Tilda Landerer, a sophomore at Polytechnic School in Pasadena, lost her home in the Eaton fire on Jan. 9.

The Altadena resident recalled the painful uncertainty from the first hours of the Eaton fire.

“When I came home from school it was really windy. My dad was worried about the windows breaking and told me to pack an overnight bag,” Tilda said.

In the early days after evacuating, Tilda’s family stayed with a family friend before moving into an apartment closer to her school. The Landerer family then received the devestating call, notifying them that their house had burned.

Nine months ago, Los Angeles County faced some of the deadliest fires in state history, including the Eaton and Palisades fires. Both Altadena and the Pacific Palisades endured unprecedented damage to residential and commercial neighborhoods with over 16,000 structures destroyed in the two blazes, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

“I feel a lot closer to my [family since] we went through it together,” Tilda said. “I’ve noticed that when I refer to the new apartment I don’t call it ‘home’.”

While adjusting to her family’s new apartment was a difficult change, Tilda has begun to adapt to aspects in her new lifestyle. Tilda constantly reminds herself to look at the positives of life.

“It was [sad] to see a tractor just take everything away,” she said, as the majority of the houses on her street were destroyed in the fires. Despite the loss in the neighborhood, Tilda feels that her neighborhood has become closer as residents exchanged  information and united to rebuild their homes and Altadena as a whole.

Since the fires, Altadena residents have showed up to memorials and other community events, Tilda said. Her family and their neighbors meet for pizza every Monday to discuss their lives and upcoming building projects for their homes, a gathering that was only established after the fires.

The Palisades fire severely damaged St. Matthew’s Parish School, impacting its elementary and middle school families

Reynaldo Macias, dean of student life and culture at St. Matthew’s, described the school as “very community focused,” which proved essential during the evacuation and rebuilding effort.

Macias was teaching seventh grade on a Tuesday morning when he was first alerted of the fire. As the fire burned toward  the school, faculty tried to keep all students calm during the school’s evacuation. Since the fire’s fallout, students have resumed classes from the Water Garden, an office building complex in Santa Monica.

“I think the real interesting piece was that [the] community was really strong prior to the fires,” Macias said. “Whether it’s the faculty or families, everybody leaned in.”

In the fire’s aftermath, the unified St. Matthew’s community knew how to step up for each other.

Macias commented on how students in the classroom had “a little bit more grit, energy and gratitude” when it came to learning, and faculty members are constantly finding creative ways for the students to learn in their new school environment.