Emmanuel, Emma and Vincent Alvarado each grabbed a guitar, a suitcase of unmentionables and a safe when fleeing their Taos Road home in the pre-dawn hours of Jan. 7, 2025.
“We’ve had fire here many times, but it was always up the hill, so when I woke up at 2 a.m. and saw the fire was below us, I told Emma, ‘Vamanos,’” said Emmanuel “Manuel” Alvarado, 88, who was a truck driver and worked in manufacturing before retirement.
Leaving the home they bought for $23,000 in 1973, where they raised their five children on music, good Mexican food, and the great outdoors, is a heartbreak the couple are still dealing with. But today, they were surrounded by much more than rubble and ashes.
HPP Cares, a nonprofit that runs The Rebuild Center at the Eaton Fire Collaboratory in Altadena, gathered the Alvarados, their neighbors, local leaders and their community partners to break ground on what Emma Alvarado hopes will be “just like the house we had.”
“No penny will be charged to them through this entire rebuild,” said Katherine Peoples, HPP Cares founder and executive director said, adding businesses such as Diggin’ Cali are donating grading and soil testing services, and Builders First Source is providing fire-hardened building materials, windows and doors. “This is a sign of hope for thousands of fire survivors.”
Other dignitaries included Rep. Judy Chu, D-Pasadena, and representatives from the office of Assemblyman John Harabedian, D-Pasadena, and state Sen. Sasha Renee Perez, D-Pasadena.
Nic Arnzen, chair of the Altadena Town Council, who is rebuilding a mere five blocks from the Alvarados, reminded his neighbors that they are surrounded by much love and support, but that they are also rebuilding in honor of Altadenans who have died in the year and seven months since the Eaton fire killed 19 people.
“Here we sit and we’re pushing forward, with warriors like Rep. Chu and Sen. Perez, and it’s not an easy road, but when we get back in a few years, imagine what it will be like,” Arnzen said. “My main goal everyday, in the meantime, is to keep us connected.”
Lakers legend AC Green brought the support of his eponymous foundation to help the Alvarados, adding he hopes to be invited for Emma’s famous enchiladas in 10 months or so, when the family can return home. The AC Green Foundation has been involved in the ‘Denas for more than a decade, offering youth sports camps that build on character development and financial literacy.
“I love the Pasadena area, and I’m happy to support HPP Cares, which is bringing back hope and is committed to rebuild Altadena,” Green said. “And that’s only done one family at a time, like we play our games in sports, one quarter at a time before you get to the end result, and that’s what we’re trying to do right now.”
Manuel and Emma Alvarado have been living in an ADU on a relative’s property in Lincoln Heights, the neighborhood where they grew up and met more than 60 years ago.
“I can hardly wait to get around here again,” said Manuel, who was diagnosed with bone cancer years ago and admits to daily pain on his side these days. “We had the mountains, we had goats that gave us milk and cheese. We had an orange and peach tree, some apricots, a lemon and plum tree.”
His bride, who sold $1,000 worth of enchiladas at Ambassador College in Pasadena for the down payment on their house, said rebuilding in her ’80s is a matter of taking it one day at a time.
“I just put it out of my mind because if I break down, I’m gone,” she said. Instead, she dotes on her children, grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren, the youngest of which is 2-month-old Christiana. “Home is family and kids and grandkids and lots of Mexican food.”
HPP Cares has been a godsend, said Vincent Alvarado, 65, the Alvarados’ son and caregiver.
The couple did not have fire insurance, and already were needing to fix their roof and other major home repairs when the fire exploded.
“I say it’s her home, because she came up with that down payment, and I just fix things,” Manuel said.
The couple became Internet-famous in the days after the Eaton fire exploded when Manuel played the guitar and sang “You Are My Sunshine” to Emma while being interviewed by Kalina Silverman for her Instagram page, Make Big Talk.
“They love Altadena, they love their neighbors and they just want to come home,” their son said.
Manuel jokes that Emma will have to carry him over the threshold of their new beginning.
“Lie through your teeth,” he says, when Emma is asked what she loves most about her husband. “I give her a bad time and she’s helped me hold it together.”
For her part, Emma calls Manuel amazing, and is looking forward to throwing a big party when their home is rebuilt.
“I can already picture it,” she said, “just like it was before.”