When the fires of Los Angeles were involved in southern California in January, Barbara Shay lost much more than the building sheltered the coffee she owned.

The ingredients have passed for menu items such as grips or pancakes. Pictures of icons ranging from former President Barack Obama to actor Richard Pryor who had lined up the walls. Gone was also the decades of work by the Shay family.

“I’m still in shock,” Shay said in an interview for CNBC. “Next to an emotional coaster – not just for me, but just for everyone.”

Shay is part of the diverse structure of small businesses owners in Altadena, a city about 15 miles in the city center that was struck by the Blaze last month. As the community begins the perennial reconstruction process, entrepreneurs like Shay have begun to determine their paths forward.

She plans to rebuild the 70-year-old Red Hen Red Hen shop and is appreciating the finances for opening a temporary store or popups. Business includes generations: After following her mother and brother traces in business mastery, she now works with her daughter and nephew.

But while many in the Altadena entrepreneurial community remain optimistic about a recovery, numerous business owners depict long and difficult roads ahead.

Some businesses were completely burned to the ground like Shay, while others face long -term shift due to damage or smoke. For those lucky enough to have brick and mortar properties still standing, they are surrounded by what some have described in interviews as “zero on earth”.

“It’s a kind of indestructible,” said Henri Wood, who owned a cannabis business called the Flourish group that was burned. “What was once just a living, living community is completely gone.”

Altadena’s diversity cannot be underestimated. Census data show that more than half of the population is colorful people, with Latinos who make up 27% of the inhabitants and blacks that make up 18%.

Altadena has been historically known as a center for families and black businesses as it was one of the only areas of Los Angeles County excluded from the reprint during the Civil Rights Movement. The Associated Press revealed that the home ownership rate for black people in Altadena now decreases over 80%, which is nearly twice the national average.

But Altadena’s business owners – many of whom also grew up and now raise families there – are worried that fires will leave that diversity in ruins. Emeka Chukwurah, the founder of the rhythms of the village community community culture center, said he is concerned that the fires would accelerate the genre that was already taking place in the neighborhood.

Black residents accounted for more than 40% of the city’s population in 1980, according to Altadena Heritage. This proportion has been more than halved since then. Chukwurah has sold Altadena brand goods to keep the community and its diversity not to be forgotten by the wider society.

“I hope we can keep developers and those people in the bay so we can keep what was built during generations,” Chukwurah said. “I hope this will be in history books as an elastic community, and that a large amount of us – or, if not, all of us – can stand to tell the story.”

Insurance agent Maricela Viramons has seen how homeowners in the city in the San Gabriel mountains are responding to the first hand. Many of them were accustomed to fires because of its geographical location, she said, but they did not expect their first destruction in January. Deadly fires caused more than $ 250 billion in damage and economic losses, according to an accuweather rating.

Viramons, who lived in Altadena for nearly 25 years, woke up in the morning after fires in a shelter, as it was the only place her family could find to evacuate. At the beginning of the morning, she began to call while she was still in the shelter from clients seeking instructions for submitting claims for lost property.

The same documents she is also filling in. Shortly after that day, calling on the shelter, Viramons learned that the house and her car were both destroyed. Her office needs months of repair for smoke damage.

“Everyone wonders,“ Can I do? “, How can I help you?” Said Viramons, who now lives and works outside her parents’ home nearby. “It is so difficult to answer this question when I don’t know.”

As businesses begin designing plans to clear their land and build new structures, they are making plans on how to fulfill goals in the short term.

For example, the Wood cannabis store has been directly connecting customers with providers while revealing a long-term strategy. He called the mutual donations and assistance a “life expectancy” for the business, which he said was excluded from some government aid programs because marijuana is not legalized federal.

Many entrepreneurs interviewed by CNBC said they are considering short -term rents. They are also reviewing business loans, although there is a concern about the money lord with the financial perspective for their uncertain ventures.

Through all, these owners have not forgotten that they are part of a growing community to meet the moment.

Steve Salinas, who owns a bike store named in Altadena for nearly four decades, has repaired donated bicycles and returning them with community members. He has participated donated from other stores and monetary support through Gofundme.

“Everyone is a kind of pits to help where they can,” said Salinas, who is looking for short -term rental space after his store burned. “People who have lost everything are donating their time and resources and, most importantly, their ties to help other people in the community recover.”

In the same way, the village’s chukwurah rhythms opened a free boutique with clothing and other needs in his family’s home. It is the temporary headquarters for business, which previously offered drum lessons and classes in Nigerian languages ​​and African history, after their shop was burned.

Chukwurah said he is committed to keeping the business in the Altadena area. As he reveals a new location for the center, he is planning to buy this time instead of rent.

“The structures are falling,” he said, “but the spirit of the community is over.”

– NBC News contributed to this report.