avenue, where they met with firefighters who were working overnight on Jan. 7 when the Eaton fire erupted.
“Moments of crisis really do reveal the heroes among us,” Harris said. She said at least a dozen firefighters had lost their homes during the Eaton and Palisades fires.
“California firefighters, time and time again, prove themselves to be the best at the kind of work that is about dealing with these moments of unprecedented crisis and doing it with extraordinary courage and sacrifice,” Harris said.
Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone, who was among the firefighters who met Harris, said he was “so appreciative” of the federal assistance President Biden approved before he left office.
That agreement will cover 100% of the cost of California’s fire management and debris removal for the next six months, an increase over the usual federal share of 75%. Gov. Gavin Newsom requested the funding after meeting with Biden in Los Angeles the day after the fires started.
“It was really a touching moment for me, because the federal government is going to help this area rebuild,” Marrone said. “I thank them for that.”