Santa Anita opens parking lot as donation center for wildfire relief

ARCADIA, Calif. – Even without live racing, parts of Santa Anita were packed over the weekend.

Last week, with terrifying wildfires striking areas near the track, Santa Anita opened its parking lot as a staging ground for power company vehicles. Last Friday, another section of the parking lot became a massive donation center after officials from the nearby city of Pasadena asked track executives if space was available.

Santa Anita general manager Nate Newby said the reaction from track officials was swift.

“We said, ‘Absolutely,’ ” Newby said.

Santa Anita canceled racing from Friday through Sunday last week because of wildfires that began Jan. 7 and caused widespread damage in the nearby cities of Altadena and Pasadena. Another larger fire struck Pacific Palisades more than 30 miles west of the track.

Santa Anita announced last Friday afternoon that it would race on Saturday and Sunday, but reversed the decision on Saturday morning.

“We were hoping things would get better,” Newby said.

Instead, no racing was held, although full training was conducted.

The fire in the Altadena-Pasadena area consumed more than 14,000 acres and damaged more than 7,000 structures, including businesses and homes, according to media reports.

The donation center, which was open for 16 hours daily over the weekend, from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., stopped accepting clothes on Saturday, so massive was the outpouring of support, Newby said. The service was scheduled to continue through Wednesday.

Newby said there was still a need for “everyday essentials.”

“Water is a big deal,” he said. “A lot of people are low on water.”

Late Sunday morning, a steady flow of cars pulled into the track’s parking lot. Among them, two trucks towed trailers full of scores of crates of bottled drinking water for distribution.

Many local towns have warned residents not to drink tap water because of fear of contamination from the fire.

Santa Anita has rearranged its racing schedule for the next two weeks after the weekend cancellations. Racing resumes Thursday for a five-day week through Monday, Jan. 20. Newby said Sunday that the track has been granted an additional day of racing on Jan. 23 and will have a four-day week of action that week through Jan. 26.

There have been discussions about adding Thursday racing at the current meeting, which runs through June 15. Newby said the response from horsemen over nine days of racing from Thursday through Jan. 26 will determine whether that is feasible.

“I know a lot of people are looking for races,” Newby said. “We’ll learn a lot if we can fill nine days in two weeks.”

Santa Anita’s races were one of numerous sporting events postponed or canceled in the Los Angeles area because of the fires, including games involving the Los Angeles Kings in the NHL and the Lakers and Clippers in the NBA.

The NFL playoff game between the Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Rams on Monday was moved to Glendale, Ariz.