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"content": "\u003cp>In 2017, after the Tubbs Fire blazed through parts of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california\">California’s\u003c/a> wine country, a Santa Rosa resident returned home to one of the few structures left standing in his fire-scarred neighborhood. He turned on the tap and reported that the water smelled like gasoline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sampling identified the source of the odor as benzene, a compound found in petroleum products. One sample contained 8,000 times the amount of benzene that the Environmental Protection Agency allows in drinking water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After ruling out the usual culprits for benzene contamination, such as a gasoline spill or leaking underground storage tanks, utility staff were left with a startling realization: The wildfire had contaminated the water system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Typically, state regulators support and guide how public water systems address contamination. But this threat from wildfire was new.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No guidance or protocol existed for Santa Rosa’s water system to follow. Staff at Santa Rosa Water started reaching out to experts with experience responding to chemical spills, including a Purdue University engineering professor named Andrew Whelton. Whelton replied with exceptional interest, said Emma Walton, then a deputy director at the utility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since then, at least eight wildfires have contaminated public drinking water systems across the United States, and Whelton has become the de facto national authority on response and recovery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12053442\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1760px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12053442\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/LA_BFeinzimer.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1760\" height=\"1174\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/LA_BFeinzimer.jpg 1760w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/LA_BFeinzimer-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/LA_BFeinzimer-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1760px) 100vw, 1760px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Firefighters spray water onto a burning property in Altadena, California, during the L.A. wildfires earlier this year. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Brian Feinzimer/LAist)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>He has rushed from his home in Indiana to the side of utility managers from Colorado to Hawaii who were facing some of the most stressful infrastructure crises of their careers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He has clashed with California regulators over specific protocol and recommended managers test for more contaminants than regulators there require. Last year, Whelton published a blueprint for how water utility staff can look for and decontaminate their systems. Utility managers say it provides a resource in an area where federal and state guidelines are lacking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s hard to describe how complex it was before we had this resource, because you were doing a lot of guessing on what was right and wrong,” said Kurt Kowar, a utility director who sought Whelton’s help in the aftermath of Colorado’s Marshall Fire in 2021. “And now, there’s no more guessing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jonathan Leung, director of water quality at Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, said his staff referred to this playbook to make their recovery plan after the LA fires earlier this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Armed with this tool, LADWP was able to restore water service in two months.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘He wrote back, I think within 30 minutes’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The benzene found in Santa Rosa’s water is one of many VOCs, or volatile organic compounds, that can enter municipal water systems when the buildings they’re connected to are destroyed by wildfire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>VOCs are a broad category of chemicals known for their ability to off-gas. They’re found in household and industrial products, including paints, pesticides, dry cleaning agents and petroleum fuels. They also form during natural processes such as volcanic eruptions and forest fires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12053565\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12053565\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/WildfiresAPM2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1452\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/WildfiresAPM2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/WildfiresAPM2-160x116.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/WildfiresAPM2-1536x1115.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Purdue professor Andrew Whelton in his office on the school’s campus. \u003ccite>(Benjamin Thorp/APM Reports)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Before the Tubbs Fires, experts understood that wildfires can contaminate water sources through soil erosion and runoff. Events in Santa Rosa revealed that wildfires can also contaminate water systems at the pipes that bring treated drinking water to buildings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Experts say it works like this: damage to structures and excess demand for water cause depressurization. This creates a vacuum in the distribution system that can pull contaminants into service lines, water mains and connecting fixtures. Plastic pipes can also degrade at high temperatures, causing chemicals in the plastic to leach into the water. The contamination can be distributed unevenly in damaged areas, making it difficult to catch without sufficient sampling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Environmental Protection Agency regulates about 20 VOCs in drinking water that harm human health. Benzene, for example, has been linked to anemia, a decrease in blood platelets, and an increased risk of cancer. The agency limits benzene in drinking water to 5 micrograms per liter.[aside postID=news_12043312 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CLAIRE-SCHWARTZ-L-AND-NINA-RAJ-WITH-A-CHILD_S-DRAWING-RECOVERED-BY-RAJ-AFTER-THE-EATON-FIRE-KQED-1020x765.jpg']California has a lower allowable maximum at 1 microgram per liter. If a million people consumed contaminated drinking water at this concentration over a 70-year period, the chemical would cause between six and seven cases of cancer, according to California regulators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But national drinking water standards set by the EPA do not account for this newly understood mode of contamination from wildfires. Water utilities routinely monitor for VOCs as the water leaves the treatment plant, upstream of where wildfire contamination is likely to occur.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2018, after the Camp Fire engulfed more than 90% of Paradise, California, Kevin Phillips needed answers to some pressing questions. The Paradise Irrigation District had just confirmed the presence of benzene in its water system and Phillips, the district manager, wanted to know if it would permanently contaminate the pipes. A contact at the University of California, Berkeley, suggested his team reach out to Whelton.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[Whelton] wrote back, I think within 30 minutes, a list of things we should look for and how we go about this,” Phillips said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In his response, Whelton recommended that Paradise begin by flushing the distribution network to remove any contaminated water currently in the pipes. But, he cautioned, success depended on the types of materials the water came into contact with, the concentration of chemicals in the water, the water temperature and other factors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12053446\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12053446\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/Paradise_DVenton-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/Paradise_DVenton-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/Paradise_DVenton-2000x1333.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/Paradise_DVenton-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/Paradise_DVenton-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/Paradise_DVenton-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Debris left behind by the Camp Fire in Paradise, California. \u003ccite>(Danielle Venton/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Plastics would be my biggest concern,” Whelton wrote. “Once you flush away the contaminated water, chemicals absorbed inside the plastic will then begin to leach out into the clean water.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The speed at which the chemicals leach out of the plastic determines how long decontamination takes, regardless of flushing, Whelton added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About a month later, Phillips flew Whelton and a small team from Purdue to Paradise to assist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“From that point on, he was really kind of our go-to expert when it came to water contamination,” Phillips said.[aside postID=news_12051854 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/240109-CAWindStorm-075_qed-1020x680.jpg']This would not be the last time Whelton would steer a besieged water utility through such a crisis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About three years later, the Marshall Fire plowed through several neighborhoods in the town of Louisville, Colorado. Kurt Kowar, director of public works and utilities in Louisville, said state regulators told him their agency didn’t have the expertise to address this kind of contamination.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, they suggested that he call Whelton, whom Kowar then looked up on Twitter. Kowar said Whelton called within a half hour of receiving Kowar’s introductory email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the end of their conversation, Kowar said he knew what he needed to do next. “That’s when I said, ‘I’m gonna buy you a plane ticket. You’re gonna get on a plane. You’re gonna come here tomorrow, because we got to figure this out.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whelton, who had just returned home from a business trip, immediately headed to the airport, booking a redeye flight on his way there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The next morning, Whelton, Louisville water system staff, state regulators and others Whelton had recommended met in a nondescript conference room to make a plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From his seat in the back of the room, Whelton noticed their questions were similar to the ones utility staff in Santa Rosa and Paradise had posed when they were going through their respective water contamination crises.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12053454\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12053454\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/C1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/C1.jpeg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/C1-160x107.jpeg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Colorado’s Marshall Fire destroyed some homes while leaving others intact. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Hart Van Denburg/Colorado Public Radio)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This time, Whelton decided to take notes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whelton had worked for the U.S. Army on water infrastructure security before going into academia. The experience left him a firm believer in establishing military decision-making frameworks to address emerging disasters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He decided to turn their questions into a similarly styled manual for water utility recovery in the aftermath of a wildfire.[aside postID=news_12033286 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250312_Stay-Behinds_JB_00010-1020x680.jpg']He started putting together a concept of operations, or CONOPS, plan for water distribution system testing and recovery. The name was a nod to his military experience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With funding from the Water Research Foundation, a nonprofit that serves water utilities, Whelton and two other Purdue researchers published the guide in 2024 to help utility managers “get from Point A to Point B with an evidence-based approach,” Whelton said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report outlines the responsibilities of different parties during disaster response, from water utility staff to public health officials to state drinking water regulators. It also helps utility managers determine their options after a system tests positive for contamination.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prior to the CONOPS, such information was spread out “on websites or in news articles or in people’s heads,” Kowar said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The EPA issued a seven-page document in 2021, but it reads like a “high-level guidance,” Kowar said. The CONOPS plan “is a much more thorough, vetted document” that takes the guesswork out of recovery efforts and reflects industry best practices, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the 2023 wildfires in Maui, the CONOPS plan got its first test run with Whelton, Phillips and Kowar present.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have no interest in doing this for the next 10 to 20 years,” Whelton said. “We need to train these leaders, operators and engineers in communities to help themselves in times of crises.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘If somebody would have shown me a draft’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In 2024, California law began requiring water utilities to test for benzene contamination whenever a wildfire of 300 or more acres damaged or destroyed structures connected to a water system. California appears to be the only state with mandated testing after wildfires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But according to Whelton, California’s law is not protective enough because it only requires water systems to test for benzene and not other VOCs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12053455\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12053455\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/C2.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/C2.jpeg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/C2-160x107.jpeg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">VOC contamination tends to occur in areas where water systems lose pressure and structures connected to the water system are damaged. Photo from a flyover of neighborhoods affected by the Marshall Fire. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Hart Van Denburg/Colorado Public Radio)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The idea that a single chemical could be “the panacea for a complex issue is bonkers,” he said. “If somebody would have shown me a draft of what actually got promulgated, I would have made clear that the code as written is going to result in potentially unsafe water for people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While benzene is the most common VOC found in water after wildfires, data from previous fires show that other VOCs can contaminate drinking water after wildfires, too. Sometimes those VOCs are present even when benzene isn’t.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This happened in about a quarter of the samples taken after the Marshall Fire, according to Corona Environmental Consulting, a local agency that worked on the response.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12053681\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12053681\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/WildfiresAPM3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/WildfiresAPM3.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/WildfiresAPM3-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/WildfiresAPM3-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Andrew Whelton holds a piece of fire-damaged water infrastructure in his lab. \u003ccite>(Benjamin Thorp/APM Reports)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Regulators at the California State Water Resources Control Board who weighed in on the law have said benzene is an adequate indicator for VOC contamination, nevertheless.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Darrin Polhemus, deputy director of the state water board’s drinking water division, acknowledged that other VOCs will sometimes show up in samples where benzene is not present. But he said that benzene has the highest signal of all the VOCs based on sampling data.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Because of that, what we believe is that if you can manage for benzene, you’re basically managing for all of them,” Polhemus said, chalking the differences in perspective up to risk perception. “We’re dealing with the practicalities of cost and time and how to manage that compared with getting people back to their homes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Whelton disagrees, he said he is glad that “California decided that it’s important that people have their drinking water tested after a wildfire.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>On the ground in Los Angeles\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>After the January wildfires, Leung, the director of water quality at LAWDP, said his team opted to test for a broad panel of VOCs even though state law only required them to test for benzene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of the 482 samples they took, Leung said, VOCs were detected without benzene present about 11 percent of the time, but “at levels far below the drinking water standard.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12023445\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12023445\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/240109-CAWindStorm-075_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/240109-CAWindStorm-075_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/240109-CAWindStorm-075_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/240109-CAWindStorm-075_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/240109-CAWindStorm-075_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/240109-CAWindStorm-075_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/240109-CAWindStorm-075_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The remains of a house in Altadena, California, after the Eaton Fire swept through the area northeast of Los Angeles, on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Leung said his counterparts at the public water system in Oakland, California, sent him Whelton’s plan in the days after the fires. It was a document Leung said he found himself returning to as he began thinking about the water system’s next steps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Screening for and removing wildfire contaminants is “not necessarily intuitive,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the past, water utilities have thought their water systems were clean after analyzing samples taken immediately after flushing, only to have contaminants show up later as chemicals that had adhered to plastic pipes leached back into the water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Leung said he took care to make sure that the water sat in the pipes for 72 hours before collecting samples, even though the water system used mostly metal pipes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said Whelton’s plan helped him understand how different pipe materials absorb, retain and release VOCs, which cleaning strategies to use, and which areas of the water system to prioritize. Since LADWP’s water system had mostly copper, steel and galvanized iron water lines, Leung realized there was less concern about chemicals adhering to pipes.\u003cbr>\n[aside postID=news_12034277 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/20250328_Zorthian-Ranch_SK_17-1020x680.jpg']This, to Whelton, is proof that the CONOPS plan is working.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The plan empowered water utilities in Los Angeles County to address the threat of contamination head-on, Whelton said. “They actually read the plan, they used it, they called us on the telephone or webinar, and then they made decisions for themselves and were able to find their way out of that disaster.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whelton said he worries that some people outside of California may see VOC contamination as “a California problem,” even though wildfires are increasingly intersecting with urban communities because of climate change. And outside of California, it is completely discretionary whether a water system tests for contamination after a wildfire, Whelton said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Effective disaster response depends on who’s in the room making decisions and the information they have access to, Whelton said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whelton takes heart in the fact that public servants such as Walton, Phillips and Kowar have “stepped up when they were not legally required to,” and in doing so helped create the CONOPS plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I drove the effort, but it was because of everyone else coming together [that] we were able to deliver,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "In 2017, the Tubbs Fire in Santa Rosa, California, exposed a new threat to public health: Wildfires can contaminate drinking water with toxic chemicals, which federally mandated testing is not designed to catch.",
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"title": "When Wildfires Compromise California's Drinking Water, Utilities Lean on This Professor’s Advice | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>In 2017, after the Tubbs Fire blazed through parts of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california\">California’s\u003c/a> wine country, a Santa Rosa resident returned home to one of the few structures left standing in his fire-scarred neighborhood. He turned on the tap and reported that the water smelled like gasoline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sampling identified the source of the odor as benzene, a compound found in petroleum products. One sample contained 8,000 times the amount of benzene that the Environmental Protection Agency allows in drinking water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After ruling out the usual culprits for benzene contamination, such as a gasoline spill or leaking underground storage tanks, utility staff were left with a startling realization: The wildfire had contaminated the water system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Typically, state regulators support and guide how public water systems address contamination. But this threat from wildfire was new.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No guidance or protocol existed for Santa Rosa’s water system to follow. Staff at Santa Rosa Water started reaching out to experts with experience responding to chemical spills, including a Purdue University engineering professor named Andrew Whelton. Whelton replied with exceptional interest, said Emma Walton, then a deputy director at the utility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since then, at least eight wildfires have contaminated public drinking water systems across the United States, and Whelton has become the de facto national authority on response and recovery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12053442\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1760px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12053442\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/LA_BFeinzimer.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1760\" height=\"1174\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/LA_BFeinzimer.jpg 1760w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/LA_BFeinzimer-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/LA_BFeinzimer-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1760px) 100vw, 1760px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Firefighters spray water onto a burning property in Altadena, California, during the L.A. wildfires earlier this year. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Brian Feinzimer/LAist)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>He has rushed from his home in Indiana to the side of utility managers from Colorado to Hawaii who were facing some of the most stressful infrastructure crises of their careers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He has clashed with California regulators over specific protocol and recommended managers test for more contaminants than regulators there require. Last year, Whelton published a blueprint for how water utility staff can look for and decontaminate their systems. Utility managers say it provides a resource in an area where federal and state guidelines are lacking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s hard to describe how complex it was before we had this resource, because you were doing a lot of guessing on what was right and wrong,” said Kurt Kowar, a utility director who sought Whelton’s help in the aftermath of Colorado’s Marshall Fire in 2021. “And now, there’s no more guessing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jonathan Leung, director of water quality at Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, said his staff referred to this playbook to make their recovery plan after the LA fires earlier this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Armed with this tool, LADWP was able to restore water service in two months.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘He wrote back, I think within 30 minutes’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The benzene found in Santa Rosa’s water is one of many VOCs, or volatile organic compounds, that can enter municipal water systems when the buildings they’re connected to are destroyed by wildfire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>VOCs are a broad category of chemicals known for their ability to off-gas. They’re found in household and industrial products, including paints, pesticides, dry cleaning agents and petroleum fuels. They also form during natural processes such as volcanic eruptions and forest fires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12053565\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12053565\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/WildfiresAPM2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1452\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/WildfiresAPM2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/WildfiresAPM2-160x116.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/WildfiresAPM2-1536x1115.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Purdue professor Andrew Whelton in his office on the school’s campus. \u003ccite>(Benjamin Thorp/APM Reports)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Before the Tubbs Fires, experts understood that wildfires can contaminate water sources through soil erosion and runoff. Events in Santa Rosa revealed that wildfires can also contaminate water systems at the pipes that bring treated drinking water to buildings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Experts say it works like this: damage to structures and excess demand for water cause depressurization. This creates a vacuum in the distribution system that can pull contaminants into service lines, water mains and connecting fixtures. Plastic pipes can also degrade at high temperatures, causing chemicals in the plastic to leach into the water. The contamination can be distributed unevenly in damaged areas, making it difficult to catch without sufficient sampling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Environmental Protection Agency regulates about 20 VOCs in drinking water that harm human health. Benzene, for example, has been linked to anemia, a decrease in blood platelets, and an increased risk of cancer. The agency limits benzene in drinking water to 5 micrograms per liter.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>California has a lower allowable maximum at 1 microgram per liter. If a million people consumed contaminated drinking water at this concentration over a 70-year period, the chemical would cause between six and seven cases of cancer, according to California regulators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But national drinking water standards set by the EPA do not account for this newly understood mode of contamination from wildfires. Water utilities routinely monitor for VOCs as the water leaves the treatment plant, upstream of where wildfire contamination is likely to occur.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2018, after the Camp Fire engulfed more than 90% of Paradise, California, Kevin Phillips needed answers to some pressing questions. The Paradise Irrigation District had just confirmed the presence of benzene in its water system and Phillips, the district manager, wanted to know if it would permanently contaminate the pipes. A contact at the University of California, Berkeley, suggested his team reach out to Whelton.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[Whelton] wrote back, I think within 30 minutes, a list of things we should look for and how we go about this,” Phillips said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In his response, Whelton recommended that Paradise begin by flushing the distribution network to remove any contaminated water currently in the pipes. But, he cautioned, success depended on the types of materials the water came into contact with, the concentration of chemicals in the water, the water temperature and other factors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12053446\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12053446\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/Paradise_DVenton-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/Paradise_DVenton-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/Paradise_DVenton-2000x1333.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/Paradise_DVenton-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/Paradise_DVenton-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/Paradise_DVenton-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Debris left behind by the Camp Fire in Paradise, California. \u003ccite>(Danielle Venton/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Plastics would be my biggest concern,” Whelton wrote. “Once you flush away the contaminated water, chemicals absorbed inside the plastic will then begin to leach out into the clean water.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The speed at which the chemicals leach out of the plastic determines how long decontamination takes, regardless of flushing, Whelton added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About a month later, Phillips flew Whelton and a small team from Purdue to Paradise to assist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“From that point on, he was really kind of our go-to expert when it came to water contamination,” Phillips said.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>This would not be the last time Whelton would steer a besieged water utility through such a crisis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About three years later, the Marshall Fire plowed through several neighborhoods in the town of Louisville, Colorado. Kurt Kowar, director of public works and utilities in Louisville, said state regulators told him their agency didn’t have the expertise to address this kind of contamination.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, they suggested that he call Whelton, whom Kowar then looked up on Twitter. Kowar said Whelton called within a half hour of receiving Kowar’s introductory email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the end of their conversation, Kowar said he knew what he needed to do next. “That’s when I said, ‘I’m gonna buy you a plane ticket. You’re gonna get on a plane. You’re gonna come here tomorrow, because we got to figure this out.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whelton, who had just returned home from a business trip, immediately headed to the airport, booking a redeye flight on his way there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The next morning, Whelton, Louisville water system staff, state regulators and others Whelton had recommended met in a nondescript conference room to make a plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From his seat in the back of the room, Whelton noticed their questions were similar to the ones utility staff in Santa Rosa and Paradise had posed when they were going through their respective water contamination crises.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12053454\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12053454\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/C1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/C1.jpeg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/C1-160x107.jpeg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Colorado’s Marshall Fire destroyed some homes while leaving others intact. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Hart Van Denburg/Colorado Public Radio)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This time, Whelton decided to take notes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whelton had worked for the U.S. Army on water infrastructure security before going into academia. The experience left him a firm believer in establishing military decision-making frameworks to address emerging disasters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He decided to turn their questions into a similarly styled manual for water utility recovery in the aftermath of a wildfire.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>He started putting together a concept of operations, or CONOPS, plan for water distribution system testing and recovery. The name was a nod to his military experience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With funding from the Water Research Foundation, a nonprofit that serves water utilities, Whelton and two other Purdue researchers published the guide in 2024 to help utility managers “get from Point A to Point B with an evidence-based approach,” Whelton said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report outlines the responsibilities of different parties during disaster response, from water utility staff to public health officials to state drinking water regulators. It also helps utility managers determine their options after a system tests positive for contamination.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prior to the CONOPS, such information was spread out “on websites or in news articles or in people’s heads,” Kowar said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The EPA issued a seven-page document in 2021, but it reads like a “high-level guidance,” Kowar said. The CONOPS plan “is a much more thorough, vetted document” that takes the guesswork out of recovery efforts and reflects industry best practices, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the 2023 wildfires in Maui, the CONOPS plan got its first test run with Whelton, Phillips and Kowar present.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have no interest in doing this for the next 10 to 20 years,” Whelton said. “We need to train these leaders, operators and engineers in communities to help themselves in times of crises.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘If somebody would have shown me a draft’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In 2024, California law began requiring water utilities to test for benzene contamination whenever a wildfire of 300 or more acres damaged or destroyed structures connected to a water system. California appears to be the only state with mandated testing after wildfires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But according to Whelton, California’s law is not protective enough because it only requires water systems to test for benzene and not other VOCs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12053455\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12053455\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/C2.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/C2.jpeg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/C2-160x107.jpeg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">VOC contamination tends to occur in areas where water systems lose pressure and structures connected to the water system are damaged. Photo from a flyover of neighborhoods affected by the Marshall Fire. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Hart Van Denburg/Colorado Public Radio)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The idea that a single chemical could be “the panacea for a complex issue is bonkers,” he said. “If somebody would have shown me a draft of what actually got promulgated, I would have made clear that the code as written is going to result in potentially unsafe water for people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While benzene is the most common VOC found in water after wildfires, data from previous fires show that other VOCs can contaminate drinking water after wildfires, too. Sometimes those VOCs are present even when benzene isn’t.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This happened in about a quarter of the samples taken after the Marshall Fire, according to Corona Environmental Consulting, a local agency that worked on the response.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12053681\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12053681\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/WildfiresAPM3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/WildfiresAPM3.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/WildfiresAPM3-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/WildfiresAPM3-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Andrew Whelton holds a piece of fire-damaged water infrastructure in his lab. \u003ccite>(Benjamin Thorp/APM Reports)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Regulators at the California State Water Resources Control Board who weighed in on the law have said benzene is an adequate indicator for VOC contamination, nevertheless.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Darrin Polhemus, deputy director of the state water board’s drinking water division, acknowledged that other VOCs will sometimes show up in samples where benzene is not present. But he said that benzene has the highest signal of all the VOCs based on sampling data.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Because of that, what we believe is that if you can manage for benzene, you’re basically managing for all of them,” Polhemus said, chalking the differences in perspective up to risk perception. “We’re dealing with the practicalities of cost and time and how to manage that compared with getting people back to their homes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Whelton disagrees, he said he is glad that “California decided that it’s important that people have their drinking water tested after a wildfire.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>On the ground in Los Angeles\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>After the January wildfires, Leung, the director of water quality at LAWDP, said his team opted to test for a broad panel of VOCs even though state law only required them to test for benzene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of the 482 samples they took, Leung said, VOCs were detected without benzene present about 11 percent of the time, but “at levels far below the drinking water standard.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12023445\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12023445\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/240109-CAWindStorm-075_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/240109-CAWindStorm-075_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/240109-CAWindStorm-075_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/240109-CAWindStorm-075_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/240109-CAWindStorm-075_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/240109-CAWindStorm-075_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/240109-CAWindStorm-075_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The remains of a house in Altadena, California, after the Eaton Fire swept through the area northeast of Los Angeles, on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Leung said his counterparts at the public water system in Oakland, California, sent him Whelton’s plan in the days after the fires. It was a document Leung said he found himself returning to as he began thinking about the water system’s next steps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Screening for and removing wildfire contaminants is “not necessarily intuitive,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the past, water utilities have thought their water systems were clean after analyzing samples taken immediately after flushing, only to have contaminants show up later as chemicals that had adhered to plastic pipes leached back into the water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Leung said he took care to make sure that the water sat in the pipes for 72 hours before collecting samples, even though the water system used mostly metal pipes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said Whelton’s plan helped him understand how different pipe materials absorb, retain and release VOCs, which cleaning strategies to use, and which areas of the water system to prioritize. Since LADWP’s water system had mostly copper, steel and galvanized iron water lines, Leung realized there was less concern about chemicals adhering to pipes.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>This, to Whelton, is proof that the CONOPS plan is working.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The plan empowered water utilities in Los Angeles County to address the threat of contamination head-on, Whelton said. “They actually read the plan, they used it, they called us on the telephone or webinar, and then they made decisions for themselves and were able to find their way out of that disaster.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whelton said he worries that some people outside of California may see VOC contamination as “a California problem,” even though wildfires are increasingly intersecting with urban communities because of climate change. And outside of California, it is completely discretionary whether a water system tests for contamination after a wildfire, Whelton said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Effective disaster response depends on who’s in the room making decisions and the information they have access to, Whelton said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whelton takes heart in the fact that public servants such as Walton, Phillips and Kowar have “stepped up when they were not legally required to,” and in doing so helped create the CONOPS plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I drove the effort, but it was because of everyone else coming together [that] we were able to deliver,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "6-months-after-januarys-fires-recovery-is-just-beginning-for-many",
"title": "6 Months After January’s Fires, Recovery Is Just Beginning for Many",
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"headTitle": "6 Months After January’s Fires, Recovery Is Just Beginning for Many | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>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.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>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.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>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.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How much can change in six months. And how little.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s where things stand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Recovery by the numbers\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has cleared debris from more than 9,000 lots in the Eaton and Palisades fire burn zones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ninety-seven percent of properties in the Eaton Fire zone have been cleared, and 87% in the Palisades Fire burn zone, \u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://www.spl.usace.army.mil/Missions/Emergency-Management/Los-Angeles-County-Wildfire-Debris-Removal-Mission/\">\u003cu>according to the Army Corps progress tracker\u003c/u>\u003c/a>. Nearly 1,000 properties that opted out of the government debris removal program \u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://laist.com/news/climate-environment/la-county-fire-debris-removal-program-opt-out-deadline\">\u003cu>still need to be cleared\u003c/u>\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>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.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“ In some cases we have individuals on rappel lines, hand-collecting debris down the side of a mountain,” Swenson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Swenson added that the homes that burned in the Palisades Fire were also larger on average and required more time to clear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12047276\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1584px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12047276\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1584\" height=\"1056\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-copy.jpg 1584w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1584px) 100vw, 1584px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Crews remove wildfire debris on hillside property, June 27 in Pacific Palisades. Using a rope descent systems to safely maneuver on the rugged slopes, personnel are removing debris by hand in areas too dangerous for heavy equipment. \u003ccite>(Charles Delano/US Army Corps of Engineers)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>He estimates that all Army Corps-led debris removal will be done by mid-summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>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 \u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://laist.com/news/climate-environment/la-fires-debris-toxic-where-does-it-all-go\">\u003cu>about pollution from the site\u003c/u>\u003c/a>, stopped accepting new waste on July 1, Swenson said. He estimated the golf course would be turned back over in December.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12047277\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1584px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12047277\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-copy-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1584\" height=\"1056\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-copy-1.jpg 1584w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-copy-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-copy-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1584px) 100vw, 1584px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign at an Altadena property showing that it was cleared by the US Army Corps of Engineers. \u003ccite>(Brian Feinzimer/LAist)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>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.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>More rebuild permits\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>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.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>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.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Altadena, about 5% of more than 900 rebuild permits submitted have been approved, \u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://recovery.lacounty.gov/rebuilding/permitting-progress-dashboard/\">\u003cu>according to L.A. County\u003c/u>\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One reason for the difference is that the city of L.A. \u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://mayor.lacity.gov/news/mayor-bass-issues-emergency-executive-order-suspending-collection-rebuilding-fees-palisades\">\u003cu>has waived\u003c/u>\u003c/a> permitting fees and taken \u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://mayor.lacity.gov/news/mayor-bass-issues-new-executive-actions-further-expedite-rebuilding-process-ahead-trip\">\u003cu>other actions\u003c/u>\u003c/a> 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.[aside postID=news_12022146 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/240109-CAWindStorm-056-1020x680.jpg']The L.A. County Board of Supervisors has taken similar actions to expedite the permitting process but only recently approved \u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://file.lacounty.gov/SDSInter/bos/supdocs/204271.pdf?utm_content=&utm_medium=email&utm_name=&utm_source=govdelivery&utm_term=\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>a motion\u003c/u>\u003c/a> 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.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“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.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>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.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>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.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>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.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gibson said the wait time and permitting fees were hurdles that have slowed the rebuild process in his neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“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.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Insurance woes continue\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>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.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12047279\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 160px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-12047279\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-copy-2-160x213.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"213\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-copy-2-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-copy-2-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-copy-2-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-copy-2.jpg 1584w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Steve Gibson and his wife Charlotte stand on the cleared lot of their home of 24 years that burned down in the Eaton Fire. The Army Corps cleared their property in June. \u003ccite>(Sunny Mills)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>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.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That inventory, he said, is a constant pain point for him and many fellow survivors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“ 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.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>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 — \u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://laist.com/news/climate-environment/six-years-woolsey-fire-struggle-rebuild-continues\">\u003cu>a common barrier to rebuilding\u003c/u>\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We decided to go for it kind of on a leap of faith that we will be able to cover the differences,” Gibson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Palisades Fire survivor Darragh Danton calls the divide between insurance payouts and rebuild costs “the gap.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>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.[aside postID=news_12043312 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CLAIRE-SCHWARTZ-L-AND-NINA-RAJ-WITH-A-CHILD_S-DRAWING-RECOVERED-BY-RAJ-AFTER-THE-EATON-FIRE-KQED-1020x765.jpg']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.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>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.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>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.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“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.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>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.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, one \u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb495\">\u003cu>bill\u003c/u>\u003c/a> 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 \u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://laist.com/news/housing-homelessness/california-lawmakers-propose-fixes-for-insurance-industry-in-shambles\">\u003cu>to reform the insurance industry\u003c/u>\u003c/a> and \u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://www.insurance.ca.gov/0400-news/0100-press-releases/2025/release043-2025.cfm\">\u003cu>an investigation into State Farm smoke damage claims\u003c/u>\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Renters are struggling\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Renters have also faced daunting challenges since January — often with even less support than homeowners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maribel Marin, the executive director of the emergency helpline \u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://211la.org/\">\u003cu>211 LA\u003c/u>\u003c/a>, said the nonprofit is working with more than 3,000 households affected by the fires, and that the majority of them are renters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“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.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12047280\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1584px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12047280\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-copy-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1584\" height=\"1188\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-copy-3.jpg 1584w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-copy-3-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-copy-3-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1584px) 100vw, 1584px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The site of a former mobile home park in Pacific Palisades in mid June. Many Palisades and Eaton Fire survivors are facing the loss of affordable housing and unable to make ends meet in a brutal housing market. \u003ccite>(Erin Stone/LAist)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Finding housing continues to be the biggest need for displaced renters, Marin said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hundreds are still in temporary and insecure housing, with more than 100 families living in their vehicles, according to data from 211 L.A.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Marin said close to 250 households are living in temporary AirBnBs — a service paid for by the vacation rental company.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Looking ahead\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Lawsuits from fire survivors are moving forward as the causes of the fires continue to be investigated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>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.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12047283\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1176px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12047283\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-copy-2.39.23-PM.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1176\" height=\"780\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-copy-2.39.23-PM.jpg 1176w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-copy-2.39.23-PM-160x106.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1176px) 100vw, 1176px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An aerial view of Altadena showing several cleared properties amongst many more awaiting to be cleared of debris and rubble from the Eaton Fire. \u003ccite>(Brian Feinzimer/LAist)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Not all 10,000 households are going to have a trial at the same time,” Riddle said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Residents have until Jan. 7, 2028, to join a lawsuit for damages caused by the fires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>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.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The “after action report” is being compiled \u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://recovery.lacounty.gov/2025/02/07/mcchrystal-group-selected-to-conduct-after-action-review-of-response-to-eaton-and-palisades-fires/\">by the McChrystal Group\u003c/a>. The first progress report is expected to be released this summer, but the full review will likely take longer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12047284\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1176px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12047284\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-1-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1176\" height=\"780\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-1-copy.jpg 1176w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-160x106.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1176px) 100vw, 1176px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An aerial view of the Pacific Palisades Bowl Mobile Home Park in Los Angeles on Jan. 18, 2025. The park was completely burned down by the Palisades fire. \u003ccite>(Ted Soqui/SIPA USA via Reuters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Emotional toll remains fresh\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>With so much left unresolved, the emotional toll remains as fresh as ever for many survivors six months after the fires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“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.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12047285\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1584px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12047285\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-copy-4.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1584\" height=\"1056\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-copy-4.jpg 1584w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-copy-4-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-copy-4-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1584px) 100vw, 1584px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A message of hope is hung from the gates of a home in an Altadena neighborhood on Jan. 30, 2025. \u003ccite>(Julie Leopo/LAist)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For Gibson, the experience of losing his home lurks behind every conversation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“ 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.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For most, their biggest allies have been fellow survivors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“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.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Join us on \u003c/i>\u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://laist.com/events/6-months-after\">\u003ci>July 9 at a special live event\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> 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.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "There’s been significant progress in the recovery effort after the deadly and devastating Los Angeles fires, but there’s a long road ahead.",
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"title": "6 Months After January’s Fires, Recovery Is Just Beginning for Many | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>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.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>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.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>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.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How much can change in six months. And how little.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s where things stand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Recovery by the numbers\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has cleared debris from more than 9,000 lots in the Eaton and Palisades fire burn zones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ninety-seven percent of properties in the Eaton Fire zone have been cleared, and 87% in the Palisades Fire burn zone, \u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://www.spl.usace.army.mil/Missions/Emergency-Management/Los-Angeles-County-Wildfire-Debris-Removal-Mission/\">\u003cu>according to the Army Corps progress tracker\u003c/u>\u003c/a>. Nearly 1,000 properties that opted out of the government debris removal program \u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://laist.com/news/climate-environment/la-county-fire-debris-removal-program-opt-out-deadline\">\u003cu>still need to be cleared\u003c/u>\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>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.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“ In some cases we have individuals on rappel lines, hand-collecting debris down the side of a mountain,” Swenson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Swenson added that the homes that burned in the Palisades Fire were also larger on average and required more time to clear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12047276\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1584px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12047276\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1584\" height=\"1056\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-copy.jpg 1584w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1584px) 100vw, 1584px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Crews remove wildfire debris on hillside property, June 27 in Pacific Palisades. Using a rope descent systems to safely maneuver on the rugged slopes, personnel are removing debris by hand in areas too dangerous for heavy equipment. \u003ccite>(Charles Delano/US Army Corps of Engineers)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>He estimates that all Army Corps-led debris removal will be done by mid-summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>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 \u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://laist.com/news/climate-environment/la-fires-debris-toxic-where-does-it-all-go\">\u003cu>about pollution from the site\u003c/u>\u003c/a>, stopped accepting new waste on July 1, Swenson said. He estimated the golf course would be turned back over in December.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12047277\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1584px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12047277\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-copy-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1584\" height=\"1056\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-copy-1.jpg 1584w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-copy-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-copy-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1584px) 100vw, 1584px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign at an Altadena property showing that it was cleared by the US Army Corps of Engineers. \u003ccite>(Brian Feinzimer/LAist)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>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.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>More rebuild permits\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>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.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>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.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Altadena, about 5% of more than 900 rebuild permits submitted have been approved, \u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://recovery.lacounty.gov/rebuilding/permitting-progress-dashboard/\">\u003cu>according to L.A. County\u003c/u>\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One reason for the difference is that the city of L.A. \u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://mayor.lacity.gov/news/mayor-bass-issues-emergency-executive-order-suspending-collection-rebuilding-fees-palisades\">\u003cu>has waived\u003c/u>\u003c/a> permitting fees and taken \u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://mayor.lacity.gov/news/mayor-bass-issues-new-executive-actions-further-expedite-rebuilding-process-ahead-trip\">\u003cu>other actions\u003c/u>\u003c/a> 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.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The L.A. County Board of Supervisors has taken similar actions to expedite the permitting process but only recently approved \u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://file.lacounty.gov/SDSInter/bos/supdocs/204271.pdf?utm_content=&utm_medium=email&utm_name=&utm_source=govdelivery&utm_term=\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>a motion\u003c/u>\u003c/a> 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.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“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.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>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.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>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.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>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.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gibson said the wait time and permitting fees were hurdles that have slowed the rebuild process in his neighborhood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“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.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Insurance woes continue\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>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.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12047279\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 160px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-12047279\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-copy-2-160x213.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"213\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-copy-2-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-copy-2-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-copy-2-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-copy-2.jpg 1584w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Steve Gibson and his wife Charlotte stand on the cleared lot of their home of 24 years that burned down in the Eaton Fire. The Army Corps cleared their property in June. \u003ccite>(Sunny Mills)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>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.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That inventory, he said, is a constant pain point for him and many fellow survivors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“ 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.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>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 — \u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://laist.com/news/climate-environment/six-years-woolsey-fire-struggle-rebuild-continues\">\u003cu>a common barrier to rebuilding\u003c/u>\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We decided to go for it kind of on a leap of faith that we will be able to cover the differences,” Gibson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Palisades Fire survivor Darragh Danton calls the divide between insurance payouts and rebuild costs “the gap.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>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.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>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.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>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.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>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.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“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.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>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.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, one \u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb495\">\u003cu>bill\u003c/u>\u003c/a> 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 \u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://laist.com/news/housing-homelessness/california-lawmakers-propose-fixes-for-insurance-industry-in-shambles\">\u003cu>to reform the insurance industry\u003c/u>\u003c/a> and \u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://www.insurance.ca.gov/0400-news/0100-press-releases/2025/release043-2025.cfm\">\u003cu>an investigation into State Farm smoke damage claims\u003c/u>\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Renters are struggling\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Renters have also faced daunting challenges since January — often with even less support than homeowners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maribel Marin, the executive director of the emergency helpline \u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://211la.org/\">\u003cu>211 LA\u003c/u>\u003c/a>, said the nonprofit is working with more than 3,000 households affected by the fires, and that the majority of them are renters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“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.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12047280\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1584px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12047280\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-copy-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1584\" height=\"1188\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-copy-3.jpg 1584w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-copy-3-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-copy-3-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1584px) 100vw, 1584px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The site of a former mobile home park in Pacific Palisades in mid June. Many Palisades and Eaton Fire survivors are facing the loss of affordable housing and unable to make ends meet in a brutal housing market. \u003ccite>(Erin Stone/LAist)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Finding housing continues to be the biggest need for displaced renters, Marin said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hundreds are still in temporary and insecure housing, with more than 100 families living in their vehicles, according to data from 211 L.A.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Marin said close to 250 households are living in temporary AirBnBs — a service paid for by the vacation rental company.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Looking ahead\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Lawsuits from fire survivors are moving forward as the causes of the fires continue to be investigated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>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.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12047283\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1176px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12047283\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-copy-2.39.23-PM.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1176\" height=\"780\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-copy-2.39.23-PM.jpg 1176w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-copy-2.39.23-PM-160x106.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1176px) 100vw, 1176px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An aerial view of Altadena showing several cleared properties amongst many more awaiting to be cleared of debris and rubble from the Eaton Fire. \u003ccite>(Brian Feinzimer/LAist)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Not all 10,000 households are going to have a trial at the same time,” Riddle said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Residents have until Jan. 7, 2028, to join a lawsuit for damages caused by the fires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>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.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The “after action report” is being compiled \u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://recovery.lacounty.gov/2025/02/07/mcchrystal-group-selected-to-conduct-after-action-review-of-response-to-eaton-and-palisades-fires/\">by the McChrystal Group\u003c/a>. The first progress report is expected to be released this summer, but the full review will likely take longer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12047284\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1176px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12047284\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-1-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1176\" height=\"780\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-1-copy.jpg 1176w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-160x106.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1176px) 100vw, 1176px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An aerial view of the Pacific Palisades Bowl Mobile Home Park in Los Angeles on Jan. 18, 2025. The park was completely burned down by the Palisades fire. \u003ccite>(Ted Soqui/SIPA USA via Reuters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Emotional toll remains fresh\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>With so much left unresolved, the emotional toll remains as fresh as ever for many survivors six months after the fires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“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.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12047285\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1584px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12047285\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-copy-4.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1584\" height=\"1056\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-copy-4.jpg 1584w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-copy-4-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/scpr.brightspotcdn-copy-4-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1584px) 100vw, 1584px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A message of hope is hung from the gates of a home in an Altadena neighborhood on Jan. 30, 2025. \u003ccite>(Julie Leopo/LAist)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For Gibson, the experience of losing his home lurks behind every conversation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“ 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.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For most, their biggest allies have been fellow survivors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“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.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Join us on \u003c/i>\u003ca class=\"Link\" href=\"https://laist.com/events/6-months-after\">\u003ci>July 9 at a special live event\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci> 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.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-california-report-magazine/id1314750545?mt=2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Listen to this and more in-depth storytelling by subscribing to The California Report Magazine podcast.\u003c/a>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 class=\"routes-Site-routes-Post-Title-__Title__title\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12025613/j-sei-home-closes-after-30-years-leaving-bay-area-japanese-seniors-in-need\">J-Sei Home Closes After 30 Years, Leaving Bay Area Japanese Seniors in Need\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The 1960s and 70s was a pivotal time for community activism, with the civil rights and anti-war movements, the Black Panther Party and student protests that established ethnic studies on college campuses. That activism led to a decades-old critical lifeline for Japanese American elders: culturally sensitive senior care homes. But in recent years, these kinds of homes have been closing down -including one in the Bay Area. As Cecilia Lei reports, the closures highlight how the Japanese-American community is at a crossroads. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 class=\"routes-Site-routes-Post-Title-__Title__title\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12037162/la-artist-el-compa-negro-plays-traditional-mexican-music-straight-outta-compton\">El Compa Negro Plays Traditional Mexican Music, Straight Outta Compton\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Compton is known for being the heart of West Coast rap from Dr. Dre .to Kendrick Lamar. But, Compton has changed– a lot. According to census data, the city’s demographics show over 70% of its residents identify as Latino or Hispanic. This shift can be seen and heard in an artist from Compton named Rhyan Lavelle Lowery, aka El Compa Negro. He’s a Black musician who sings corridos or Mexican storytelling songs. Reporter. Aisha Wallace Palomares takes us on a trip to meet him. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 class=\"routes-Site-routes-Post-Title-__Title__title\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12032731/amid-rising-threats-transgender-community-builds-bonds-san-francisco-self-defense-class\">Amid Rising Threats, Transgender Community Builds Bonds at This SF Self-Defense Class\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Many transgender, nonbinary and gender-expansive people are feeling vulnerable because of anti-trans policies from the Trump administration. There are a lot of efforts to fight for trans rights on the legal front but there’s also momentum to make sure trans and nonbinary people can defend themselves from threats of physical violence. KQED’s Bianca Taylor takes us to a free self-defense class in San Francisco’s Transgender District, the first legally recognized cultural district of its kind in the world. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-california-report-magazine/id1314750545?mt=2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Listen to this and more in-depth storytelling by subscribing to The California Report Magazine podcast.\u003c/a>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 class=\"routes-Site-routes-Post-Title-__Title__title\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12025613/j-sei-home-closes-after-30-years-leaving-bay-area-japanese-seniors-in-need\">J-Sei Home Closes After 30 Years, Leaving Bay Area Japanese Seniors in Need\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The 1960s and 70s was a pivotal time for community activism, with the civil rights and anti-war movements, the Black Panther Party and student protests that established ethnic studies on college campuses. That activism led to a decades-old critical lifeline for Japanese American elders: culturally sensitive senior care homes. But in recent years, these kinds of homes have been closing down -including one in the Bay Area. As Cecilia Lei reports, the closures highlight how the Japanese-American community is at a crossroads. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 class=\"routes-Site-routes-Post-Title-__Title__title\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12037162/la-artist-el-compa-negro-plays-traditional-mexican-music-straight-outta-compton\">El Compa Negro Plays Traditional Mexican Music, Straight Outta Compton\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Compton is known for being the heart of West Coast rap from Dr. Dre .to Kendrick Lamar. But, Compton has changed– a lot. According to census data, the city’s demographics show over 70% of its residents identify as Latino or Hispanic. This shift can be seen and heard in an artist from Compton named Rhyan Lavelle Lowery, aka El Compa Negro. He’s a Black musician who sings corridos or Mexican storytelling songs. Reporter. Aisha Wallace Palomares takes us on a trip to meet him. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 class=\"routes-Site-routes-Post-Title-__Title__title\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12032731/amid-rising-threats-transgender-community-builds-bonds-san-francisco-self-defense-class\">Amid Rising Threats, Transgender Community Builds Bonds at This SF Self-Defense Class\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Many transgender, nonbinary and gender-expansive people are feeling vulnerable because of anti-trans policies from the Trump administration. There are a lot of efforts to fight for trans rights on the legal front but there’s also momentum to make sure trans and nonbinary people can defend themselves from threats of physical violence. KQED’s Bianca Taylor takes us to a free self-defense class in San Francisco’s Transgender District, the first legally recognized cultural district of its kind in the world. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-california-report-magazine/id1314750545?mt=2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Listen to this and more in-depth storytelling by subscribing to The California Report Magazine podcast.\u003c/a>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12035344/the-eaton-fire-hit-caltech-scientists-close-to-home-now-theyre-studying-the-toxic-aftermath\">\u003cb>The Eaton Fire Hit Caltech Scientists Close to Home. Now, They’re Studying the Toxic Aftermath\u003c/b>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It’s been a few months since wildfires devastated Los Angeles, and some people are just now starting the long process of repairing and rebuilding their homes. But mixed into the soot and ash can be some hidden dangers, including lead, asbestos, arsenic and lithium. These toxic materials were used to build those homes and got blown across LA. S\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">cientists from the California Institute of Technology have been investigating this invisible danger, testing more than 50 homes for these contaminants. And one of those homes belongs to the lead scientist behind the study. Reporter Caroline Champlin has more. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 class=\"routes-Site-routes-Post-Title-__Title__title\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12035436/los-angeles-county-youth-commissioner-child-sexual-abuse-survivor-fights-for-change\">‘You’re Not Alone’: An LA County Youth Commissioner and Child Sexual Abuse Survivor Fights for Change\u003c/a>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Twenty-five-year-old Brittianna Robinson experienced sexual abuse and trafficking as a child. She found herself in and out of group homes and the juvenile justice system in Los Angeles throughout her teens. She credits her faith in God and support from mentors and her church for helping her find a path forward. Today, Brittianna uses her lived experience to help other commercially sexually exploited children (CSEC) as an advocate on the Los Angeles County Youth Commission. Host Sasha Khokha recently sat down with Brittianna for our series on Californians and resilience.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "volunteers-rush-to-save-historic-tiles-from-bulldozers-in-wake-of-altadena-fires",
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"content": "\u003cp>Last month’s firestorm destroyed more than 9,000 homes and buildings in Los Angeles County. In the unincorporated community of Altadena, the Eaton Fire leveled entire neighborhoods and, in some cases, left behind only chimneys and fireplaces.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of the homes here were built in the Arts and Crafts style, which was popular around a century ago. And some of them included distinctive tiles that were created by a local artist. A few weeks after the fire tore through this community, a group called \u003ca href=\"https://www.savethetiles.org\">Save the Tiles\u003c/a> formed to begin saving historical fireplace tiles from those chimneys so homeowners can include them in their rebuilt houses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It started with Eric Garland, whose home barely survived. He’d been on vacation with his family when the fire struck, and his neighbors saved his house by dumping water from a nearby pool. His family is still displaced, but one day, he was walking through the neighborhood after the fire with his 18-year-old daughter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12028436\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12028436\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SaveTheTiles_0003.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SaveTheTiles_0003.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SaveTheTiles_0003-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SaveTheTiles_0003-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SaveTheTiles_0003-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SaveTheTiles_0003-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SaveTheTiles_0003-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Volunteers dig through the rubble to find Batchelder tiles in Altadena on Feb. 16, 2025. \u003ccite>(Nick Agro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“And it was just an exercise in taking a few steps and weeping, and taking a few steps and weeping. And part of it was just incremental loss, wading into the next neighbor and the next and the next. And part of it was gasping at what remained … There’s nothing. It’s just a debris field,” Garland said. “And in the middle of the ash pile, where that house should be, is this beautiful, red brick chimney, standing in the middle of nowhere and at the base of it, this perfect work of art — this fireplace that was just like the day it was made.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of the Arts and Crafts-style homes in Altadena featured tiles made by artist \u003ca href=\"https://pasadenahistory.org/batchelder-part-1/\">Ernest Batchelder\u003c/a>. In fact, Batchelder tiles became the \u003ca href=\"https://pasadenahistory.org/research/museum-collections-batchelder-tile-registry/\">defining characteristic\u003c/a> of Altadena and nearby Pasadena homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12029031\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12029031\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/0A4A2460.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/0A4A2460.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/0A4A2460-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/0A4A2460-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/0A4A2460-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/0A4A2460-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/0A4A2460-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A decorative Ernest Batchelder tile from a fireplace in Altadena on Feb. 8, 2025. \u003ccite>(Julie Leopo for LAist)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Batchelder moved to the area in the early 1900s and started making handmade, decorated art tile in a backyard kiln behind his bungalow. His small setup allowed him to make only 150 tiles at a time. The tiles are soft, metallic colors in brown and blue hues. Some have detailed scenes depicting majestic trees, peacocks and other animals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And these tiles survived the Eaton Fire because they’re a product of fire themselves. The flames from the fire acted like a second firing in a kiln. So when Garland walked the neighborhood with his daughter, she turned to him with an observation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12028433\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12028433\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/DSC_0295.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/DSC_0295.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/DSC_0295-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/DSC_0295-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/DSC_0295-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/DSC_0295-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/DSC_0295-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An Ernest Batchelder tile from a fireplace in Altadena on Feb. 8, 2025. \u003ccite>(Susan Valot)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“‘Dad, that’s all they have left,’” Garland recalled his daughter Lucy telling him. “And I said, ‘Lucy, I think that’s all this neighborhood has left.’ And she said, ‘Well, who’s going to save the fireplaces?’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And the idea to “save the tiles, save the town” was born. By chance, the Garlands found a post on Reddit by a mason who wanted to do the same thing. So they teamed up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12029033\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12029033\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SAVE-THE-TILES-14.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SAVE-THE-TILES-14.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SAVE-THE-TILES-14-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SAVE-THE-TILES-14-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SAVE-THE-TILES-14-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SAVE-THE-TILES-14-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SAVE-THE-TILES-14-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">From left, Eric Garland, Founder of Save the Tiles, and Stanley Zucker, Save the Tiles volunteer on Feb. 8, 2025, in Altadena. \u003ccite>(Julie Leopo for LAist)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In a single weekend earlier this month, about 50 volunteers canvassed the entire fire disaster zone, cataloging 200 surviving fireplaces with historic tiles in the area, including Batchelder tiles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The group started contacting owners for permission to bring in masons to remove the tiles and restore them for free so they can be used in rebuilds — bringing a tiny bit of the home’s DNA to live into the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Devon Douglas and her mason dad, Cliff, are part of a professional crew that’s been carefully chiseling tile from the rubble. On a recent Sunday, she filled boxes with \u003ca href=\"https://www.acstickley.com/category/art-pottery/claycraft-pottery/\">Claycraft Pottery tiles\u003c/a> and stuffed the pockets of her apron with small tiles to add to the stacks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12029032\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1333px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12029032\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SAVE-THE-TILES-16-e1740704222450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1333\" height=\"1650\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SAVE-THE-TILES-16-e1740704222450.jpg 1333w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SAVE-THE-TILES-16-e1740704222450-800x990.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SAVE-THE-TILES-16-e1740704222450-1020x1263.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SAVE-THE-TILES-16-e1740704222450-160x198.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SAVE-THE-TILES-16-e1740704222450-1241x1536.jpg 1241w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1333px) 100vw, 1333px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">From left, Save the Tiles volunteers Devon Douglas, Cliff Douglas and Mary Gandsey at the site of the Feb. 8, 2025 recovery. Cliff runs a Masonry family business; Mary is a retired wood finisher. \u003ccite>(Julie Leopo for LAist)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s so big of a devastation for everybody involved, and it’s just the smallest piece of something that we can do,” Douglas said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said the fire was so hot that, in many cases, the flames burned off dirt and grime from the tiles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They look new. And it’s almost bigger than just the tile. It’s symbolic [on] its own,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But this crew of volunteers is working against the clock. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has already started clearing lots with bulldozers, making way for people to rebuild. Garland said they are trying to beat the bulldozers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12028437\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12028437\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SaveTheTiles_0006.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SaveTheTiles_0006.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SaveTheTiles_0006-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SaveTheTiles_0006-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SaveTheTiles_0006-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SaveTheTiles_0006-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SaveTheTiles_0006-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A fireplace with decorative tiles. \u003ccite>(Nick Agro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>To speed up the process, Garland said they are trying to find funding to bring in workers to help. They’ve started a \u003ca href=\"https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-fire-victims-recover-whats-left-save-the-tiles\">GoFundMe campaign\u003c/a>. And they’re looking for volunteers who have expertise in masonry, as well as a longer-term place to store the tiles since rebuilding will take a while.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They hope their work will build Altadena’s future, one tile at a time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s better than stars aligning because it’s people aligning,” Garland said. “It’s a community aligning around what we can do together.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Last month’s firestorm destroyed more than 9,000 homes and buildings in Los Angeles County. In the unincorporated community of Altadena, the Eaton Fire leveled entire neighborhoods and, in some cases, left behind only chimneys and fireplaces.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of the homes here were built in the Arts and Crafts style, which was popular around a century ago. And some of them included distinctive tiles that were created by a local artist. A few weeks after the fire tore through this community, a group called \u003ca href=\"https://www.savethetiles.org\">Save the Tiles\u003c/a> formed to begin saving historical fireplace tiles from those chimneys so homeowners can include them in their rebuilt houses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It started with Eric Garland, whose home barely survived. He’d been on vacation with his family when the fire struck, and his neighbors saved his house by dumping water from a nearby pool. His family is still displaced, but one day, he was walking through the neighborhood after the fire with his 18-year-old daughter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12028436\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12028436\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SaveTheTiles_0003.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SaveTheTiles_0003.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SaveTheTiles_0003-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SaveTheTiles_0003-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SaveTheTiles_0003-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SaveTheTiles_0003-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SaveTheTiles_0003-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Volunteers dig through the rubble to find Batchelder tiles in Altadena on Feb. 16, 2025. \u003ccite>(Nick Agro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“And it was just an exercise in taking a few steps and weeping, and taking a few steps and weeping. And part of it was just incremental loss, wading into the next neighbor and the next and the next. And part of it was gasping at what remained … There’s nothing. It’s just a debris field,” Garland said. “And in the middle of the ash pile, where that house should be, is this beautiful, red brick chimney, standing in the middle of nowhere and at the base of it, this perfect work of art — this fireplace that was just like the day it was made.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of the Arts and Crafts-style homes in Altadena featured tiles made by artist \u003ca href=\"https://pasadenahistory.org/batchelder-part-1/\">Ernest Batchelder\u003c/a>. In fact, Batchelder tiles became the \u003ca href=\"https://pasadenahistory.org/research/museum-collections-batchelder-tile-registry/\">defining characteristic\u003c/a> of Altadena and nearby Pasadena homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12029031\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12029031\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/0A4A2460.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/0A4A2460.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/0A4A2460-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/0A4A2460-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/0A4A2460-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/0A4A2460-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/0A4A2460-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A decorative Ernest Batchelder tile from a fireplace in Altadena on Feb. 8, 2025. \u003ccite>(Julie Leopo for LAist)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Batchelder moved to the area in the early 1900s and started making handmade, decorated art tile in a backyard kiln behind his bungalow. His small setup allowed him to make only 150 tiles at a time. The tiles are soft, metallic colors in brown and blue hues. Some have detailed scenes depicting majestic trees, peacocks and other animals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And these tiles survived the Eaton Fire because they’re a product of fire themselves. The flames from the fire acted like a second firing in a kiln. So when Garland walked the neighborhood with his daughter, she turned to him with an observation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12028433\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12028433\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/DSC_0295.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/DSC_0295.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/DSC_0295-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/DSC_0295-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/DSC_0295-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/DSC_0295-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/DSC_0295-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An Ernest Batchelder tile from a fireplace in Altadena on Feb. 8, 2025. \u003ccite>(Susan Valot)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“‘Dad, that’s all they have left,’” Garland recalled his daughter Lucy telling him. “And I said, ‘Lucy, I think that’s all this neighborhood has left.’ And she said, ‘Well, who’s going to save the fireplaces?’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And the idea to “save the tiles, save the town” was born. By chance, the Garlands found a post on Reddit by a mason who wanted to do the same thing. So they teamed up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12029033\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12029033\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SAVE-THE-TILES-14.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SAVE-THE-TILES-14.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SAVE-THE-TILES-14-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SAVE-THE-TILES-14-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SAVE-THE-TILES-14-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SAVE-THE-TILES-14-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SAVE-THE-TILES-14-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">From left, Eric Garland, Founder of Save the Tiles, and Stanley Zucker, Save the Tiles volunteer on Feb. 8, 2025, in Altadena. \u003ccite>(Julie Leopo for LAist)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In a single weekend earlier this month, about 50 volunteers canvassed the entire fire disaster zone, cataloging 200 surviving fireplaces with historic tiles in the area, including Batchelder tiles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The group started contacting owners for permission to bring in masons to remove the tiles and restore them for free so they can be used in rebuilds — bringing a tiny bit of the home’s DNA to live into the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Devon Douglas and her mason dad, Cliff, are part of a professional crew that’s been carefully chiseling tile from the rubble. On a recent Sunday, she filled boxes with \u003ca href=\"https://www.acstickley.com/category/art-pottery/claycraft-pottery/\">Claycraft Pottery tiles\u003c/a> and stuffed the pockets of her apron with small tiles to add to the stacks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12029032\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1333px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12029032\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SAVE-THE-TILES-16-e1740704222450.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1333\" height=\"1650\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SAVE-THE-TILES-16-e1740704222450.jpg 1333w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SAVE-THE-TILES-16-e1740704222450-800x990.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SAVE-THE-TILES-16-e1740704222450-1020x1263.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SAVE-THE-TILES-16-e1740704222450-160x198.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SAVE-THE-TILES-16-e1740704222450-1241x1536.jpg 1241w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1333px) 100vw, 1333px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">From left, Save the Tiles volunteers Devon Douglas, Cliff Douglas and Mary Gandsey at the site of the Feb. 8, 2025 recovery. Cliff runs a Masonry family business; Mary is a retired wood finisher. \u003ccite>(Julie Leopo for LAist)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s so big of a devastation for everybody involved, and it’s just the smallest piece of something that we can do,” Douglas said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said the fire was so hot that, in many cases, the flames burned off dirt and grime from the tiles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They look new. And it’s almost bigger than just the tile. It’s symbolic [on] its own,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But this crew of volunteers is working against the clock. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has already started clearing lots with bulldozers, making way for people to rebuild. Garland said they are trying to beat the bulldozers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12028437\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12028437\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SaveTheTiles_0006.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SaveTheTiles_0006.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SaveTheTiles_0006-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SaveTheTiles_0006-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SaveTheTiles_0006-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SaveTheTiles_0006-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/SaveTheTiles_0006-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A fireplace with decorative tiles. \u003ccite>(Nick Agro)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>To speed up the process, Garland said they are trying to find funding to bring in workers to help. They’ve started a \u003ca href=\"https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-fire-victims-recover-whats-left-save-the-tiles\">GoFundMe campaign\u003c/a>. And they’re looking for volunteers who have expertise in masonry, as well as a longer-term place to store the tiles since rebuilding will take a while.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They hope their work will build Altadena’s future, one tile at a time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s better than stars aligning because it’s people aligning,” Garland said. “It’s a community aligning around what we can do together.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Six weeks after the start of the most destructive wildfire in city history, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass ousted the fire chief Friday amid a public rift over preparations for a potential blaze and finger-pointing between the chief and City Hall over responsibility for the devastation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bass, a first-term Democrat, said she is removing Chief Kristin Crowley immediately. “Los Angeles needs to move forward. This is a new day,” she told reporters at City Hall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Bass initially praised Crowley in the early hours of firefighting, she said she later learned an additional 1,000 firefighters could have been deployed the day the blaze ignited. Additionally, she said Crowley rebuffed a request to prepare a report on the fires that is a critical part of investigations into what happened and why.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One thousand firefighters who could have been on the job fighting the fires were sent home” on Crowley’s watch, Bass said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Powerful winds fueled devastating fires\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/video/fires-los-angeles-area-wildfires-wildfires-los-angeles-dominic-choi-6ff44671637a495aba05fb6238130244\">The Palisades Fire began during heavy winds\u003c/a> Jan. 7, destroying or damaging nearly 8,000 homes, businesses and other structures and killing at least 12 people in the affluent LA neighborhood. Another \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/video/wildfires-los-angeles-patrick-williams-los-angeles-area-wildfires-california-c9dd064e451e469684da2b770c1014dc\">wind-whipped fire started the same day in suburban Altadena\u003c/a>, a community to the east, killing at least 17 people and destroying or damaging more than 10,000 homes and other buildings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bass has been facing criticism for being in Africa as part of a presidential delegation on the day the fire started, even though weather reports had warned of dangerous wind and wildfire conditions in the days before she left.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Speaking at City Hall, Bass said Crowley never notified her of the looming danger before she departed, even though that was standard practice since she took office in December 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She has my cellphone. She knows she can call me 24/7,” Bass said. “That did not happen this time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At City Hall, Bass was pressed again on how she could have been unaware of the fire risk before leaving the country, given widespread media coverage about intensifying winds and tinder-dry conditions. She didn’t appear to respond directly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Los Angeles Fire Department said it had no comment about the ousting of the chief. Crowley could not immediately be reached for comment. The mayor’s office said the former chief exercised her Civil Service rights to stay with the department but at a lower, yet-to-be determined rank.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Chief was appointed during period of turmoil for LAFD\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Crowley was named fire chief in 2022 by Bass’ predecessor at a time when the department was \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/los-angeles-fire-chief-crowley-bass-9076f31e7929b559e3afede572e119a4\">in turmoil\u003c/a> over allegations of rampant harassment, hazing and discrimination. She worked for the city fire department for more than 25 years and held nearly every role, including fire marshal, engineer and battalion chief.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her dismissal followed weeks of growing distance between the mayor and Crowley. As chief, Crowley \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/los-angeles-fire-chief-crowley-bass-9076f31e7929b559e3afede572e119a4\">publicly criticized\u003c/a> the city for budget cuts that she said made it harder for firefighters to do their jobs. In January, when the Palisades fire was out of control, Crowley said in televised interviews that her department was underfunded and understaffed and emergency vehicles had been idled because the LAFD didn’t have the mechanics to fix them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bass said Friday that the budget was increased, not slashed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Billionaire developer Rick Caruso, who was defeated by Bass in the 2022 election and has been critical of her wildfire management, called Crowley’s dismissal “very disappointing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The chief “spoke honestly about the severe and profoundly ill-conceived budget cuts the Bass administration made to the LAFD,” Caruso said in a post on the social platform X. “Honesty in a high city official should not be a firing offense.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12028252\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12028252\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/GettyImages-2200361855.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/GettyImages-2200361855.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/GettyImages-2200361855-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/GettyImages-2200361855-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/GettyImages-2200361855-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mayor Karen Bass announces the firing of Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley and the appointment of former Chief Deputy Ronnie Villanueva as interim fire chief in Los Angeles on Friday, Feb.21, 2025. \u003ccite>(Drew A. Kelley/MediaNews Group/Long Beach Press-Telegram via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2 class=\"mb-0 pb-2 ap-font-bold\">Africa trip has left mayor facing lingering questions\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Since returning to the U.S. last month, an at-times defensive Bass had provided only sketchy insight into her thinking in the days leading up to her departure for Africa. Her absence quickly became an embarrassment — on her return, she appeared silent with a blank expression when intercepted on camera by a reporter at the airport, who asked repeatedly why she had been gone and if she had regrets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In televised interviews this week, Bass acknowledged she made a mistake by leaving the city. But she faulted Crowley for failing to alert her about the potentially explosive fire conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Mayor’s tenure reshaped by deadly fire and rebuilding job\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Bass’ handling of the Palisades fire and the vast rebuilding job will be the measure of her tenure. She has said that she intends to seek reelection in 2026.[aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=\"news_12021777,news_12022708,news_12022659\"]Bass, a former legislator and member of Congress who was on former President Joe Biden’s vice presidential short list, is known for an understated, \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-election-2020-ca-state-wire-sacramento-arnold-schwarzenegger-97f619d33c6bbb208b3aebb4e8178b0b\">coalition-building\u003c/a> style. Her \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/mayor-karen-bass-la-fires-leadership-99e52cf69cc656ee7e0328c6b609be74\">leadership\u003c/a> is being tested as the cleanup and recovery get underway involving the Trump administration, the state, Los Angeles County, the city and other municipalities damaged in the fires, along with an array of government agencies and private interests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tensions already have emerged, including local political rivalries, while Trump has been critical of state \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-water-trump-delta-smelt-farmers-943082304d6ec61511fb1a0b95ca771a\">water policy.\u003c/a> Questions have been raised about who is in charge of the rebuilding, with so many entities and officials involved. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has assembled a group of business leaders to dovetail with the larger reconstruction effort.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is her first major challenge and she is going to be judged on it, and that could be good or bad,” longtime Democratic consultant Bill Carrick said. For the moment, “she seems to be struggling.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Responding to a reporter, Bass disputed the idea that her administration is in upheaval.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The business of the fire department and the city will continue” while the search for a permanent replacement is underway, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Six weeks after the start of the most destructive wildfire in city history, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass ousted the fire chief Friday amid a public rift over preparations for a potential blaze and finger-pointing between the chief and City Hall over responsibility for the devastation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bass, a first-term Democrat, said she is removing Chief Kristin Crowley immediately. “Los Angeles needs to move forward. This is a new day,” she told reporters at City Hall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Bass initially praised Crowley in the early hours of firefighting, she said she later learned an additional 1,000 firefighters could have been deployed the day the blaze ignited. Additionally, she said Crowley rebuffed a request to prepare a report on the fires that is a critical part of investigations into what happened and why.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One thousand firefighters who could have been on the job fighting the fires were sent home” on Crowley’s watch, Bass said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Powerful winds fueled devastating fires\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/video/fires-los-angeles-area-wildfires-wildfires-los-angeles-dominic-choi-6ff44671637a495aba05fb6238130244\">The Palisades Fire began during heavy winds\u003c/a> Jan. 7, destroying or damaging nearly 8,000 homes, businesses and other structures and killing at least 12 people in the affluent LA neighborhood. Another \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/video/wildfires-los-angeles-patrick-williams-los-angeles-area-wildfires-california-c9dd064e451e469684da2b770c1014dc\">wind-whipped fire started the same day in suburban Altadena\u003c/a>, a community to the east, killing at least 17 people and destroying or damaging more than 10,000 homes and other buildings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bass has been facing criticism for being in Africa as part of a presidential delegation on the day the fire started, even though weather reports had warned of dangerous wind and wildfire conditions in the days before she left.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Speaking at City Hall, Bass said Crowley never notified her of the looming danger before she departed, even though that was standard practice since she took office in December 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She has my cellphone. She knows she can call me 24/7,” Bass said. “That did not happen this time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At City Hall, Bass was pressed again on how she could have been unaware of the fire risk before leaving the country, given widespread media coverage about intensifying winds and tinder-dry conditions. She didn’t appear to respond directly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Los Angeles Fire Department said it had no comment about the ousting of the chief. Crowley could not immediately be reached for comment. The mayor’s office said the former chief exercised her Civil Service rights to stay with the department but at a lower, yet-to-be determined rank.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Chief was appointed during period of turmoil for LAFD\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Crowley was named fire chief in 2022 by Bass’ predecessor at a time when the department was \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/los-angeles-fire-chief-crowley-bass-9076f31e7929b559e3afede572e119a4\">in turmoil\u003c/a> over allegations of rampant harassment, hazing and discrimination. She worked for the city fire department for more than 25 years and held nearly every role, including fire marshal, engineer and battalion chief.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her dismissal followed weeks of growing distance between the mayor and Crowley. As chief, Crowley \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/los-angeles-fire-chief-crowley-bass-9076f31e7929b559e3afede572e119a4\">publicly criticized\u003c/a> the city for budget cuts that she said made it harder for firefighters to do their jobs. In January, when the Palisades fire was out of control, Crowley said in televised interviews that her department was underfunded and understaffed and emergency vehicles had been idled because the LAFD didn’t have the mechanics to fix them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bass said Friday that the budget was increased, not slashed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Billionaire developer Rick Caruso, who was defeated by Bass in the 2022 election and has been critical of her wildfire management, called Crowley’s dismissal “very disappointing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The chief “spoke honestly about the severe and profoundly ill-conceived budget cuts the Bass administration made to the LAFD,” Caruso said in a post on the social platform X. “Honesty in a high city official should not be a firing offense.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12028252\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1024px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12028252\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/GettyImages-2200361855.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/GettyImages-2200361855.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/GettyImages-2200361855-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/GettyImages-2200361855-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/GettyImages-2200361855-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mayor Karen Bass announces the firing of Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley and the appointment of former Chief Deputy Ronnie Villanueva as interim fire chief in Los Angeles on Friday, Feb.21, 2025. \u003ccite>(Drew A. Kelley/MediaNews Group/Long Beach Press-Telegram via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2 class=\"mb-0 pb-2 ap-font-bold\">Africa trip has left mayor facing lingering questions\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Since returning to the U.S. last month, an at-times defensive Bass had provided only sketchy insight into her thinking in the days leading up to her departure for Africa. Her absence quickly became an embarrassment — on her return, she appeared silent with a blank expression when intercepted on camera by a reporter at the airport, who asked repeatedly why she had been gone and if she had regrets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In televised interviews this week, Bass acknowledged she made a mistake by leaving the city. But she faulted Crowley for failing to alert her about the potentially explosive fire conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Mayor’s tenure reshaped by deadly fire and rebuilding job\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Bass’ handling of the Palisades fire and the vast rebuilding job will be the measure of her tenure. She has said that she intends to seek reelection in 2026.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Bass, a former legislator and member of Congress who was on former President Joe Biden’s vice presidential short list, is known for an understated, \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-election-2020-ca-state-wire-sacramento-arnold-schwarzenegger-97f619d33c6bbb208b3aebb4e8178b0b\">coalition-building\u003c/a> style. Her \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/mayor-karen-bass-la-fires-leadership-99e52cf69cc656ee7e0328c6b609be74\">leadership\u003c/a> is being tested as the cleanup and recovery get underway involving the Trump administration, the state, Los Angeles County, the city and other municipalities damaged in the fires, along with an array of government agencies and private interests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tensions already have emerged, including local political rivalries, while Trump has been critical of state \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-water-trump-delta-smelt-farmers-943082304d6ec61511fb1a0b95ca771a\">water policy.\u003c/a> Questions have been raised about who is in charge of the rebuilding, with so many entities and officials involved. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has assembled a group of business leaders to dovetail with the larger reconstruction effort.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is her first major challenge and she is going to be judged on it, and that could be good or bad,” longtime Democratic consultant Bill Carrick said. For the moment, “she seems to be struggling.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Responding to a reporter, Bass disputed the idea that her administration is in upheaval.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The business of the fire department and the city will continue” while the search for a permanent replacement is underway, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "they-want-to-rebuild-after-the-eaton-fire-but-first-comes-the-struggle-to-survive",
"title": "They Want to Rebuild After the Eaton Fire, but First Comes the Struggle to Survive",
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"content": "\u003cp>Chumi Paul rehabilitates bats for a living. She co-founded a nonprofit called \u003ca href=\"https://www.losangelesbatrescue.org\">Los Angeles Bat Rescue\u003c/a>. Her love of the local environment dictated where she chose to buy a house in 2011, in a cul de sac in Altadena that butts up against the \u003ca href=\"https://www.fs.usda.gov/visit/national-monuments/san-gabriel-mountains-national-monument\">San Gabriel Mountains National Monument\u003c/a>. Her home, in a neighborhood nicknamed “The Villas,” wasn’t big, “but it was beautiful,” Paul said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was 1,200 square feet in size, built in 1951 with old-growth redwood and 26 windows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One of the things I’ll miss most about our house — apart from how pretty it was — is how big the windows were,” said Paul’s 11-year-old daughter Maile. The two of them could see Canyon bats at dusk in the summer, as well as birds, squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits, bobcats and mule deer all year round, traveling in and out of the parkland nearby.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12026028\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12026028\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/IMG_6093-e1738888198580.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1140\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/IMG_6093-e1738888198580.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/IMG_6093-e1738888198580-800x570.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/IMG_6093-e1738888198580-1020x727.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/IMG_6093-e1738888198580-160x114.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/IMG_6093-e1738888198580-1536x1094.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Long before the Eaton Fire destroyed her house in 2025, Maile enjoys Christmas in 2019, when she was 7 years old. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Chumi Paul)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Paul was close with the human neighbors, too, especially since the pandemic, which encouraged them to talk to each other and band together as a community. “We all help each other. We all feel — felt,” she said, correcting her verb tense mid-sentence, “so lucky to live where we lived in Altadena, but also, in our neighborhood,” Paul said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Three days after the Eaton fire destroyed their home, Paul and Maile were holed up in a Pasadena hotel room. They were still in shock then, full of grief and exhausted, glued to their devices, checking in with friends from the neighborhood and from Maile’s school to see who had also lost their homes. “We’re all just completely shattered, and we’re all in a group chat text chatting every day, processing what has happened,” Paul said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12026009\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1170px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12026009\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/Text-thread.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1170\" height=\"1853\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/Text-thread.jpg 1170w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/Text-thread-800x1267.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/Text-thread-1020x1615.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/Text-thread-160x253.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/Text-thread-970x1536.jpg 970w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1170px) 100vw, 1170px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A screenshot of the group text where Chumi Paul and her neighbors have been supporting each other emotionally and practically since the Eaton Fire tore through their neighborhood. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Chumi Paul)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Eaton Fire has catapulted Paul, Maile, and their neighbors in The Villas into what promises to be a years-long odyssey. They want to rebuild, but first, they have to find another place to live, work, go to school and plan their return to Altadena.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maile’s in a group chat with 10 close friends, seven of whom have lost their homes. They renamed that chat “70% homeless.” Early hopes of returning to sixth grade at Odyssey Charter Schools’ \u003ca href=\"https://www.bgcpasadena.org/Odyssey-north\">North Campus in Altadena\u003c/a> evaporated because of regional contamination from the Eaton Fire. “I don’t know how they plan on sustaining the school when everybody in Altadena lost their houses. I don’t know how that will work. But we really like our school, so we hope we can go back,” Maile said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12026011\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12026011\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/IMG_9386.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/IMG_9386.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/IMG_9386-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/IMG_9386-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/IMG_9386-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/IMG_9386-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/IMG_9386-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">These two stuffed animals, photographed in a hotel room in Pasadena where the family is staying, are all that remain of Maile’s stuffed animal collection. \u003ccite>(Rachael Myrow/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The community the school served — the students and the teachers and staff — has been scattered to the four winds. Odyssey just found another location for middle schoolers in Pasadena, but Maile wants to go to the new school in Thousand Oaks instead. “There’s not exactly a place to go back to. There aren’t any houses in Altadena to buy. And if there were, the prices would probably go really up because everybody wants to grab a house,” Maile said, sighing. “So I don’t know what’s going to happen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At least Maile and her mom have each other and their communities of friends on the group chats. A friend has set up a \u003ca href=\"https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-chumi-and-maile-after-the-loss-of-their-altadena-home?attribution_id=sl:cec8c9e3-6c02-4a94-927c-b6b9ca3a6496&utm_campaign=fp_sharesheet&utm_medium=customer&utm_source=copy_link\">GoFundMe for Paul and Maile\u003c/a>, as so many have for their fire-afflicted friends. “There’s so much love coming to the surface. So many people are offering to help. People that I don’t even know, and it’s kind of restored my faith in humanity, in a way,” Paul said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Chumi Paul rehabilitates bats for a living. She co-founded a nonprofit called \u003ca href=\"https://www.losangelesbatrescue.org\">Los Angeles Bat Rescue\u003c/a>. Her love of the local environment dictated where she chose to buy a house in 2011, in a cul de sac in Altadena that butts up against the \u003ca href=\"https://www.fs.usda.gov/visit/national-monuments/san-gabriel-mountains-national-monument\">San Gabriel Mountains National Monument\u003c/a>. Her home, in a neighborhood nicknamed “The Villas,” wasn’t big, “but it was beautiful,” Paul said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was 1,200 square feet in size, built in 1951 with old-growth redwood and 26 windows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One of the things I’ll miss most about our house — apart from how pretty it was — is how big the windows were,” said Paul’s 11-year-old daughter Maile. The two of them could see Canyon bats at dusk in the summer, as well as birds, squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits, bobcats and mule deer all year round, traveling in and out of the parkland nearby.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12026028\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12026028\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/IMG_6093-e1738888198580.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1140\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/IMG_6093-e1738888198580.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/IMG_6093-e1738888198580-800x570.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/IMG_6093-e1738888198580-1020x727.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/IMG_6093-e1738888198580-160x114.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/IMG_6093-e1738888198580-1536x1094.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Long before the Eaton Fire destroyed her house in 2025, Maile enjoys Christmas in 2019, when she was 7 years old. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Chumi Paul)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Paul was close with the human neighbors, too, especially since the pandemic, which encouraged them to talk to each other and band together as a community. “We all help each other. We all feel — felt,” she said, correcting her verb tense mid-sentence, “so lucky to live where we lived in Altadena, but also, in our neighborhood,” Paul said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Three days after the Eaton fire destroyed their home, Paul and Maile were holed up in a Pasadena hotel room. They were still in shock then, full of grief and exhausted, glued to their devices, checking in with friends from the neighborhood and from Maile’s school to see who had also lost their homes. “We’re all just completely shattered, and we’re all in a group chat text chatting every day, processing what has happened,” Paul said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12026009\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1170px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12026009\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/Text-thread.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1170\" height=\"1853\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/Text-thread.jpg 1170w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/Text-thread-800x1267.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/Text-thread-1020x1615.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/Text-thread-160x253.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/Text-thread-970x1536.jpg 970w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1170px) 100vw, 1170px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A screenshot of the group text where Chumi Paul and her neighbors have been supporting each other emotionally and practically since the Eaton Fire tore through their neighborhood. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Chumi Paul)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Eaton Fire has catapulted Paul, Maile, and their neighbors in The Villas into what promises to be a years-long odyssey. They want to rebuild, but first, they have to find another place to live, work, go to school and plan their return to Altadena.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maile’s in a group chat with 10 close friends, seven of whom have lost their homes. They renamed that chat “70% homeless.” Early hopes of returning to sixth grade at Odyssey Charter Schools’ \u003ca href=\"https://www.bgcpasadena.org/Odyssey-north\">North Campus in Altadena\u003c/a> evaporated because of regional contamination from the Eaton Fire. “I don’t know how they plan on sustaining the school when everybody in Altadena lost their houses. I don’t know how that will work. But we really like our school, so we hope we can go back,” Maile said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12026011\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12026011\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/IMG_9386.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/IMG_9386.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/IMG_9386-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/IMG_9386-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/IMG_9386-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/IMG_9386-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/IMG_9386-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">These two stuffed animals, photographed in a hotel room in Pasadena where the family is staying, are all that remain of Maile’s stuffed animal collection. \u003ccite>(Rachael Myrow/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The community the school served — the students and the teachers and staff — has been scattered to the four winds. Odyssey just found another location for middle schoolers in Pasadena, but Maile wants to go to the new school in Thousand Oaks instead. “There’s not exactly a place to go back to. There aren’t any houses in Altadena to buy. And if there were, the prices would probably go really up because everybody wants to grab a house,” Maile said, sighing. “So I don’t know what’s going to happen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At least Maile and her mom have each other and their communities of friends on the group chats. A friend has set up a \u003ca href=\"https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-chumi-and-maile-after-the-loss-of-their-altadena-home?attribution_id=sl:cec8c9e3-6c02-4a94-927c-b6b9ca3a6496&utm_campaign=fp_sharesheet&utm_medium=customer&utm_source=copy_link\">GoFundMe for Paul and Maile\u003c/a>, as so many have for their fire-afflicted friends. “There’s so much love coming to the surface. So many people are offering to help. People that I don’t even know, and it’s kind of restored my faith in humanity, in a way,” Paul said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "from-sonoma-to-los-angeles-wildfires-hit-child-care-industry-hard",
"title": "From Sonoma to Los Angeles, Wildfires Hit Child Care Industry Hard",
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"headTitle": "From Sonoma to Los Angeles, Wildfires Hit Child Care Industry Hard | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>After the 2017 Tubbs wildfire destroyed the Santa Rosa preschool Renee Whitlock-Hemsouvanh had opened three years earlier, she felt desperate and hopeless and uncertain of the school’s future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of the school’s families had also lost their homes, and she didn’t think she could recuperate enough insurance money to rebuild.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There was just a lot of disbelief because whoever thinks that you’re going to lose everything, like it’s just gonna burn to the ground?” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She eventually reestablished her preschool at another site, but the recovery took years. Lately, Whitlock-Hemsouvanh finds herself playing the role of wildfire survivor, giving advice to early educators in Los Angeles County figuring out how to move forward after last month’s devastating wildfires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12025677\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_01420.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12025677\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_01420.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_01420.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_01420-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_01420-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_01420-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_01420-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_01420-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kauai, a preschool student, puts on dry socks after coming in from outdoor play at Fulton Community School & Farm. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Forty licensed centers or homes that provide child care in Altadena and Pacific Palisades were destroyed, and about 240 others remain closed because of smoke damage or lack of power and water, according to the California Department of Social Services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Family child care providers who lost their homes also lost their livelihoods. A coalition of childcare advocates, along with state and local agencies, are helping providers prepare for reopening and displaced families find child care wherever they land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of folks are just getting to the point where they’ve been able to see what’s left, if anything is left, and starting to make plans for their next steps,” said Donna Sneeringer, chief strategy officer for Child Care Resource Center, based in L.A.’s San Fernando Valley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12025682\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02636.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12025682\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02636.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02636.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02636-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02636-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02636-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02636-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02636-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Renee Whitlock-Hemsouvanh is the director of Fulton Community School & Farm in Santa Rosa. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Whitlock-Hemsouvanh advises program directors like Alana Levitt, whose preschool sustained smoke damage in the Palisades fire, how to mitigate that damage, how to deep clean playgrounds and how to support families whose lives were upended by the fires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Levitt, director of Kehillat Israel’s Early Childhood Center, said enrollment had been cut in half because families scattered to other parts of California or even other states.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She temporarily moved to another preschool building in nearby Santa Monica that had space for the remaining children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We acted fast because the lesson that we learned from COVID is that we have to adapt really quickly,” Levitt said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12025683\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02693.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12025683\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02693.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02693.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02693-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02693-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02693-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02693-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02693-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fulton Community School & Farm in Santa Rosa was once a Lutheran church. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>She was able to do that because the state is granting\u003ca href=\"https://url.us.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/meTVCkRozNIr6xKjTkCyTGeHqZ?domain=cdss.ca.gov\"> licensed child care providers some flexibility\u003c/a> in where they can relocate and how many children they can admit so they can continue their work in the aftermath of a disaster. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass also issued \u003ca href=\"https://mayor.lacity.gov/sites/g/files/wph2066/files/2025-02/EO%204%20-%20Emergency%20Executive%20Order%20-%20Temporary%20School%20and%20Child%20Care%20Facility%20Use.pdf\">an executive order\u003c/a> this week to speed up the process of opening new child care facilities in the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Levitt’s experience parallels what Whitlock-Hemsouvanh went through seven years ago. Two weeks after the Tubbs fire killed 22 people and destroyed 4,600 homes — the most destructive in state history at the time — her preschool moved to a temporary site and relied on donated books and supplies. Parents pitched in to spruce up the classrooms and outdoor play area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She then caught a break when the city of Santa Rosa decided to lease a former church on city-owned land at a fair market value.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12026087\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02015_duo.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12026087 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02015_duo.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"660\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02015_duo.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02015_duo-800x264.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02015_duo-1020x337.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02015_duo-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02015_duo-1536x507.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02015_duo-1920x634.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Preschooler Joshua plays with a set of toys and (right) changes socks with the direction of his teacher, Yuka Morris, at Fulton Community School & Farm. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/santa-rosa-to-lease-former-church-to-day-care-company-that-lost-facility-in/\">City officials chose the preschool over other proposals to\u003c/a> convert the property into transitional housing or a hospice facility after deciding to make affordable child care a priority.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In all, Sonoma County \u003ca href=\"https://upstreaminvestments.org/Microsites/Upstream%20Investments/Documents/READY/READY-Annual-Report-23-24.pdf\">lost 450 child care slots to the 2017 fires and\u003c/a> about 50% of its remaining licensed child care capacity after the COVID-19 pandemic gutted the early education workforce, according to a county report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Experts say that because the sector already struggles with low profit margins, any additional costs brought on by events like the Sonoma and Los Angeles fires can destabilize providers and lead to closures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s already this lack of quality, accessible child care and when you add in an extreme weather event or natural disaster, it just kind of multiplies and exacerbates those existing problems,” said Ariel Ford, senior vice president of program impact at Child Care Aware of America, which offers \u003ca href=\"https://www.childcareaware.org/our-issues/crisis-and-disaster-resources/\">emergency preparedness, response and recovery tips\u003c/a> to its national network of child care resource organizations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Child care is often an afterthought following a disaster, Ford said, “even though the parents are scrambling to find [it] because when you have little ones, you can’t do the work of recovery while you also have a baby on your hip.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12025681\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02536.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12025681\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02536.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02536.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02536-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02536-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02536-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02536-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02536-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sally Soundara prepares lunch for the students at Fulton Community School & Farm. Soundara was on staff at the Mark West Community Preschool before fire destroyed it. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For Whitlock-Hemsouvanh, community support was instrumental in helping her recover from her loss.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Changes in zoning regulations and reductions in red tape allowed her to reestablish her business. She abandoned plans to rebuild the burned preschool and used money raised for that project to convert the church into a spacious preschool named \u003ca href=\"https://fultoncommunityschool.com/\">Fulton Community School & Farm\u003c/a>. Contributions from United Way Wine Country and First 5 Sonoma County helped cover the $100,000 cost of installing a fire sprinkler system to bring it up to licensing standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12025674\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_00170.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12025674\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_00170.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_00170.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_00170-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_00170-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_00170-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_00170-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_00170-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Children play on ‘woodchip mountain’ at Fulton Community School & Farm. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>However, a day after moving into the building in March 2020, the state ordered shutdowns to slow the spread of the coronavirus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was a wild time, and we stayed closed for two months,” she said.[aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=\"news_12021661,news_12024321,forum_2010101908557\"]When it reopened, the preschool operated at a lower capacity as children and teachers gradually returned to in-person learning. But after seven years of turmoil, enrollment has increased, staffing has stabilized, and she has paid off debts associated with losing her preschool to the fires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new building is on three acres of land, giving kids plenty of room to play outside, grow the food they eat and feed goats and chickens in the garden.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“From that time in 2017 until now has been nothing but change and recovery, and I think that it is this year finally that we’re seeing the light at the end of the tunnel,” Whitlock-Hemsouvanh said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She encourages early educators to strengthen relationships in their community as they seek the help that they need. She also thinks a growing awareness of the child care crisis led voters in November to pass \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12014476/3-local-measures-in-california-boosting-funding-for-kids-programs-on-verge-of-victory\">a quarter-cent sales tax\u003c/a> to raise about $30 million annually to fund child care and mental health services for young kids. She sees the funding as part of the long-term recovery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>There’s a lot more people looking at this early childhood time as a profound time in life and seeing it as valuable and worthy of investment,” she said. “I’m just hoping that that kind of momentum continues in our community. And I realize it’s not that way everywhere, but in Sonoma County and in Santa Rosa, it feels like we’re really being seen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Nearly 300 child care facilities remain closed a month after the wildfires swept through Los Angeles County, upending tens of thousands of lives. Early educators there are looking to Sonoma County for lessons on how to recover.",
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"title": "From Sonoma to Los Angeles, Wildfires Hit Child Care Industry Hard | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>After the 2017 Tubbs wildfire destroyed the Santa Rosa preschool Renee Whitlock-Hemsouvanh had opened three years earlier, she felt desperate and hopeless and uncertain of the school’s future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of the school’s families had also lost their homes, and she didn’t think she could recuperate enough insurance money to rebuild.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There was just a lot of disbelief because whoever thinks that you’re going to lose everything, like it’s just gonna burn to the ground?” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She eventually reestablished her preschool at another site, but the recovery took years. Lately, Whitlock-Hemsouvanh finds herself playing the role of wildfire survivor, giving advice to early educators in Los Angeles County figuring out how to move forward after last month’s devastating wildfires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12025677\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_01420.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12025677\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_01420.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_01420.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_01420-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_01420-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_01420-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_01420-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_01420-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kauai, a preschool student, puts on dry socks after coming in from outdoor play at Fulton Community School & Farm. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Forty licensed centers or homes that provide child care in Altadena and Pacific Palisades were destroyed, and about 240 others remain closed because of smoke damage or lack of power and water, according to the California Department of Social Services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Family child care providers who lost their homes also lost their livelihoods. A coalition of childcare advocates, along with state and local agencies, are helping providers prepare for reopening and displaced families find child care wherever they land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of folks are just getting to the point where they’ve been able to see what’s left, if anything is left, and starting to make plans for their next steps,” said Donna Sneeringer, chief strategy officer for Child Care Resource Center, based in L.A.’s San Fernando Valley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12025682\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02636.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12025682\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02636.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02636.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02636-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02636-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02636-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02636-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02636-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Renee Whitlock-Hemsouvanh is the director of Fulton Community School & Farm in Santa Rosa. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Whitlock-Hemsouvanh advises program directors like Alana Levitt, whose preschool sustained smoke damage in the Palisades fire, how to mitigate that damage, how to deep clean playgrounds and how to support families whose lives were upended by the fires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Levitt, director of Kehillat Israel’s Early Childhood Center, said enrollment had been cut in half because families scattered to other parts of California or even other states.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She temporarily moved to another preschool building in nearby Santa Monica that had space for the remaining children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We acted fast because the lesson that we learned from COVID is that we have to adapt really quickly,” Levitt said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12025683\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02693.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12025683\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02693.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02693.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02693-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02693-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02693-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02693-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02693-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fulton Community School & Farm in Santa Rosa was once a Lutheran church. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>She was able to do that because the state is granting\u003ca href=\"https://url.us.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/meTVCkRozNIr6xKjTkCyTGeHqZ?domain=cdss.ca.gov\"> licensed child care providers some flexibility\u003c/a> in where they can relocate and how many children they can admit so they can continue their work in the aftermath of a disaster. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass also issued \u003ca href=\"https://mayor.lacity.gov/sites/g/files/wph2066/files/2025-02/EO%204%20-%20Emergency%20Executive%20Order%20-%20Temporary%20School%20and%20Child%20Care%20Facility%20Use.pdf\">an executive order\u003c/a> this week to speed up the process of opening new child care facilities in the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Levitt’s experience parallels what Whitlock-Hemsouvanh went through seven years ago. Two weeks after the Tubbs fire killed 22 people and destroyed 4,600 homes — the most destructive in state history at the time — her preschool moved to a temporary site and relied on donated books and supplies. Parents pitched in to spruce up the classrooms and outdoor play area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She then caught a break when the city of Santa Rosa decided to lease a former church on city-owned land at a fair market value.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12026087\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02015_duo.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12026087 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02015_duo.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"660\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02015_duo.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02015_duo-800x264.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02015_duo-1020x337.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02015_duo-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02015_duo-1536x507.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02015_duo-1920x634.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Preschooler Joshua plays with a set of toys and (right) changes socks with the direction of his teacher, Yuka Morris, at Fulton Community School & Farm. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/santa-rosa-to-lease-former-church-to-day-care-company-that-lost-facility-in/\">City officials chose the preschool over other proposals to\u003c/a> convert the property into transitional housing or a hospice facility after deciding to make affordable child care a priority.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In all, Sonoma County \u003ca href=\"https://upstreaminvestments.org/Microsites/Upstream%20Investments/Documents/READY/READY-Annual-Report-23-24.pdf\">lost 450 child care slots to the 2017 fires and\u003c/a> about 50% of its remaining licensed child care capacity after the COVID-19 pandemic gutted the early education workforce, according to a county report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Experts say that because the sector already struggles with low profit margins, any additional costs brought on by events like the Sonoma and Los Angeles fires can destabilize providers and lead to closures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s already this lack of quality, accessible child care and when you add in an extreme weather event or natural disaster, it just kind of multiplies and exacerbates those existing problems,” said Ariel Ford, senior vice president of program impact at Child Care Aware of America, which offers \u003ca href=\"https://www.childcareaware.org/our-issues/crisis-and-disaster-resources/\">emergency preparedness, response and recovery tips\u003c/a> to its national network of child care resource organizations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Child care is often an afterthought following a disaster, Ford said, “even though the parents are scrambling to find [it] because when you have little ones, you can’t do the work of recovery while you also have a baby on your hip.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12025681\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02536.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12025681\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02536.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02536.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02536-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02536-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02536-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02536-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_02536-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sally Soundara prepares lunch for the students at Fulton Community School & Farm. Soundara was on staff at the Mark West Community Preschool before fire destroyed it. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For Whitlock-Hemsouvanh, community support was instrumental in helping her recover from her loss.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Changes in zoning regulations and reductions in red tape allowed her to reestablish her business. She abandoned plans to rebuild the burned preschool and used money raised for that project to convert the church into a spacious preschool named \u003ca href=\"https://fultoncommunityschool.com/\">Fulton Community School & Farm\u003c/a>. Contributions from United Way Wine Country and First 5 Sonoma County helped cover the $100,000 cost of installing a fire sprinkler system to bring it up to licensing standards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12025674\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_00170.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12025674\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_00170.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_00170.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_00170-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_00170-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_00170-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_00170-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250204_Post-Fire-Child-Care_DMB_00170-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Children play on ‘woodchip mountain’ at Fulton Community School & Farm. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>However, a day after moving into the building in March 2020, the state ordered shutdowns to slow the spread of the coronavirus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was a wild time, and we stayed closed for two months,” she said.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>When it reopened, the preschool operated at a lower capacity as children and teachers gradually returned to in-person learning. But after seven years of turmoil, enrollment has increased, staffing has stabilized, and she has paid off debts associated with losing her preschool to the fires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new building is on three acres of land, giving kids plenty of room to play outside, grow the food they eat and feed goats and chickens in the garden.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“From that time in 2017 until now has been nothing but change and recovery, and I think that it is this year finally that we’re seeing the light at the end of the tunnel,” Whitlock-Hemsouvanh said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She encourages early educators to strengthen relationships in their community as they seek the help that they need. She also thinks a growing awareness of the child care crisis led voters in November to pass \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12014476/3-local-measures-in-california-boosting-funding-for-kids-programs-on-verge-of-victory\">a quarter-cent sales tax\u003c/a> to raise about $30 million annually to fund child care and mental health services for young kids. She sees the funding as part of the long-term recovery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>There’s a lot more people looking at this early childhood time as a profound time in life and seeing it as valuable and worthy of investment,” she said. “I’m just hoping that that kind of momentum continues in our community. And I realize it’s not that way everywhere, but in Sonoma County and in Santa Rosa, it feels like we’re really being seen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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