When Los Angeles County native Turosca Allen opened World of Little Angels in 2014 she knew there would be challenges.

But she never could have anticipated the tragic wildfires that ripped through her Altadena community in January.

The series of devastating wildfires erupted on the morning of Jan. 7, initially engulfing the Pacific Palisades and the Eaton Canyon areas, with blazes going up in other communities in the days that followed. Twenty-nine people died during the weeks-long disaster and thousands of homes and businesses were destroyed.

Property damage from the fires is now estimated at between $28 billion and $53.8 billion, according to a Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. report

The Palisades and Eaton fires alone resulted in the destruction of 6,831 and 9,413 structures, respectively.

While the Eaton fire didn’t have a major impact on Allen’s Altadena child care facility, she and her mother Edna Allen both lost their homes.

“It’s been a very challenging time for both of us,” said Turosca Allen. “I don’t think either one of us has really had time to deal with our own personal losses yet.”

In her mother’s case, her home was also the location from which she ran a 24-hour child care facility – Allen Family Childcare – and the after-school program Focus for Success, employing six people, including herself.

All three of the family businesses are part of TAC Smart Enterprises Inc.

“I ran that 24-hour daycare facility out of my home for 25 plus years,” said Edna Allen. “I had 22 children – some came after school and some I cared for overnight. We would sometimes take them to church on the weekend. We also ran a summer camp and would take them on trips to waterparks and Disneyland.

“My daycare was pretty much my whole life. All the kids and parents called me granny,” she added. “I lived in that home for decades and all I have left of my home is two coffee cups and two bills. I do want to rebuild if I can find a place to do that.”

The impact on businesses

With the fires wiping out or disabling numerous companies, especially within the Palisades and Eaton fire zones, the LAEDC report predicts the county could lose $4.6 billion to $8.9 billion in economic output from 2025-2029 due to business disruptions alone.

And child care operators are already feeling the pinch.

Paul Pulver, chief executive officer at the nonprofit child care and early learning agency Options for Learning in West Covina, said the impact is immense.

“We have 90 locations and 250 classrooms in our service area within the eastern portion of the greater San Gabriel Valley, including five locations within the greater Eaton fire area,” Pulver said. “We know of 12 providers in the Eaton area that lost homes, which served as their businesses. Of our families that we serve, 56 lost homes and a number were displaced.

“Many families will never return to the area and some facilities won’t be able to reopen,” Pulver added. “Many providers who operate out of their homes will likely not be able to afford to return to the area, making child care harder to find for the families who reoccupy the area.”

Turosca Allen agrees.

“With multiple family daycare homes burned to the ground, there is an even higher demand for child care now,” she said. “It makes it difficult because most family daycares have a capacity of eight to 12.

“Most child care businesses in Altadena are also residential-based so it makes it that much harder for parents to find childcare because everyone is at their cap,” Turosca Allen added.

Picking up the slack

When Edna Allen’s home and business burned down, she moved across the freeway and traveled back and forth to Altadena to help her families find childcare at facilities that are intact like her daughter’s.

Though World of Little Angels did have some minor damage from the fires, it reopened on Jan. 27 and continues to operate Monday to Friday from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.

It has been able to accommodate 12 children from Edna’s facility.

Since it reopened, Turosca Allen has also offered free child care through her WeCare program to families impacted by the Eaton fire.

On March 31 that program will end, leaving some parents without child care.

World of Little Angels has set up a GoFundMe page to help cover the costs of expanding its services, which includes an increase in enrollment from 28 to 42 children.

Turosca Allen is also looking to hire two more employees. There are currently nine, including herself.

“We were a small facility,” she said. “Luckily my kids are on a staggered schedule so not everyone is here at once. I applied for a waiver from the Department of Social Services to increase my capacity and I’ve added a portable container to my property so I can accommodate more kids.

“Some of my previous clients have not returned yet so I technically have 39 kids who attend consistently on a staggered schedule,” Turosca Allen added. “I am looking at moving to a bigger space next door.”

Difficulties with infant care

While World of Little Angels has increased the number of preschool and school-aged children, the facility is not licensed to care for infants.

Finding placement for infants can be particularly challenging for parents and with facilities like Edna Allen’s no longer operational, there’s an even greater void in Altadena.

According to the 2022 Los Angeles County ECE (Early Care and Education) Needs Assessment, there were more than 484,000 infants and toddlers in the county, but only enough licensed centers and family childcare homes to serve 4% of the children under the age of 24 months.

California Community Care Licensing data shows a total of 42 ECE licensed facilities for children were lost due to the fires and another nine were significantly damaged. In the Eaton Canyon area, 34 facilities were destroyed and four others sustained damage. The Palisades fire wiped out eight ECE facilities and damaged five.

In an email, Debra Colman, director of the Office for the Advancement of Early Care & Education in the L.A. County Department of Public Health, stated “California Community Care Licensing has been a strong and flexible partner in supporting early care and education after the wildfires,” noting the agency immediately established an emergency license process for childcare programs.

Colman said the L.A. County Board of Supervisors expanded these efforts on Jan. 18, approving a motion directing the Department of Regional Planning to allow the temporary use of other facilities for child care programs, like grade schools and religious institutions in communities impacted by the Eaton Fire.

“The motion also directed the fire department to work with the State Fire Marshal and local affected municipalities to prioritize emergency fire permits for child care providers who are seeking to re-open an existing facility or establish a new facility with an emergency childcare license,” she stated.

In the meantime, Altadena resident Maria Lopez continues to struggle to find appropriate placement for her infant daughter.

The single mother of three works full time at a local supermarket in Altadena. Both her 10-year-old son and her baby were enrolled in Edna Allen’s facility prior to the fire.

Although her son is registered at World of Little Angels, he hasn’t been able to attend because of transportation issues.

Edna Allen and World of Little Angels both provided transport to and from school as part of their services prior to the fires. However, one of the vans caught fire and is no longer operational.

“I do not drive at all so I need a place that is close enough to get to by public transportation,” Lopez said. “My older daughter is 15 and she’s helping out with my son until we get everything figured out.

“My nephew and sister are helping me out with my baby at the moment but I can’t rely on them forever,” Lopez added. “I am the only breadwinner for my kids and myself and if I can’t find a permanent solution, I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

The quest to relocate

Like Edna Allen, Shonna Clark, executive director of the Altadena Children’s Center, does not expect to be able to reopen immediately.

The facility, which served children from all socio-economic backgrounds for 42 years, burned to the ground.

“Our child care and preschool was approved to take care of infants eight weeks old up to entry into first grade,” said Clark.

“We leased our property from the adjacent Altadena Baptist Church as part of an agreement that we fill 25% of our spaces with low-income families,” she added. “Relocation would involve a huge increase in rent that would not be sustainable for us as a nonprofit, so we are taking a pause and will see where we are after we assess any insurance funds or grant applications that are successful.”

At the time of the fire, the center had 38 children enrolled, including 20 that were 2 years old or younger.

Clark put out an urgent SOS request to the Directors Alliance to find facilities with available spaces for the center’s families.

“Fortunately, most of those families have found other spaces,” said Clark. “However, it’s very difficult to find providers who take infants and toddlers.”

Not everyone is finding relocation difficult.

B’nai Simcha Jewish Community Preschool has moved into a new space at All Saints Church in Pasadena.

“When the place we were renting from Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center in Altadena burned down, the outlook was bleak,” said Carina Hu, director of the preschool and infant program. “No one, including myself, expected to find this space so quickly. We were operational about a month after the fires.”

Hu said there are 15 children attending the school and she is expecting more in the near future.

“We had 35 families enrolled when we were in Altadena,” Hu said. “I’m definitely getting a lot of interest especially from families who need infant care. I am holding out for some of our former families to come back before I step up my marketing efforts.

“It’s been very hard on everyone,” Hu added. “So many neighborhoods went up in flames.”

A less than positive outlook

As recovery efforts continue, some in the child care industry are predicting the loss in providers will make services harder to find and more expensive.

Jessica Reynaga, chief program officer at the nonprofit childcare resource and referral agency Connections for Children, said the fires could increase the number of child care deserts in the county.

“While some of our providers have relocated, we have not heard from a number of them since their facilities burned down,” said Reynaga.

“The reality is some of these providers won’t come back, having gone through Covid and now the fires. The provider population is also aging, which is another factor to consider. Some may not want to reopen after having gone through such challenging times and others might not have the means to do so.”

Pulver said many of the low-income families his agency serves will likely not be able to return to the areas where they previously lived.

“I expect there will eventually be an adequate supply of providers in the fire areas but the demographics they serve and their rates will be different,” said Pulver.

Hu said she expects childcare to become more unaffordable for both providers and parents.

“Many people argued there was a scarcity of childcare prior to the fires, but I would say the problem was more about finding a suitable facility at an affordable price,” said Hu.

“I think this will be more difficult,” she added. “Other countries have adopted different models to make child care more accessible, but our country does not seem ready to do so.”