So close. But so far.

Altadena residents got a glimpse of a potential future this week in the form of a progress update from leaders of the northern California town of Paradise, which six and a half years ago was destroyed by a major wildfire.

The upshot? Patience. Work with each other. Be willing to break down longtime barriers to communication. Find common ground.

In front of a group of Altadena residents and leaders, Paradise Mayor Steve Crowder and former Paradise housing program supervisor Kate Anderson shared that their once-fire ravaged town remains on a long road of recovery, but has taken major steps in rebuilding.

“You have to collaborate with everyone,” Anderson said. “Part of our long term recovery was working with our county in ways we had never worked with before. We were separate entities before the fire with little interaction and suddenly we all had something in common.”

Altadena Town Council Chair Victoria Knapp and Vice Chair Nic Arnzen moderated the conversation during Altadena Coalition of Neighborhood Associations meeting on Tuesday, May 27. The discussion included questions from Altadena residents, who on Jan. 7 saw their town consumed by the mammoth Eaton fire.

“It’s very easy with the quickness with which things have happened to think that things are going to continue to move as swiftly and I think that we have mechanisms in place that will allow for some of that but the lion share of it is going to take some patience,” Knapp said.

Crowder moved to Paradise in 2012 and was elected to the Paradise Town Council two days before the giant Camp fire started.

“We’ve been real busy ever since,” Crowder said.

About 35% to 40% of homes destroyed by the fire have been rebuilt, but Crowder said commercial rebuilding is lagging behind.

While their experiences mirror each other, the two towns have distinct differences, which could lead to different paths of recovery.

Paradise is a town but crucially is its own municipality, unlike Altadena, which as an unincorporated town is at the mercy of Los Angeles County governance.

Before the fire, Paradise’s average age was around 60, compared to 46 in Altadena, according to Knapp.

“It’s going to be a much younger community than it was before,” Crowder said of post-fire Paradise.

Altadena’s pre-fire population was larger than Paradise’s and its geographical location has provided support that was slower to respond to the remote town of Paradise whose closest major city Sacramento is an hour-and-a-half drive away.

In March, Knapp and Arnzen toured Paradise alongside Crowder, which included stopping at Paradise Community Park that features a wall with handprints of community members on it.

Knapp and Arnzen were two of the four town council members whose homes burned in the Eaton fire.

In 2018, the Camp fire devastated the town, killing 85 people and destroying more than 18,000 structures. Crowder called Knapp when he heard about the fire something he has done in the wake of other major wildfires since being on the Paradise Town Council and losing his home in 2018.

Power lines were found to be the cause of the fire and the utility Pacific Gas & Electric has paid out billions in the years since. Crowder said a difference from the more than 130 lawsuits facing Southern California Edison is that PGE was facing bankruptcy through the process and admitted responsibility early in the process.

Altadena continues the marathon rebuilding process after the January fire killed at least 18 people and destroyed more about 10,000 structures.

As of Friday, May 30, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has completed debris removal on 88% of fire damaged properties in the Eaton fire area.

“The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is demonstrating exceptional speed, efficacy, and dedication in their debris removal mission in Altadena,” Supervisor Kathryn Barger said in a statement Friday. “Their tireless work is helping our community heal and rebuild faster than many thought possible.”

A product of the fire’s devastation has been the chance for Paradise to upgrade it’s infrastructure. Crowder said about 90% of their power lines have been undergrounded, a new emergency alert system has been installed and an area that suffered from chronic internet connectivity issues has a reliable fiber optic system in place.

Crowder and Anderson both warned that opportunistic attorneys and contractors preyed on the desperation of Paradise fire victims and said it’s one of their biggest concerns for those in the Eaton fire area.

“You have already down there some of ours. The only thing I can say is I’m glad they’re out of here and I really wish they weren’t there,” Crowder said.

They cited examples of people giving large sums of money to contractors on the front end before work was completed and contractors leaving without doing the promised work.

The Army Corps has estimated that it is on pace to be completed with the vast majority of residential debris removal by the end of summer. More than 5,000 properties have been cleared and there are 81 debris-removal crews clearing about 57 properties a day, according to the county.

The latest step of recovery is the early phase of rebuilding. In the unincorporated portions of Eaton fire area 10 building permits have been issued but so far no homes have finished construction. Residents who opted out of the Army Corps debris removal program have until June 30 to clear debris from their property.

Officials have said the goal is for the Army Corps to be completely done with its workload in January.

Anderson urged the community and Altadena leadership to educate the public about people’s rights when it comes to dealing with a contractor and to not pay for work that has not been done.

“Nobody knows more than I do how bad you want to come home, but you got to take a step back, and if it sounds too good to be true it is,” Crowder said.