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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Dani Anguiano in Altadena

‘I want to preserve our legacy’: Black families in Altadena fear displacement after fire

A burned-out home with a palm tree beyond it
The aftermath of the Eaton fire in Altadena, California, on 17 January 2025. Photograph: Jae C Hong/AP

There was too much for Donny Kincey to save. Flames were barreling into Altadena, where Kincey’s relatives had lived for four generations, toward the homes his family had purchased after they escaped the Tulsa race massacre.

The 46-year-old second-grade teacher and artist had stayed behind even as he saw fire raging across the hillside last Tuesday night. He was determined to protect his parents’ home and his own. But hours on, embers began to set Poppyfields Drive aflame and a powerful gust, the same winds bringing destruction into his beloved neighborhood, knocked him to the ground.

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