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On a drizzling Saturday night, a herd of teenagers dressed in floor-length gowns and fitted suits enter a hotel ballroom through a blue and gold balloon arch. It’s prom night for Pasadena’s John Muir High School.
For the students whose graduating year was upended by the Eaton fire, the evening feels particularly monumental. About 175 John Muir students and 16 staff members lost their homes in the January fire that raged through Altadena, and more than 150 students were displaced.
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The disaster left many students wondering whether they’d get to experience certain adolescent rites of passage, including prom. But help came pouring in. In March, actor Steve Carell announced he was working with Virginia-based charity Alice’s Kids to send every senior at six Pasadena high schools, including John Muir, to prom for free. Community members, organizations and even local students organized pop-up shops and other events for fire victims to receive free dresses, suits and other prom necessities leading up to the big day.
“These seniors have been through so much,” says John Muir principal Lawton Gray, an alumni of the school who was also temporarily displaced by the wildfire. “The students [experienced] COVID and didn’t have their eighth grade graduation and a lot of students are now dealing with this, but they’re resilient and they’re strong. They make me work harder just because they’re pushing through.”
For some John Muir students, prom night, which took place at Le Méridien hotel in Arcadia, offered a rare sense of normalcy and a chance to celebrate with their friends. We caught up with some students before they hit the dance floor. They shared how their lives have changed, how they put their looks together and what they’re looking forward to.
Responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
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Fletcher Paddock, 17
How were you and your family affected by the Eaton fire?
We evacuated that morning on Jan. 8. We all thought, like everybody else, that we were just going to be coming back, but we didn’t come back to our home being there, so that was devastating. It was hard. We have a place now in La Cañada [Flintridge], so it’s nice to be stable and we’ve been there for two months now. We’ve collected furniture and made it feel nice. I can’t say it’s “home,” but still very nice. It’s good to be in a new place and settle down out of hotels, but displacement is definitely hard. It’s hard on the mind. It’s hard on the body. It’s hard on our actions and emotions toward each other. It’s definitely been a struggle.
In the wake of the devastating fires, seven young Angelenos reflect on rebuilding their community, their biggest concerns and what’s keeping them optimistic.
Prom is the event that most high school students anticipate. After the year you’ve had so far, how does it feel to be here?
When we were not going to school for those two weeks, we didn’t know if anything would be happening towards the end of the year. There was no guarantee for anything. There was no guarantee that we’d even go back, so it’s just a benefit in general to be able to be here today, have prom, also even have like sports seasons and different events like that on campus sometimes. So it’s pretty crazy and I’m definitely glad to be here today.
Tell us about your outfit.
This outfit, I actually got donated. I got to go to a warehouse to try on different things and I just liked this one. I’m really glad it fit really well and then I just adjusted the arms and the legs just a little bit. The donation drive was a part of my dad’s work, so we were able to go into their warehouse where they keep all their costumes and things like that, but it’s not just costumes, it’s a pretty nice suit, so I was able to get a lot of stuff from there.
What are you most looking forward to tonight?
Just being around friends. The most memorable events are the ones when friends are around and we make the most of the moment.
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Jada Dean, 17
How were you and your family affected by the Eaton fire?
We were already evicted in November, and the house we were about to move into [burned]. We put our cat in there, and then it ended up burning down. We were already struggling. We were living at our tia’s house and we were already broke. I remember when I drove over there, I couldn’t stop crying. It was hard. I still think that — even though I lost my cat — I’m pretty lucky compared to others, because, like, I didn’t lose everything.
How does it feel to be at prom?
It feels really relieving because, first off, I didn’t know if I would be able to come before Steve Carell paid for us and stuff, so I’m really grateful that happened. And it honestly feels like a relief off my chest like I got everything that I needed to get done for the senior year because it’s been hard so far. So I’m very grateful.
In the wake of the devastating fires, seven young Angelenos reflect on rebuilding their community, their biggest concerns and what’s keeping them optimistic.
Tell us about your outfit.
I was going for like an Old Hollywood glamour look for sure, and I got it for free, which is good, because they’re helping the fire victims at school. I like the gold and I like how simple it is, but it’s also understated. I got it at Macy’s, which was helping the school.
What are you most looking forward to tonight?
I’m just looking forward to having a time. Trying to connect with people that I haven’t connected with in a long time and having a time with my friends. I’m just trying to have a good time. We need it.
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Silvia Pinto, 17
How were you and your family affected by the Eaton fire?
My family lost our house in the Eaton fire. My sister is in college now, but she was home for winter break. I have two rabbits and a dog. Thankfully they are all safe. We’re all safe, but it was hard evacuating with them because they don’t get along, so having to put them in the same car together was a little challenging. It’s definitely impacted us. We’ve had to deal with a lot of problems with mental health and of course finding new housing and rebuilding, so it’s been a pretty big struggle. We’re staying in Silver Lake right now. We’re renting from my sister’s friend’s mom.
Tell us about your outfit.
I got this dress from Jazzy Jam [for Empowerment], which is an organization that gives out free prom dresses and this one was one of the first ones I found. I really loved the color and I’ve never worn a strapless dress before so it was really hard doing that at first, but I really love it and I think it’s a perfect fit. I had a dress that I bought sophomore year. I was ready to wear it for prom and unfortunately I lost that dress in the fire, but I’m really glad I found this one.
How does it feel to be at prom?
It feels really good. I’ve been looking forward to it. I mean, prom night, you see it in all the movies and it’s such a big part of a teenager’s life, so I was really looking forward to it especially after this whole year and everything coming to an end, it feels really good to be here.
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Beckett Pollard, 17
How were you and your family affected by the Eaton fire?
My house burned down and it was a lot, but we found a place. We’re moving into our new apartment tomorrow, actually, so we’re pretty good with that. We got an Airbnb pretty early on, like maybe a day after we were staying in a hotel, and we’ve been staying there for like a month [or] two months. We’re kicked out of the Airbnb on May 8th so we have some time to move in.
How does it feel to be at prom?
It feels great.
Tell us about your outfit.
My girlfriend is wearing blue, so I tried to color coordinate. I had a suit, but it came and it didn’t fit. So I had to go, like quickly, pick up a new suit and I just liked that it fit.
What are you most looking forward to tonight?
Probably the food. I’m really excited about that. Maybe dancing too. I like dancing.
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Abigail Milton, 18
How were you and your family affected by the Eaton fire?
I lived next door to my grandparents, my auntie and uncle. There was my auntie, my uncle, their five kids, my grandparents — the two of them — and then us, my dad has five kids, so that was three households. We all lost our houses. My dad grew up in that house. His siblings and my siblings and my cousins, and we had a whole bunch of family reunions, family get-togethers. We also spent Thanksgiving, Christmas, Fourth of July, all at my grandparents’ [house]. Everybody came down to their house to spend time there.
Now, I’m living with my dad and we’re renting a house, and my grandparents and my auntie, uncle and with their kids are renting a house in Tujunga, so that’s our living situation right now. Sometimes it feels empty because I want to be in my bed that I’m used to, but I come back to reality and say “OK, this is where I am now, so let me get used to it.” It is what it is. It’s material things. A home is not a house. A home is a family — that’s what I learned. So as long as I’m with my family, I’m all good.
Sunny Mills, a set decorator who lost her home in the Eaton fire, is taking tintype photos of Altadena residents at their burned properties.
Tell us about your outfit.
I remember in the Bible they talk about how the gates of heaven are going to be gold, so I went with gold for new beginnings. My hair, my natural color is this color.
How does it feel to be at prom?
I feel good about prom. I was really excited to come. I was really excited to pop out with my date. I’m excited for after prom so I can hang out with my friends and my date. That’s what I’m actually most excited about.
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Heavyn Harmon, 17
How were you and your family affected by the Eaton fire?
We lost our entire home, so it’s like you feel robbed. But our community is great. Our school is great. I actually got to graduate early, so I haven’t had to do the school part, but it’s still been bittersweet trying to heal [mentally] and just come to terms with something so new. My family lived in Altadena for 57 years. We’ve been from Airbnb to Airbnb [through] 211LA, just trying to get vouchers because there were a lot of us in the house, so it’s like a lot to stay in like one space still. So we’ve been kind of spread out all over the place. It was my grandma, my great aunt, two of my uncles and like anybody. Our house was like a home to Altadena, so a lot of their friends, a lot of my friends. So it was just a big household in general.
Tell us about your outfit.
I wanted to do like Jessica Rabbit. I was a cheerleader, so I never could really wear red, because our rival school was red. I always get blond braids and I love how girls look with grills, so I was like, I need a grill too.
How does it feel to be at prom?
It feels really good. It feels like normal, in a way, because everything has been so abnormal and uncertain. So it feels good to be with everybody again, and just everybody looks good, everybody feels good.
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Kayla Vasquez, 17
How were you and your family affected by the Eaton fire?
I was awake [on the day of the fire], making sure that it wasn’t getting close to us, and once the smoke started coming to our house, I was like, “We have to leave” because I have a younger brother. He was 2 years old at the time and the smoke was going to really impact him. So we got packed up. We got our dogs. My brother has two parrots, so I had to put them in a crate. My dad’s cousin offered us a place to stay in North Hollywood and it was perfect. We had a bed, we had a couch, we had a stove and a shower, so we were like, “It’s perfect.”
We stayed for like a month and I wasn’t able to go to the first week [back at] school, so I was really behind and I missed my friends. I had to get rid of a lot of my stuff, but I’m glad that we’re all safe and I was able to stick with my family. Almost all the houses in front of my house are not livable and now there’s a family living in a trailer on my street in front of their house, since there’s nothing left.
Tell us about your outfit.
I was going for school colors, trying to play it safe. So like a dark color and then I wanted glitter, but it was just solid fabric, so I just sprayed a whole bunch of glitter on it.
We visited Altadena Girls and I was able to get expensive, high-end beauty products and new makeup, and I was so happy. It made me focus on something else, rather than all the stuff I lost.
How does it feel to be at prom?
I am so happy. I have been looking forward to this day to spend with my friends. I feel like it’s such a huge milestone because my parents didn’t go to prom. My dad didn’t graduate high school. My mom graduated from a continuation school, so it’s really big that I’m able to get here today and have their support as well.
