Eaton Fire Leaves Mark on Jet Propulsion Laboratory Workforce, But Facility Stands Strong

On January 11, an aerial imaging spectrometer operated by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory soared over Los Angeles County to assess the destruction caused by the unprecedented fires.

It obtained images of scorched slopes in Angeles National Forest, ruined neighborhoods in Altadena, and — just west of the Eaton fire’s burn area — the 170-acre JPL campus.

With its physical structures remaining intact, the La Cañada Flintridge facility avoided the brunt of the fire damage. However, the same cannot be said for its workforce.

During the peak of the crisis, approximately 20% of the facility’s 5,500 staff were forced to evacuate their residences, according to director Laurie Leshin.

About 210 staff members lost their homes in the fire, and an extra 100 — including Leshin herself — could be displaced long-term due to the severe damage to their residences or neighborhoods. Numerous other evacuees have yet to receive authorization to return home.

In spite of the dire situation, employees maintained the 88-year-old institution’s operations throughout the calamity, in some instances applying decades of worst-case emergency training for the first time.

“There’s no doubt it was a dramatic scene on the fire’s first night,” Leshin mentioned.

JPL oversees the Deep Space Network, an international network of antennas that communicate with spacecraft traveling beyond the moon. It operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

“We practice biannually for scenarios where we might need to relocate mission operations, [but] we’ve never had to do that in reality,” Leshin noted.

As the flames drew near, employees — many under evacuation orders themselves — enacted those plans for the first time, temporarily transferring control of the network to the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex near Barstow without losing any data.

“It truly is a heroic tale,” Leshin stated. “JPL is a national asset, and it’s our personnel that make it so. Their dedication to our mission is remarkable, and they will ensure that exploration progresses, regardless of the circumstances.”

The fires come after an exceedingly challenging year for JPL, which dismissed 855 employees and 100 on-site contractors following NASA’s budget reductions.

The institution is funded by NASA but overseen by the California Institute