Eaton Canyon Nature Center Destroyed by Fire

Lori Patton

Lori Patton

Well-Known Member
Eaton Canyon Nature Center in Pasadena, California has been completely destroyed by the raging Eaton Fire. The nature center housed a variety of reptiles and amphibians and was the focal point of Eaton Canyon Natural Area in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. The park provides habitat for native flora and fauna and features a popular waterfall trail.

The fire began Tuesday evening, January 7, at approximately 6:30 p.m. There is currently zero containment with over 10,000 acres burned and five fatalities. This fire is burning simultaneously with the devastating Palisades Fire and several other smaller fires in the greater Los Angeles area. I don't know if any of the nature center's animals were rescued, but I think it's unlikely since the fire started after the center closed at 5 p.m. and much of the area was evacuated due to the fast-moving blaze being fueled by winds up to 100 mph.

I enjoyed visiting the nature center previously and viewing the live animals and taxidermized specimens, but unfortunately don't have a list of everything on exhibit. If any of you have further information or recollections of the center, please comment below.
 
Normally, I'd suggest checking with L.A. County, since Eaton Canyon's a county facility, as to everything that was involved, what the situation was on the ground there, etc., and if it was the only area impacted by a fire (they've been through them before, but nothing that I know of to this extent), they'd probably not have any problems with letting folks know what happened in detail. Unfortunately, the County's swamped now in dealing with all the rest of that fire and more. I did work there once upon a time, but that was long ago, and I'm not sure what the current situation was there before the fire. :(
 
Apparently not; all the maps, though, makes it look like it might've started in the surrounding wildlands. There are almost 200 acres that the Nature Center immediate lands and parking lot is just the southern tip of.

Plants that are drought-resistant and fire-evolved (some needle-leaf trees NEED fire to germinate their seeds) can be "sparked" simply by long, strong winds, like a Santa Ana event (winds are more patient than humans about rubbing sticks together). Usually, we're plagued by such winds in autumn before the winter rains, so if fires are going to occur, it's almost always then, after a long, hot Mediterranean climate summer and before everything gets too soggy. Sadly, this year's rainy season, starting in October, didn't come to pass, and... X-P
 
It has been a couple months now since the fires started and at least over a month since the last embers were wiped up; thought I would provide an update for this story. The nature center was indeed destroyed, with everything except a few exterior walls burning up in the fire. Unfortunately, it was confirmed that nearly all of the nature center's inhabitants (mostly reptiles) perished as well, staff being unable to reach them in time. A pair of desert tortoises survived as they were offsite, in winter hibernation at a volunteer's house.

Eaton Canyon remains closed to the public and it's unclear right now what the plan or timeline is for rebuilding.

Source: Los Angeles wildfires: Updates from Jan. 10, 2025
Additional article: When will Eaton Canyon recover? Sooner than you think

This is a place I have visited multiple times. I never took a formal species list, but here are some of the animals they had in 2023 based on photos I took (which I may upload to the US-Other gallery later on):

Rosy Boa
Southern Pacific Rattlesnake
California Kingsnake
California Mountain Kingsnake
Gopher Snake
Southern Alligator Lizard
Western Toad
Western Mosquitofish
 
Coelacanth18 said:
It has been a couple months now since the fires started and at least over a month since the last embers were wiped up; thought I would provide an update for this story. The nature center was indeed destroyed, with everything except a few exterior walls burning up in the fire. Unfortunately, it was confirmed that nearly all of the nature center's inhabitants (mostly reptiles) perished as well, staff being unable to reach them in time. A pair of desert tortoises survived as they were offsite, in winter hibernation at a volunteer's house.

Eaton Canyon remains closed to the public and it's unclear right now what the plan or timeline is for rebuilding.

Source: Los Angeles wildfires: Updates from Jan. 10, 2025
Additional article: When will Eaton Canyon recover? Sooner than you think

This is a place I have visited multiple times. I never took a formal species list, but here are some of the animals they had in 2023 based on photos I took (which I may upload to the US-Other gallery later on):

Rosy Boa
Southern Pacific Rattlesnake
California Kingsnake
California Mountain Kingsnake
Gopher Snake
Southern Alligator Lizard
Western Toad
Western Mosquitofish
Click to expand...
Thank you for your update, @Coelacanth18 -- this is exactly the type of information I was hoping for when I started the thread! I last visited the nature center in 2022 and had planned to visit again, but sadly the fire has destroyed it. I also took photos of the reptiles (specifically remember the toad), but need to download them from another memory card. There were some really nice taxidermized raptor specimens in the lobby display case as well.

Previous posts to this thread speculated on the cause of the fire. Although it has not been definitively determined, it is now strongly believed that problems with Southern California Edison's power lines sparked the destructive inferno. Apparently, there is enough video evidence that multiple lawsuits have been filed against the utility company, including one from Los Angeles County. The investigation is still ongoing and SoCal Edison has not admitted any liability.
 
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