Flanigan's Eco-Logic

Flanigan's Eco-Logic features Steve Lewis for the third time... this time delving into his own deeply disturbing experience, as his neighborhood was ravaged by the Eaton Fire in early January. It wiped out much of his home town of Alta Dena, California... killing 17 people and destroying some 9,000 homes and business properties. There were heavy winds that day and he saw the fire coming, working its way down the mountainside visible from his upstairs windows. Time to evacuate.

Steve's home was miraculously spared even though fires licked up the fences on either side of his property and the base of his front yard tree charred. He recounts that home after home were decimated by fire; households and generations of Alta Dena residents disrupted in a city-wide bonfire fueled by channels of 100+ mile per hour winds.

Since the fire, Steve explains how he has been focused on working with others to rebuild the community, not just its built environment, but its culture. Alta Dena has been one of Los Angeles's most unique communities, diverse in professions and income and race. It is known for its black community and its rich sense of place. 

Working with others, Steve is rebuilding Alta Dena's pride. He is working on designs of public spaces and collaborating with others to enhance its commercial corridors. He and others are helping to maintain and bring back architectural styles, developing blueprints that feature Alta Dena's heritage, and that are poised for streamlined permitting.

Ted and Steve talk about the cause of the fires, how each of us is responsible for climate change and how we can make our homes more resilient to fire. Steve shares his optimism that lessons can be learned, that the community can be reborn from the ashes of the Eaton Fire, a calamity of epic proportions.