Photo credit: la.eater.com
The evening of January 7, 2025, started like any other at Fair Oaks Burger until a power outage struck at 6:45 p.m. Just half an hour prior, co-owner Janet Lee had received a warning from a drive-thru customer about a fire rapidly spreading through Eaton Canyon. As she stood outside watching the flames creep closer from the hillside to nearby neighborhoods, the potential danger prompted her to make a decision. “We told our employees, let’s just leave everything. We’ll come back tomorrow. We can clean in the morning. Let’s just be safe. So we all evacuated,” Lee recounted. Their last customer left with the receipt for the last burger served that night, unaware of the calamity that awaited.
After making sure her parents, who lived nearby, were safe, Lee and her family gathered at their home in Valley Glen. “Both my parents were in their pajamas. All they had was their driver’s licenses and some money they hid in the freezer,” she said. The family discovered two days later through social media that their parents’ home in Altadena had been destroyed by the fire, while Fair Oaks Burger, a community staple since the 1980s, miraculously remained intact.
By February, just a few weeks later, the Lee family and their staff had set up a temporary kitchen on the Fair Oaks Burger patio, restarting their service to the community by hosting hot food distribution events funded by World Central Kitchen. The initiative began when community organizer Susan Park approached the family with the idea, and upon learning of it, World Central Kitchen stepped in to provide food resources, enabling a broader network of community collaborations.
The community distribution days transformed the restaurant’s parking lot into a lively hub. A DJ played cumbia remixes as customers who would typically wait in the drive-thru lined up for meals, which included cheeseburgers, chicken teriyaki bowls, pancakes, and breakfast burritos, all prepared on-site. The parking lot also featured tables offering fresh produce donated by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, clothing from Out of the Closet, and pantry staples provided by Home of Kings and Queens. Community health workers from the World Food Bank were present to assist with disaster relief efforts.
On March 29, Fair Oaks Burger hosted the Altadena Not For Sale Rally, co-organized by My Tribe Rise, which attracted around 550 residents. The event aimed to highlight community efforts to retain property ownership for locals and prevent developers from acquiring land. Attendees enjoyed live performances, shared meals, and bonded with neighbors, many of whom had been displaced and were now living in temporary housing outside Altadena. Local food vendors, including Mary’s Sweets and Churros and Big Grandma’s Kitchen, contributed to this community gathering.
Although the partnership with World Central Kitchen concluded on April 5, Lee remains committed to providing community assistance. The Lee family has continued to work with the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), which helps manage the logistics of trash disposal from their events. AHF’s project Food for Health is distributing fresh produce every Saturday in the parking lot of Fair Oaks Burger.
Starting from April 12, Out of the Closet will provide free clothing at Fair Oaks Burger every other week, and a weekly event named Wellness Wednesday will focus on distributing shelf-stable food items. Furthermore, a collaboration involving Fed-Ex, Feed the Children, Watch It Grow Inc., the World Food Bank Kitchen and Urban Farm, Aaron Cultural Community Center, and Altadena 2030 is set for another event centered on Wellness Wednesday, inviting residents to bring bags to gather essential food items and clothing. Lee anticipates this being a significant occasion for community members.
Lee and her sister Christy have also partnered with the Hollywood Food Coalition to establish the Feed Altadena Fund. This initiative aims to offer a limited number of free hot meals to displaced residents during the Wednesday and Saturday community events. Attendees can enjoy a selection of food, and 10 percent of the sales from the restaurant during these events will contribute toward providing meals for those affected by the fire.
One partnership has paved the way for another. Through AHF, Lee connected with Boyle Heights muralist Robert Vargas, renowned for his striking mural of Dodger Shohei Ohtani. Vargas plans to create a mural on the southern wall of Fair Oaks Burger that embodies the strength and resilience of the Altadena community.
As of early May, the Lee family is optimistic about reopening Fair Oaks Burger, equipped with a new grill. The restaurant has remained closed since the fire, with its interior in need of repairs due to hazardous materials left behind. While the building itself did not suffer fire damage, financial challenges have hindered progress as they seek loans and rely on individual contributions, including a GoFundMe campaign that has reached only 13 percent of its target. Lee acknowledges the hurdles but remains determined to open again, stating, “We’ll be in debt, but we’ll be able to open.”
Source
la.eater.com