“Determination turns to despair” for Eaton Fire survivors. But our fight for recovery is far from over”
Oct 31 2025
The Los Angeles Times has been inside our Discord since the beginning, finding survivor voices for their stories. This week, they turned their focus to our Eaton Fire Survivors Network.
It’s a powerful and painful feature titled “Months after fire in Altadena, determination turns to despair.”
Below are excerpts that capture the heartbreak, and the extraordinary strength, of our community.
Before anyone received an official alert about the Eaton Fire, a message lit up a pickleball group chat. “Everyone look up, there’s a vegetation fire on Canyon Close,” the message read. “If you’re anywhere near Eaton Canyon, I’d evacuate.”
From that one group chat, EFSN was born, and today includes more than 8,500 survivors.
“A pickleball group chat morphed into a network of thousands of survivors. The network has been vocal critics of Edison’s early settlement proposal and has pushed insurance carriers to compensate fairly.”
The article captures what so many of us are feeling right now: exhaustion, frustration, and, for too many, despair.
“Ursula Hyman, EFSN member who serves on four local nonprofit boards, calls this timeframe the period of great disillusionment.”
“The overwhelming feeling of despair is palpable,” she said. “We’ve got people sleeping in the streets, we’ve got people couch-surfing. We need emergency funding.”
EFSN Strategy Director Andrew Wessels spoke about the crushing uncertainty facing so many families:
“I have a 6- and 2-year-old. What do we need to do to remediate this home where we can imagine safely putting these kids back in there?”
“More and more people are hitting the wall. There’s less and less help now.”
The Times also highlights what makes EFSN extraordinary: our connection, our care for one other, and how we’ve built something powerful.
“Inside a Discord group of fire survivors… Similar to Slack, the chat comprises several channels centered on topics including remediation, rebuilding, health and safety, mental health and legal support.”
“We really are just survivors speaking with one another. We are a fundamentally different beast than a social media account.”
And our shared strength:
“The Eaton Fire Survivors Network has led calls for fair compensation from insurance carriers and has been vocal critics of Edison’s settlement offers, recently pressing the company to front $2.4 billion in urgent housing relief.”
The story also traced how this all began: a local mom stepping up when a crisis hit her community.
“Joy Chen, a former deputy mayor of Los Angeles under Mayor Jim Hahn, was the administrator for the WhatsApp group that became the Eaton Fire Survivors Network.”
“Chen didn’t imagine that in her 30-year career in global business, public policy and media that she would head a disaster recovery group that stemmed from a sports chat.”
This story is one of grief and grit. The fire took our homes, but it also gave birth to a community – OUR community! – that truly is stronger together.
As Ursula said, the feeling of despair is real. But so is our determination. Every news story like this moves us one step closer to the recovery we deserve.
If you haven’t yet, read the full story by Colleen Shalby in the Los Angeles Times:
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-10-30/months-after-fires-distress-grows-a-network-of-thousands-pushes-for-help
Edison’s Final Compensation Plan:
Still Indefensible
his week, Edison released its final compensation plan — and it still pays survivors less than bankrupt PG&E did.
That would be shocking in any week. But this week, Edison also announced 3Q profits of $832 million — far surpassing Wall Street expectations. Profits are up $316 million from this time last year.
Those profits came from Californians.
The state just approved a $9.66 billion annual revenue plan — an $880 million rate hike — plus $902 million in back pay for the first nine months of 2025.
In plain English: we gave Edison a bailout, a pay raise, and back pay, all at once.
And after all that, Edison’s final plan still pays fire survivors less than PG&E did while bankrupt.
That’s indefensible.
What changed in the final plan:
Expands the map boundary so more households are included — but keeps the smoke damage flat payment at $10,000.
Provides modestly more for most covered households — but gives far less for many renters.
Provides modestly more for kids — but still treats them as fractional humans.
Read EFSN’s comments, alongside those of attorneys and Edison officials, in the Los Angeles Times, the Pasadena Star-News, Pasadena Now and LAist.
EFSN is reviewing Edison’s final plan and preparing our community response. Because it’s nearly identical to the draft, see our 51-page report, “Fix What You Broke,” built from over 200 survivor accounts.
If you were affected by Edison’s misconduct, this next phase will be critical.
Watch this space. We’ll be organizing actions and publishing a full analysis soon.
You’re Invited: EFSN Community Meeting!
Thursday, November 6 at 7-8p
All Survivors and Allies Welcome!
Register now:
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/Ab5ZNJNPRVinopYbBgYeew
Now that we’ve grown to over 8,500 survivors — 8,200 from Eaton and 300 from the Palisades — it’s time to come together.
Join Joy Chen, Reina Pomeroy, and Andrew Wessels for an open, interactive community meeting (not a webinar!) to connect, collaborate, and chart our next steps.
Thursday, November 6 | 7–8 PM
We’ll talk about what EFSN does and how you can get more involved. We’re a small, mighty team — and we need volunteers across our three pillars:
Pillar 1: Connecting survivors to one another and to vital resources:
Pillar 2: Growing survivor voice and leadership
Pillar 3: Building civic coalitions to end insurer misconduct and help Edison fix what it broke
If any of that resonates with you, we hope to see you Thursday!
If you lead your own organization, come let's collaborate!
If you’re leading as an individual, come grow with us!
We welcome all survivors and allies.
Register now:
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/Ab5ZNJNPRVinopYbBgYeew
Rebuilding Summit
Saturday, November 15, 2025
9 AM – 5 PM | 💻 Free Online Event
This is the one-day virtual event our EFSN team built to empower you with the clarity and resources you need to rebuild smarter, safer, and stronger.
Join an incredible roster of experts in resilient design, wildfire-safe construction, financing, and survivor rights. You’ll leave with:
• A clear picture of real rebuilding costs and options
• Step-by-step checklists to move forward with confidence
• Live answers to your biggest questions
Attendance is free — but spots are filling fast.
👉 Save My Free Spot
What Is Edison’s Undergrounding Program?
Our awesome neighborhood captains Mike Tucillo and Nicole Wirth teamed up with ACONA and Edison to create a community forum explaining the new undergrounding program — including what it will cost and how it will unfold.
Watch the forum here.
Read their comprehensive guide here.
Big thanks to Mike and Nicole for leading the way and keeping our community informed.
See you Thursday - sign up here!
With determination and love,
Joy Chen
Executive Director, EFSN
If this newsletter moved you, please forward it to your neighbors and friends.
Every new member strengthens our community.
They can sign up here: https://efsurvivors.net/newsletter
