ALTADENA, Calif. — The sky turned orange. Then came the smoke, thick as fog. By the time flames crested the hillside, it was already too late.
In a matter of minutes, the Eaton Fire engulfed parts of Altadena, leaving behind charred foundations and scorched memories — and upending the lives of hundreds of families, including many who help guide NASA missions from Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Among them: Jason Rhodes and Alina Kiessling, two JPL scientists who lost their home — the one where they raised their daughter, and where they were preparing to bring home newborn twins next month.
“It went from us preparing to leave to deciding we had to leave right away. Within just a couple of minutes,” said Rhodes, recalling the terrifying pace of the Eaton Fire as it swept through their Altadena neighborhood.
The couple’s home, like so many others, was reduced to rubble. All that remains are the photos saved on their phones — snapshots of birthdays, holidays and milestones now turned to ash.
“It’s going to take a while before we get our lives enough in order for me to take the time to process what has happened to us,” Kiessling said. “It’s been big.”
The fire, which ignited with little warning, scorched through residential streets and hillsides near JPL’s Pasadena campus. Though the facility itself was spared, the community behind it was not. More than 1,000 staff were impacted — many forced to evacuate, and 200 losing everything.
Not even the lab’s top leadership was spared. Leslie Livesay, JPL's deputy director of engineering and science, also lost her home.
“This place is a family,” Livesay said. “Everybody here works to support each other through times of crisis like this. Certainly, this was one of the most major that we've ever seen.”
Livesay continued reporting to work in the days following the fire. Along with others, she helped launch a disaster relief fund and working group to support displaced employees — a mission far closer to home than the satellites and rovers her team usually oversees.
“We were coordinating all those efforts. And that was done by individuals like myself, who was displaced and ultimately lost my home,” Livesay said.
Rhodes and Kiessling are now living in temporary housing. The trauma of the fire is still fresh, but they say the outpouring of support from JPL has offered something rare amid the wreckage: hope.
“JPL has been really amazing from right after the fire up until now,” said Rhodes.
"It really gave me a great sense of hope for humanity, that there was such an outpouring of that support," Kiessling added.
For now, the mission continues — not only across the solar system, but right here in Southern California, where a team of scientists, engineers and dreamers are learning to rebuild.
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to clarify Leslie Livesay is the JPL’s deputy director of engineering and science. (April 18, 2025)
