Isabela Livingstone dug through boxes piled high on a bed.
“We’ve got needles, gloves, razors,” she said.
She has turned one bedroom in her home into makeshift storage for the donations she has gratefully received — cleaning supplies, art supplies, tools and, of course, tattoo supplies.
Livingstone achieved her dream a little under two years ago — opening a tattoo parlor staffed with female and non-binary artists. Junebug Tattoo was located in Altadena on Fair Oaks in an older strip mall that also included Pizza of Venice, a liquor store, a small comedy space and an art gallery.
“So all of that is completely gone,” she said, “and you know, we were a tight-knit community of people and it’s really sad to know that we’re not going to be together, you know, for a very long time, if ever.”
It depends on several factors, not the least of which is whether there will be any clients.
Dwight Ferguson is the Owner NuWave Barbershop on Lake Ave in Pasadena, just over the Altadena border.
“It has been kind of a ghost town around here,” he said. “It’s kind of sad to see because this was a lively community.”
Ferguson moved to Altadena a quarter of a century ago and lost his home in the Eaton fire. While he still has his business, business has been incredibly slow, especially for a Saturday morning.
“People were lined up sitting here waiting before the fires and now look at it,” Ferguson said surveying the empty chairs. “Nobody is even cutting hair.”
According to the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation, over 1,800 small businesses were located within the burn zones, generating more than 11,000 jobs. The economic impact from the fires will be long-lasting and widespread. It’s something that weighs heavily on Ferguson’s mind.
“I’ve lost probably 60% of my business because most of my clients lived in Altadena,” he explained. “But I do plan on sticking it out. We are very resilient. And we will be here for the community because community needs us and we need the community.”
Even with his business suffering, he’s been offering free haircuts and braiding for residents affected by the fire. He has a Gofundme page and is looking for grant programs to help NuWave stay afloat. Not loans, he stresses, because no one needs debt. He needs grants.
As for Livingstone, she’s keeping her hands busy, making bracelets for a fundraising concert taking place at The Goldfish in Highland Park on February 20th. She would love to reopen in Altadena. She went to school there and her father and grandparents still live in the community, but she thinks realistically it will be 5 years before reopening there might be feasible and she can’t wait that long, not with staff counting on her for a paycheck. Plus she adds, no one can predict what the city will look like.
“Everything is just such a huge question mark,” Livingstone said. “You know, like because there is a chance that everyone sells their house and, and it becomes a very different community.”
She’s found a new home for June Bug in Eagle Rock and plans to open in April. She’s treating it like it could be a permanent move — but the old Altadena is inked on her heart and if it comes back, she says, she’d love to go back too.