In the wake of devastating Los Angeles fires, residents begin to rebuild

Chicago Tribune

03-05-2025

LOS ANGELES — Nearly four months after wildfires reduced thousands of Los Angeles-area homes to rubble and ash, some residents are starting to rebuild.
In the Pacific Palisades neighborhood, construction workers recently began placing wooden beams to frame a house on a lot where only a charred fireplace remains standing. In the seaside city of Malibu and foothills neighborhood of Altadena, many land parcels where homes once stood are being cleared of debris.
Hundreds of homeowners have sought city or county approval for new home designs and other permits to eventually rebuild or repair damaged homes, though few have gotten the green light to break ground.
Some 17,000 homes, businesses and other structures burned to the ground in the Jan. 7 fires. It's uncertain how much will be rebuilt.
Many homeowners will not be able to afford it, even those with insurance. Some are still trying to figure out whether it's safe to return to their properties, given limited data on the degree to which toxins from the fires, including lead and asbestos, may have permeated their land. Roughly 400 land parcels are already for sale in the fire-ravaged areas.
Facing overwhelming loss and the chaos that comes with sudden displacement, those looking to rebuild must navigate an often confusing and time-consuming process. In most cases, it will take years for them to rebuild.
LA issued its first building permit nearly two months after the fires started. It took more than seven months before the first building permit was issued following the Woolsey Fire in 2018.
'Putting this in context of other disasters, the speed is actually probably faster than expected,' said Sara McTarnaghan, a researcher at the Urban Institute who studied the aftermath of urban wildfires in recent years in Colorado, Hawaii and California.
Resolving to rebuild in Altadena
Kathryn Frazier, a music publicist and life coach, had lived in her four-bedroom, three-bath house in Altadena for 10 years and raised her two children there. After her home burned to the ground, she was in shock and questioned whether it made sense to come back.
But after conversations with neighbors, she became determined to rebuild.
'I'm not leaving,' Frazier said. 'That's what kept coming up for everybody, and the more we all talked to each other the more we were all like 'hell yes.''
She is making progress. Frazier hired a crew to clear the property of debris and she is nearly through the first phase of permitting, which involves getting county review and approval for her new home's design. The next phase before receiving approval to begin construction includes reviews of electrical, plumbing and other aspects of the design.
Frazier, 55, is rebuilding her home without major changes to its size or location in order to qualify for an expedited building permit approval process.
'We are hoping to be building by June or July, latest,' she said. 'I've been told that maybe by February or March of 2026 we could be back in our home.'
For now, Frazier is getting quotes on windows, skylights and other home fixtures in hopes of locking in prices before they go up as more construction projects ramp up, or in response to the Trump administration's ongoing trade war.
'I'm doing things like scouring Home Depot, finding slate tiles that look modern and beautiful, but they're actually really cheap,' she said.
Recreating a home in the Palisades
DeAnn Heline, a TV showrunner, knows what it's like to build her dream house from the ground up.
She waited more than two years for construction to be completed on the five-bedroom, eight-bath home with ocean views. Once the project was done, her husband vowed to never build another house. The family lived there for six years before it was destroyed in the Palisades Fire.
'It was ash. There was nothing,' Heline said.
The couple, who have two daughters, have lived in the neighborhood for more than 30 years. They couldn't imagine giving up and not rebuilding.
'Not only are we building another house, we're building the exact same house again,' Heline said, noting the new home will have some upgrades including fire-resistant materials and sprinklers for the exterior of the house.
Recently, they cleared debris from the land where the house once stood, a particularly onerous task because the home featured a large basement into which much of the structure collapsed as it burned.
Heline isn't sure when construction will begin, but figures it could be two or three years. She wonders, however, what the neighborhood will look like by then.
'What are you going back to? You're going back to a moonscape? Are you there and no one else is on your block, or are you going back to a construction zone for many more years?' she said.
Banding together as a community
The Eaton wildfire destroyed many of the more than 270 historic Janes Cottages in Altadena, including the three-bedroom home Tim Vordtriede shared with his wife and two young children.
The family had only lived in the roughly 100-year-old house for three years.
'We just loved the storybook cottage and the vibe, and of course the grander vibe of Altadena,' he said. 'It was perfect.'
Vordtriede, 44, has decided to rebuild, but not just yet. For now, he is using his experience as a construction project manager to help others who also lost their homes.
He co-founded Altadena Collective, a group providing assistance with home designs and guidance on how to navigate the complex and lengthy approval process for rebuilding permits. Of the roughly two dozen clients that the group is serving, at reduced cost, three are in the early stages of the permitting process.
Even after projects reach shovel-ready status, homeowners will have to wait perhaps more than a year before they can move in, he said.
'My first statement when anyone walks in the door is: We're not here to help you design your dream home,' Vordtriede said. 'This isn't a dream time. This is a nightmare, and our job is to get you out of the nightmare as soon as possible.'