Guest Opinion | Chris Holden: One Hundred Days To Secure Your Rights

In the final 100 days, we face a choice that will define whether Altadena rises again—or fades into memory.

I can still recall the night of the fire. Families fled in the dark with only what they could carry. Neighbors stood outside waiting for alerts that never arrived and elders who had spent lifetimes building homes, churches, and family legacies watched those foundations turn to ash in hours. Our community had no say so in what was lost, but what returns is up to us.

We have 100 days. After January 7, 2027, our community will lose certain rights. Forever.

One hundred days to secure the rights of every survivor still waiting for justice after the Eaton Fire. One hundred days before the door closes on the largest opportunity this community will ever have to hold Southern California Edison fully accountable—and to bring home the billions required to rebuild what was taken away.

If we miss this window, the deeper cost will not be measured only in dollars left on the table. It will be measured in families who cannot return and in a community that slowly loses the power to shape its own future. That is exactly what Southern California Edison is counting on. They are advertising their compensation program at every turn, hoping residents will reach a point of desperation and give up their rights for a fraction of what a full lawsuit could deliver. Edison knows the difference. Having already victimized this community, they now want to shortchange the people still fighting to come home.

We will not allow this injustice to vanish into silence. We will not allow utilities to treat the destruction of a community as simply another cost of doing business—something they can absorb, settle quietly, and move past.

I joined LA Fire Justice a month after the Eaton Fire because they prioritized proof over advertising. They released the 3D photogrammetry video that broke news of Edison’s role in starting the fire before ever launching a commercial or campaign. Our attorneys invested in bringing truth to power. That commitment is why this fight still has a chance—and why the next 100 days demand everything we have.

Every person who has a claim must sign up for the lawsuit while the path is still open. And every one of us must pick up the phone, reach out to the people we know, and make certain no one who belongs in this fight is left behind.

Time is short. The urgency is real. Yet the hopeful truth is this: it is not too late. The same spirit that carried families through that terrible night—the determination, the care for one another, the refusal to disappear—is still here. If we move together, we can still write a different ending.

We can do this. One hundred days. Starting now. With resolve and respect,

Chris Holden

Chris Holden is CEO of LA Fire Justice and former Pasadena Mayor and California Assemblymember