6 Months After January’s Fires, Recovery Is Just Beginning for Many

The most destructive fires in L.A. County history erupted six months ago today, killing at least 30 people and destroying more than 16,000 structures, mostly homes, and reshaping the region in ways large and small.

Instead of January’s landscape of chimneys and staircases rising from rubble, today empty dirt lots extend block after block in Altadena and the Pacific Palisades.

A handful of people who survived the Eaton and Palisades fires have broken ground on rebuilds. Many remain displaced. Still others decided to move on, restart their lives elsewhere. For most, the emotional pain remains all too present.

How much can change in six months. And how little.

Here’s where things stand.

Recovery by the numbers

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has cleared debris from more than 9,000 lots in the Eaton and Palisades fire burn zones.

Ninety-seven percent of properties in the Eaton Fire zone have been cleared, and 87% in the Palisades Fire burn zone, according to the Army Corps progress tracker. Nearly 1,000 properties that opted out of the government debris removal program still need to be cleared.

The Eaton cleanup has moved faster in part because the area affected by the Palisades Fire had more properties that were challenging to get to, said Army Corps Col. Eric Swenson.

“ In some cases we have individuals on rappel lines, hand-collecting debris down the side of a mountain,” Swenson said.

Swenson added that the homes that burned in the Palisades Fire were also larger on average and required more time to clear.

He estimates that all Army Corps-led debris removal will be done by mid-summer.

That progress means that the staging areas for debris are in the process of winding down: The Altadena Golf Course, which had drawn concern from neighboring residents about pollution from the site, stopped accepting new waste on July 1, Swenson said. He estimated the golf course would be turned back over in December.

Temescal Canyon Road, where debris was being processed for the Palisades Fire, stopped accepting new material in May and will be turned over to the community in mid-August.

More rebuild permits

With lots now cleared, more survivors are working to select architects and building contractors, while filling out the mounds of paperwork they need approved before they can start rebuilding their homes.

About a quarter of the nearly 400 rebuild permits applied for by property owners in the Pacific Palisades have been approved, according to L.A. city’s department of building and safety.

In Altadena, about 5% of more than 900 rebuild permits submitted have been approved, according to L.A. County.

One reason for the difference is that the city of L.A. has waived permitting fees and taken other actions to streamline the permitting process in the Palisades, including approving “like-for-like” rebuilds within 30 days. As an unincorporated community, Altadena residents have to work with the county’s planning, fire and public works departments that are already stretched thin.

The L.A. County Board of Supervisors has taken similar actions to expedite the permitting process but only recently approved a motion brought by Supervisor Kathryn Barger to defer and refund permit fees. The turnaround time for approval is on average about 50 business days, according to the county’s tracker, but the goal is to reduce that to 30 days.

“I want to see our planning department move with a sense of urgency, not be bureaucratic, something that I continue to struggle with,” Barger told LAist.

Still, Kerjon Lee with the county’s public works department said the turnaround time is significantly lower than average permit approval time of 158 days under normal circumstances.

Lee said a common issue they’re seeing is that applications are often missing key signatures and details, especially for “like-for-like” rebuild projects that add an accessory dwelling unit.

Steve Gibson, who lost his home of 24 years in Altadena, is one of the hundreds of residents waiting for a decision from the county. He and his wife have already selected a prefab housing contractor and rebuild design for their new home.

Gibson said the wait time and permitting fees were hurdles that have slowed the rebuild process in his neighborhood.

“The permit fees to rebuild a house are a huge amount of money and a huge process,” Gibson said. “And we feel the same problem in other areas, that we’re not getting responsiveness to our urgent needs in Altadena.”

Insurance woes continue

Like many, Gibson is trying to rebuild while still completing the inventory of every single thing that he and his wife lost in the fire — from family heirlooms and photos to art, clothes and furniture — in order to receive their insurance payment. When they fled the fire, they were only able to grab their passports, insurance papers and small dog, Cantinflas.

They received half of what their insurance plan says it can cover for the loss of personal property, and need to complete their inventory to argue for the rest.

That inventory, he said, is a constant pain point for him and many fellow survivors.

“ We all feel like it’s the hardest thing in our lives,” Gibson said. “It’s an emotional rollercoaster. It’s hard to remember, it’s painful to remember and it feels like a tragedy. I said to one of my neighbors — we need emotional counseling after having to go through putting together an inventory.”

Gibson’s insurance provider, Allstate, did provide a full payout to cover rebuilding their home. But Gibson said that the amount is still more than $100,000 short of what they need. A $50,000 Small Business Administration loan will help, Gibson said, but many of his neighbors are facing the same gap between rebuild costs and insurance payouts — a common barrier to rebuilding.

“We decided to go for it kind of on a leap of faith that we will be able to cover the differences,” Gibson said.

Palisades Fire survivor Darragh Danton calls the divide between insurance payouts and rebuild costs “the gap.”

She said she and her neighbors are talking about solutions such as group rates on materials, and working together as a community to rebuild to keep costs down. They’ve already paid a land surveyor as a neighborhood for a reduced rate, she said.

Palisades resident Jill Lawrence’s home survived, but she said fighting her insurance company to clean it up has been a disaster in and of itself.

She said her house is still full of lead and other toxic soot — she and her husband did their own testing initially and months later their insurance company came out to test, too, finding even worse levels of lead.

Still, the house hasn’t been cleaned up. Lawrence said she’s spending 15 or 20 hours a week negotiating her insurance. Meanwhile, she and her husband are living in a rental in Playa del Rey.

“It’s just weird to me six months later that my house is still standing in soot and ash, and it’s really because of the insurance companies,” she said. “It’s crazy to me.”

The fact so many people are dealing with the same insurance issues has sparked new waves of policy efforts by state leaders, but it may come too late for the latest round of fire survivors.

For example, one bill currently moving through the California legislature would eliminate the inventory requirement in the case of a total loss and require a full insurance payout. The state insurance commissioner has also launched efforts to reform the insurance industry and an investigation into State Farm smoke damage claims.

Renters are struggling

Renters have also faced daunting challenges since January — often with even less support than homeowners.

Maribel Marin, the executive director of the emergency helpline 211 LA, said the nonprofit is working with more than 3,000 households affected by the fires, and that the majority of them are renters.

“They’re experiencing rental rates that are two or three times that for the same level of housing that they had before,” Marin said. “It’s really, really tough to find housing, especially affordable housing.”

Finding housing continues to be the biggest need for displaced renters, Marin said.

Hundreds are still in temporary and insecure housing, with more than 100 families living in their vehicles, according to data from 211 L.A.

Marin said close to 250 households are living in temporary AirBnBs — a service paid for by the vacation rental company.

Looking ahead

Lawsuits from fire survivors are moving forward as the causes of the fires continue to be investigated.

Evidence shows the Eaton Fire was likely caused by Southern California Edison equipment. Trials related to that fire should only take a few weeks, but because there are so many, it will likely be years before many plaintiffs see their cases closed, said Amanda Riddle, managing partner of Corey, Luzaich, de Ghetaldi & Riddle LLP, and the court-appointed co-liaison counsel for all individual plaintiffs in the Eaton Fire case.

“Not all 10,000 households are going to have a trial at the same time,” Riddle said.

Residents have until Jan. 7, 2028, to join a lawsuit for damages caused by the fires.

Another big milestone that everyone from government agencies to lawyers are waiting for: an independent review of the evacuation policies and emergency alert notification systems used by the county during the Eaton and Palisades fires.

The “after action report” is being compiled by the McChrystal Group. The first progress report is expected to be released this summer, but the full review will likely take longer.

Emotional toll remains fresh

With so much left unresolved, the emotional toll remains as fresh as ever for many survivors six months after the fires.

“It is ever present, so it does feel like it just happened yesterday,” said Robin Hughes, who lost her home in Altadena. “The passage of time is so muddled, and there’s just so much to do with my own personal rebuild, supporting the rebuild of Altadena. It does feel like it’s been this long, extended day.”

For Gibson, the experience of losing his home lurks behind every conversation.

“ I have a hard time talking to people about it,” Gibson said. “What should I say? Should I express how angry I am about things or should I just say everything’s fine? I’m realizing now that’s a real struggle.”

For most, their biggest allies have been fellow survivors.

“Many of us who went through the fire believe that people can’t understand it if you haven’t,” Gibson said. “It’s really hard to understand the feelings that come with that, how it changes your life.”

Join us on July 9 at a special live event with LAist climate and environment reporter Erin Stone. She’ll talk with survivors of previous fires as well as other experts to learn what to expect as the recovery process continues.