One Year After California Wildfires, Progress Is Slow in Rebuilding

After devastating fires, L.A. made one part of rebuilding easy. There’s much more to do

By Ben Christopher In the days immediately after last January’s Los Angeles firestorm, state lawmakers and civic leaders promised to turbocharge the rebuilding effort. For California, where the permitting and construction of homes is infamously slow and costly, the scale of destruction stood as a singular challenge. A year later, the charred homes, the melted appliances and the toxic ash have mostly been removed, the dirt beneath scraped and the…

One Year Later: Florida, Wisconsin Senators Slam ‘Zero Accountability’ As California Wildfire Probe Heats Up

It has been exactly one year since the Palisades Fire tore through communities in California, claiming 12 lives and leaving a trail of destruction that residents are still working to repair. Marking the grim anniversary on Wednesday, U.S. Senators Rick Scott and Ron Johnson issued a blistering critique of state and local recovery efforts, announcing […] One Year Later: Florida, Wisconsin Senators Slam ‘Zero Accountability’ As California Wildfire…

Fire Survivors Mourn, Remember Efforts to Recover On First Anniversary of Fire Breakouts

One year ago Wednesday, the lives of thousands of Southern California residents were thrown into turmoil amid punishing, hurricane-force Santa Ana winds that drove a pair of massive wildfires through heavily populated neighborhoods, killing more than two dozen people and permanently changing the local landscape. A year after the devastating Palisades and Eaton fires, many survivors are still picking up the pieces from the destruction, while othe…

After devastating fires, L.A. made one part of rebuilding easy. There's much more to do

While few victims of last year’s fires are back in their homes, that’s not unusual following natural disasters; permitting changes appear to be helping.

Amid charred lots and lumber, Palisades residents share struggles of the rebuild

Mark Smith lived in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles for eight years with his partner, who lived there for more than 40. In an instant, it was gone. Their home on Michael Lane went up in flames when the Palisades Fire tore through west LA a year ago, and the pain lingers one year later. Any smell of the few remaining charred vehicles had been tamped down by weeks of heavy rain in the area.. Construction workers fill the air with…

Before-and-after photos capture the devastation left by 2025 LA fires

Wednesday, Jan. 7, marks the anniversary of the Eaton and Palisades fires, which set over 37,000 acres ablaze in Los Angeles.