A Survival Story: Living Through the Iranian Revolution & Two Major Fires

• Article below by Ed Condran, Pasadena Weekly Contributor and originally appeared in Pasadena Weekly on Feb 27th, 2025.

Worlds apart, Altadena and Tehran appear to have little in common. Yet, a key reason Azita Milanian was drawn to Altadena was the San Gabriel Mountains.

“When I was growing up in Iran, my father and I used to go hiking,” Milanian said. “When I would go hiking in Altadena, it reminded me of my favorite parts of my childhood. It reminds me of my father, who was the calm in my life as we had to deal with the Iranian revolution.”

Not long after moving to Altadena in 1993, Milanian endured the Kinneloa fire, which ravaged Altadena, Kinneloa Mesa and Sierra Madre. About 196 buildings were destroyed and the blaze is California’s 12th most-destructive wildfire.

“I survived the 1993 fire,” Milanian said. “I’m actually the one who saw the fire happening in 1993. I was going to the 24-Hour Fitness at around 10 a.m. to teach aerobics and saw smoke on Allen and above Altadena Drive. I called the Altadena police and they said they would look into it.”

Milanian’s house survived that blaze but her home didn’t make it through the Eaton Fire inferno in January.

“My home and my business burned to the ground,” Milanian said while calling from Redondo’s Hilton Garden Inn. “It’s just awful.”

Tosca Fashion, her dancewear company, suffered irreparable damage. The former engineer lost 3,000 designs and many dresses, ranging from $1,000 to $3,000. “I lost over $1 million but I only had $25,000 in insurance,” Milanian said.

Milanian’s home, which is worth $1.5 million, was insured for just $380,000.

“I asked why it was such a low number for a dwelling, I was told, ‘Don’t worry. Your home will never burn,’” Milanian said.

Milanian said her future is uncertain, but there is no plan to relocate. “I’m not going to move to other parts of the United States,” Milanian said. “I’ve lived in Florida where most of my family lives. I’m not going to live in a state where they have hurricanes every year. A lot of people in California have moved to Las Vegas or Arizona. I don’t want to move to those places. I love Altadena. It’s not overcrowded. It’s close to the mountains and nature. This is home to me. I always wanted to move to California and I did and I’m not going to leave.”

Milanian will rebuild in Altadena. Tosca Fashion and her Children of One Planet non-profit will continue.

“My home became my office for Children of One Planet,” Milanian said.

“I have to keep that alive. It’s so important to me since the mission of Children of One Planet is to inspire all to be the voice of innocent children and to protect them against hunger and violence.

“Children of One Planet is about bringing mental and physical health to children at an early age using music and dance to bring them together and teach them how to eat and think better and to overcome things.”

The altruistic Milanian founded Children of One Planet after discovering a newborn baby buried alive in 1998. “I was running with my three dogs in the mountains,” Milanian recalled. “I saw my dogs gathered around bushes and I heard a noise. My dog wouldn’t move. Two pointy things came out of the ground. I thought it was a snake. Two feet were sticking out of the ground. It was a newborn baby. The baby was just a few hours old with an umbilical cord attached. I dug him out of the ground. I saved his life. He was adopted. That changed my life forever.”

The same can be said for the Eaton fire, which has altered Milanian’s life.

“I’m focusing my energy to help children and spotlight the mental and physical, which are the key points in life,” she said. “If you’re mentally and physically not healthy and not resilient, you will not be able to survive in the world. But I will survive. So many bad things have happened to me. But maybe there is something for me at the end of the tunnel. I’m hoping great things will happen in the future. I’m trying to envision the good things coming.”