The clean-up of wildfire debris in Altadena is nearly 90% finished after more than five months since the deadly Eaton Fire.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which focuses on removing fire debris from homes, is also helping with some businesses as a part of a “special inclusion program.”
Among those businesses is the Bunny Museum in Altadena, which was lost in the Eaton Fire.
A walk through of what is left of the museum in Altadena is a hopeful sign of what is to come for Candace and Steve, who founded the well-known stopping point on Lake Avenue 27 years ago.
“The museum used to be mostly a love story between Candace and I,” said Steve.
The couple has already received 18,000 bunny donations from around the world for the new location being rebuilt.
Several county parks and a senior center will also receive help from the Army Corps.
“A lot of them are nonprofits or churches and things like that,” said Colonel Sonny Avichal with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The corps’s work is ahead of the January 2026 deadline, so far.
“We’re over 80%, probably about 88% or so,” said Colonel Avichal, referring to how far along they are in the debris removal process.
Avichal says their work, including the crushing of concrete at the Altadena Golf Course, could be done by the summer. Because of the swift clearing, half the crews they had months back now remain, cutting down on traffic to and from Altadena through other neighborhoods.
As for Candace and Steve, they are already planning the bunny museum of the future, a distant yet realistic three-year plan
We’re hoping that we open officially on our 30th anniversary,” said Candace.
Until then, they are collecting bunnies and saving what burned for a future exhibit