A group of tenants at an Altadena senior living center are demanding changes after what they described as dangerous and neglectful conditions during the Eaton Fire.
Residents of the Mirador Senior Complex say they were left without power, support, or working elevators when the wildfire forced them to evacuate in January. Many were injured trying to escape in total darkness.
“I exit to the hallway. The hallway pitch dark. Couldn't see anything. Couldn't see faces,” Niobe Recasens told KNX News’ Nataly Tavidian.
Recasens said someone grabbed her wheelchair and tried to help wheel her down the stairs, but she fell and had to slide down four flights of stairs with her arms to escape.
Angie Chung with the Fire Poppy Project said the management needs to step up and come up with a plan so something like this never happens again.
“Where was the backup generator? Where was somebody on the premises to help them in an orderly fashion?” she said. “Everybody ran out panicked, injuring themselves, and if it wasn’t for residents or elders who actually had family members who could come, people wouldn’t have gotten out of here.”
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Residents are asking the facility to create an evacuation plan and install backup generators in case another disaster strikes.
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